The Show Red Rooster Party was a two-hour program of American roots music that aired Sunday afternoons 2-4 o'clock Eastern Time on WHUS Storrs (CT), 91.7 FM -- The radio station of the University of Connecticut, between February 2006 and February 2009. The station is webcast at whus.org. Marti and Jim can be contacted by e-mail at redroosterparty@gmail.com and on the air during Bluegrass Cafe by Instant Messenger using the address WHUSDJ. The DJ phone on the air is 860-486-9487. Our blog with the play lists from September 2008 until the final show is at this link. After a fun three-year run, the Red Rooster has roosted -- the last show was February 8, 2009. We will keep this site available as a show archive, and perhaps add transcriptions of old shows when we can. Thank you to all you wonderful listeners! We will continue to alternate with Amy Orlomoski on Bluegrass Cafe, so tune in Sundays 4-7pm Eastern.
Home Page
About Us Marti & Jim hosted the Red Rooster Party (and still host Bluegrass Cafe every other week). Both are from the Piedmont region of North Carolina, but have lived in nine states and visited many countries, most related to Jim's work in the aerospace industry. Marti is a secondary-level science teacher. Both have had a lifelong love of music of many genres. In fact, they met in their university's band and have been married since graduation. Marti occasionally pulls her French horn from its case and plays a bit (that's Marti in the upper photo with trombonist Dan Grieder in the WHUS studio). Jim set aside his trumpet and flugelhorn years ago and now plays the five-string banjo. Jim considers bluegrass and country roots music as his favorite these days. Marti loves Western music, early country, and early black and white gospel. Marti & Jim have a huge collection of jazz, orchestral, western, and folk music to supplement their bluegrass and country collection. Most music on Red Rooster Party was from their personal collection.
Latest Play List
Beginning with the 7 September
2008 show, our playlists will be posted on ourblogwhich supplements this website. All
previous playlists will remain here at the links above.
We will occasionally post a sound file of a show or show segment.
The most recent addition is Jim's interview with Del McCoury from 1 February 2009 (Del's Birthday!). Check here, or click on the "Link" page at the top of this page. Send comments and recommendations to redroosterparty@gmail.com
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Where did the name "Red Rooster Party" come from?
Marti's great aunt, Hattie Velma Dalton, who lived in the area around Pulaski, Virginia, was the source of the name. Marti and Jim reconnected with Hattie when they moved to Southern Maryland in the early 1990s, and during an interview Hattie said the musicians in her family -- her father on banjo and his brother on fiddle, as well as a neighbor on piano -- would call their Saturday night music get-togethers an "Old Red Rooster Party." Hattie was born in 1903 and died in 2004 at age 100!
2. Who is the woman being interviewed on the Red Rooster Party introduction?
That is Hattie Dalton herself from a 1994 interview. Jim and Marti conducted the interview.
3. What is the music being played behind the Hattie Dalton intro?
The tune is "Breaking Up Christmas" by Tommy Jarrell & Fred Cockerham on fiddle and banjo respectively. Tommy & Fred represent the "Round Peak" style of old-time playing characteristic of the area around Galax, Virginia. That happens to be the same area where Hattie Dalton and her family lived. The tune is available on the CD "Tommy & Fred" on the County label (CD-2702) released in 1992.
4. Do you play requests?
Yes -- especially if they fit our format and theme (see our archived play lists to get the flavor of the show). If you have requests, suggestions, or comments, please send them to us at redroosterparty@gmail.com or call us on the air at 860-486-9487 during the show. The more obscure or esoteric requests may not be available immediately, but we strive to have them within a week.
5. Can we mail stuff to you?
Sure. Letters, announcements, promotional CDs that fit our format, or anything else non-lethal may be sent to:
Jim & Marti / Red Rooster Party WHUS Radio
UCONN, Student Union Building - Room 412 2110 Hillside Road - Unit 3008R Storrs, CT 06268-3008
Copyright 2005 Jim and Marti. All rights reserved.
