Now More Bluegrass - Brand New Bluegrass Radio Station Launches This Week!

Prescription Bluegrass Featured on Brand New Radio Station!

Bluegrass fans have a brand new radio station to enjoy.  24 hours a day,  Bluegrass Planet Earth is streaming the high-lonesome over the cyber airwaves.


BluegrassPlanetEarth.com is the brainchild of  77 year-old Col. Tom Taylor a retired United States Airforce electronics engineer who said he spent so long in the service that he rose from a buck private to colonel before retirement.   As for his radio background, he's been a bluegrass and country music disc jockey for the past six years working at two stations prior to lauching his own just this week.  He's also been an Amateur Radio Operator (Ham Radio) for the last 15-20 years.



Taylor's new radio station is actually two stations in one.  Bluegrass Planet Earth  features one 24-hour-per-day stream of all bluegrass and another that features standard country music.  Taylor says that causes him to work about 48 hours a day.  While he does his own on-air shift he also features other disc jockeys from around the globe.

Col. Tom Taylor, USAF Ret.

While at his former stations Taylor was leading the other air staff  with 2-3 times as many listeners. His estimation was "approximately four to five thousand listeners" at his peak after a bluegrass trip to Japan where he met several new bluegrass artists and listeners.  Taylor, who is a member of IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Assoc.), SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Blue Grass Music) and EBMA (European Bluegrass Music Assoc.), says he "has listeners all over the globe".

"I am always looking for music from other countries; that is why I wanted to join EBMA", Taylor wrote on the European Bluegrass Blog. He recently was contacted by a fellow bluegrass broadcaster in the United Kingdom (UK) who volunteered her services and will be hosting her own show on Bluegrass Planet Earth in the near future.

Part of Bluegrass Planet Earth is also philanthropical in that Taylor wants to help put bluegrass intruments into the hands of youth who want to learn to play but cannot afford their own instruments.  He's already provided three fiddles to a young girl in West Virginia, ranging from small to full size as she grew into them and her tiny hands could manipulate the larger fingerboards, and just recently he delivered a banjo to a nine-year-old boy in Tennessee.  Taylor who doesn't play himself has three different bluegrass instruments that he personnaly owns. His mandolin is currenlty going on his website in an effort to solicit donations for this project.

The type of music listeners will hear on either station runs the gammot from traditional to modern but Taylor says he really likes to feature new music from new artists regardless of where they fit on the spectrum on both of his stations.  "My specialty is finding the little guy's and putting them out to the world", Taylor said with an obvious smile attached to his voice as it came through the telephone speaker.  When asked about the difference between Country Music and Bluegrass Music, Taylor replied, "bluegrass is more fundamental than country - country came out of bluegrass".

A statement on the stations website says: "Our goal is to serve two groups of people…. The ARTIST and the LISTENER - always striving to give each group the best we can offer.  To that end, we invite (Bluegrass and Country) artists to add the station to your mailing list (info@bluegrassplanetearth.com) and listeners to let us know how we’re doing as well as the music you would like to hear.  If you are a broadcasting company, feel free to send us a sample of your show along with contact information.

Besides sending music to Bluegrass Planet Earth, for artists looking for more airplay, Taylor offered his best advice - "get signed up with Airplay Direct (an internet service that manages on-line digital distribution to radio stations) then email or call as many radio stations and disc jockeys as you can to let them know where to get your music.

"It’s nice to see, genuine bluegrass fan’s like Col. Tom helping promote bluegrass.  I have been tuning in to Bluegrass Planet Earth since its inception and I am really liking the way Tom is handling the programming of the station.  He’s programming it not as a corporate entity but as a fan of Bluegrass Music and Culture. I encourage all music fans to tune in and listen!" - Darryl Langely, CEO, Audio Tracks Broadcasting Services

Col. Tom's Future plans include adding a calendar of events to the website and he invites bands, promoters and the like, make sure to send him events in a timely manner and he’ll be sure to add them!  An invite to your festival or show is welcome too!

If you like what you hear and would like to be a part of the action, there are time slots (for DJs) available on both streams. Contact the station and they’ll work something out.