In the Folk Alley MEMBER Spotlight: Fred Glock

Our 2024 Spring Fund Drive is underway! Are you a member? SHOULD you be a member? Well, if you listen to Folk Alley and if you appreciate the unique mix of music you hear, 24/7, the answer is a resounding yes. Please donate today!

This spring, we wanted to spend some time honoring the people who make Folk Alley possible: our generous members! Members have been supporting Folk Alley with voluntary financial contributions since we first started streaming back in 2003. We rely on the support of our members, many of whom have been supporters from the very beginning.

All month long, you’ll get to know some of Folk Alley’s most devoted members. We’re so glad to have the chance to shine a spotlight on the folks who really matter — our members, who make Folk Alley possible for all of us!

This week, get to know Fred Glock!

Where do you listen to Folk Alley and how did you discover it?

FG: I listen to Folk Alley wherever I can pick it up, mostly from WKSU 89.7 from Kent, Ohio (Ideastream). Before Folk Alley [existed], WKSU had a weekend folk program hosted by Doug McIntire(?) and then Jim Blum that brought it all to us. That began my continuing support for WKSU with Al Bartholet who gave us Folk Alley with Linda Fahey. I support it still as the only source that I know of for my favorite music.

How long have you been listening to folk music?

FG: Folk music started for me during my childhood in Kentucky listening to Barn Dance on WHAS radio from Louisville. Then the Kingston Trio gave a new perspective on traditional songs. From there [I moved on to] Tom Rush, Tom Paxton, and finally Jim Kweskin cemented my taste.

A friend of mine played a banjo-ukelele and had all of these songs down pat. I started playing washtub bass and jug with groups at college so we formed “The Juggernauts” which still perform today around Louisville, KY (all but one of the original band are replaced)…I join them for the National Jug Band Jubilee in Louisville when I can.

What do you love about folk music?

FG: I’ve been listening to and supporting folk music since many years before Folk Alley appeared. It’s my oxygen…Back porch music is what I love. Since then the galaxy of songs and performers has expanded exponentially, thank goodness, and Folk Alley is at the cutting edge of bringing it all to us.

If you were trying to convince someone to support Folk Alley as a new member, what would you say?

FG: If you haven’t stumbled on Folk Alley, and you love the wide range of home-spun music, you need to find it on the radio or the web. The variety and depth [of the playlists] are astounding, from the fields and tarns of the Isles of the UK to the plains of Canada and Australia, the hills of Appalachia, river towns and fields of the south and much, much more. So many singer-songwriters and performers are featured. I just love it! It’s worth my dollars.

Can you share some of your favorite folk songs?

FG: You bet! This is just the tip of the iceberg, though; there are so many more…

“When I Go” — Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer