This month, we’ve released the first in a recurring series of playlists from Loney Hutchins that will chronicle his life and journey into music through the songs that mean the most to him. The May playlist features a collection of songs documenting Loney’s childhood years, spent discovering music through the AM radio stations he picked up in the Tennessee holler…

Back in the holler growing up, there were just a few radio stations I could get on my little crystal radio. I would plug the wire into a light socket and that little earpiece would rock. At night, when all the little clear station channels went to bed, those old AM stations came through clear as day. They had so much power. I’d stay up late listening to John R’s midnight show on WLAC Nashville, and really got a love of rhythm and blues from listening to his show. Sometimes I’d listen to Wayne Rainey’s radio show on WCKY Cincinnati, and every weekend we’d listen to the Grand Ole Opry on WSM 650, where I first heard The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Acuff and other country music of the era. It was during this time that I discovered songs like “I Still Miss Someone” by Johnny Cash, which really touched my toes– my toes were in the same dirt he came from, and “I Saw the Light” by Hank Williams, who we had a photo of pasted on the wallpaper in our home.

In my first monthly playlist, I shared many of the songs I heard on AM radio growing up that influenced me for many years after. Listen now!