R.I.P.: DC/Balt Radio Broadcaster Ray Davis

Ray Davis

Ray Davis, a radio broadcaster who was the host of bluegrass music shows for more than 60 years and played a key role in making the Mid-Atlantic a leading center of traditional Appalachian folk music, died from luekemia Dec. 3 at a hospital in Frederick, Md.

He was 81-years-of-age according to The Washington Post.

As a boy growing up on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Davis had aspirations of being a broadcaster and practiced speaking into the resonant water barrels on his family’s chicken farm. After landing his first job in radio at 15, he soon began to champion the music that later became known as bluegrass.

He spent more than 35 years at WBMD-AM in Baltimore, broadcasting for much of that time from a used-car lot. His sponsor, the owner of Johnny’s Used Cars, was such a dedicated fan of country music that he built Mr. Davis a studio next to the Oldsmobiles and Chevys.

After joining Washington’s WAMU-FM in 1985, Mr. Davis broadcast his “Bluegrass Country” program every weekday afternoon for 16 years. It generated the second-highest amount of donations from listeners during the station’s fundraising pledge drive, but in 2001 the station cut back his schedule, prompting a backlash among some listeners.

His program continued to be heard overnight, online and over another radio outlet affiliated with WAMU until his retirement in 2013 after 65 years on the air.