Epperson preserved music of the Appalachians

Bluegrass and string music is alive, well and popular in North Carolina and in the United States. And one man to be thanked for that was Ralph Epperson, who passed away on May 31 at age 85.

Epperson started WPAQ 740 AM in Mount Airy in 1948. The station served to promote and preserve the traditional music of the Appalachians.

"Epperson and the station are nationally known for their efforts to keep the tradition of string-band music alive by recording community and regional musicians in the 1940s and '50s and then creating a space for the music on WPAQ," said the Winston-Salem Journal. "Over the years, such musicians as Mac Wiseman, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and June Carter played on the station. So did Tommy Jarrell and Benton Flippen - whose banjo and fiddle styles are distinctive to Surry County."

Wayne Martin, the folk life director for the N.C. Department of Cultural
Resources, says that the station's influence cannot be separated from the health
and vitality of the music.

"He made that material accessible to the people who live in the region, and hearing their family members and neighbors on WPAQ has had an incredible effect," Martin said. "One reason Surry County and the region is looked at as the hotbed of old-time music is because of what Ralph did. He joyfully presented it back to the people."

Read more about the remarkable life of Ralph Epperson here.