Blues Society of Western PA - Newsletter

Mahajibee Interviewed by “Sunshine" Sonny Payne on the King Biscuit Radio ShowIn a recent trip to the Delta in early April 2009 my brother Mike, our friend Mary and I planned to visit Helena, Arkansas. Having played on the Emerging Artist Stage at the 23rd Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival in October 2008 we missed some of the exhibits and other points of interest because there is so much happening and so little time. We visited The Delta Cultural Center, which is filled with exhibits that tell the story of the Arkansas Delta from prehistoric times to present and the Civil War battle in northwest Arkansas. We were also took part in KFFA’s King Biscuit Time radio program #15,691 hosted by the legendary "Sunshine" Sonny Payne.We took a stroll down Cherry Street passing Bubba’s Blues Corner (which we would visit later) and The Cherry Street Pavilion and entered the DCC Visitor’s Center to see the “Delta Sounds exhibit” and “Tell It! Sing It! Shout It! Gospel exhibit.” As we entered the Delta Sounds Program exhibit area, "Sunshine" Sonny Payne was sitting in his specially-built studio preparing to broadcast the longest running daily blues radio show in the United States, one he has hosted since 1942 - the award-winning King Biscuit Time. “How are you folks doing?” Sonny asked. At 84 years of age Sonny approaches his craft with the excitement and enthusiasm of a new intern. During the conversation, he is shuffling CDs like a deck of cards glancing now and again but never missing a beat of the unrelated conversation he is engaged in. To say that Sonny is on top of things is an understatement. Hearing that we were from Pittsburgh, he immediately expressed his condolences for the three Police Officers (Officers Kelly, Sciullo, and Mayhle) killed in the line of duty over the weekend. He is very concerned with the direction of our younger generation and was extremely proud to inform us that the Delta Cultural Center and The Sonny Boy Blues Society are helping youths from all over the world with lectures and seminars, Blues in Schools, which introduces school-age children to the history of blues music. Sonny invited us to “sit in” live on his show and upon hearing that I was a musician he asked for a CD. He immediately placed the disc into a player and began listening and asking rapid-fire questions about the songs, recording and musicians. He said that he would definitely play a cut from it during this broadcast. I was flabbergasted. Sonny paid particular attention to the bass lines, having played the bass years ago. He liked what he heard from the bass and drums and complimented the production. Sonny also liked the fact that 9 songs out of 12 on the CD were written by the band. Our song, “Little Man,” was played during the broadcast. Off the air he expressed interest in our song, “Blue Guitar,” and mentioned that he would play it on a later show. Watching him at work was great. Cutting to commercials he would immediately turn to us with a humorous remark about something. He was always relaxed and made you feel the same, just rolling with the flow.
As we parted, we left Sonny with a token of appreciation that he seemed very happy to receive, a Terrible Towel. He promised that he was going to hang in his studio and hopefully it will be there with "Sunshine" Sonny Payne for many more years to come.