‘National Barn Dance’ Tribute Planned In Chicago

An important part of the history of country music in Chicago is about to go away.

But before it does,Lewis Lazare at bizjournals.com reports  Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications plans to pay tribute to the "National Barn Dance" program and the studios of WLS-AM (890), currently owned by Cumulus Media where the show originated for a number of years.

Believed to be one of the first country western music shows to air on radio, the "National Barn Dance" would go on to become a legendary part of radio history.

The popular country music show was broadcast for a number of its early years from the WLS-AM studios at 1230 West Washington Blvd. in Chicago, just a few blocks from where Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios now stands west of the Loop downtown business district.

After beginning in the WLS-AM studios, the "Barn Dance" show would continue to air for more than five decades on WLS from a couple of other locations around Chicago.

Remnants of those early WLS studios, including the original wooden studio doors, are still visible in the building at 1230 W. Washington. But they are scheduled to disappear when new owners take control of the building in early April and start to transform it into renovated office space.

But before that rehab happens, current building owner Duke Miglin has agreed to let the Museum of Broadcast Communications use what remains of the former WLS radio studios for a special celebration this Saturday (March 23) to honor the 89th anniversary of the "Barn Dance" show, which first aired on April 19, 1924, just days after WLS-AM went on the air.

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