The Lincoln County News

The Radio Gang Wows the Waldo

Story date: 09/24/2008 By Nancy Wilson

They're quite popular, for the obvious reason; they obviously enjoy what they do. They are versatile on a variety of instruments, and they play some of the oldies-but-goodies that their audiences prefer. They are basically a country music group, specializing in tunes from the 1930s and 1940s; when they come out on stage, they are ready to provide an evening of rousing music.

Mac McHale and The Radio Gang performed at the Waldo Theatre, Waldoboro, last Saturday night, for an enthusiastic audience.

In addition to McHale himself, the Gang consists of Herman McGee, banjo and guitar; Sally Roc, stand-up bass (she keeps the rhythm going); and John Roc, mandolin and guitar. They all sing, as well, sometimes solo, sometimes back-up, in those songs that have vocals. Everyone in the band is exceptionally skillful on several instruments; at times, they duel with each other, playing faster and faster until everyone, audience included, is out of breath. Their expertise is worth the price of the ticket.

"Tonight is not a cultural event," McHale announced, "We'll be doing songs that tell a story. Yell when you need to, or even holler Hee-Haw. Our music is dedicated to the preservation of old country music, from the 30s and 40s."

This music is also interspersed with gospel tunes, a traditional part of country music; and corny jokes are sprinkled through the program. One example: McHale said he noticed a woman crying, one night during a performance. They were playing (and singing) Carry Me Back to Old Virginny. After the song was finished, he asked her, "Are you from Virginia?" She replied, "No, I'm not."

He asked again, "Do you have fond memories of the Dominion State?"

She again replied, "No."

"Then why were you crying?" he gently asked.

"I'm a voice teacher," she told him.

The audience was especially appreciative when they were asked to participate in a song, like "Glory Days Are Comin' and the band certainly outdid itself with the instrumental, "Orange Blossom Special" during which the dueling instruments picked up the pace, faster and faster, until they came to a sudden stop. This was truly mind-boggling to watch, and hear.

The Radio Gang tours around the country, bringing its joy and music to many venues; they have been at the Waldo before, and, with any luck, they will play the Waldo again; they are worth going to hear.

York County Co-Star

Deemed a bluegrass legend

Mac McHale named pioneer at Kentucky museum.Today'

Though his most recent honor recognizes him as a famed bluegrass musician, McHale also plays Irish, Appalachian and country tunes.

By John Forssen

September 11, 2008 6:00 AM

It had to have been a blow-out: three solid days of strummin' and pickin' to honor 60 legendary musicians as First Generation Pioneers at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Ky. — and among the honorees was Kennebunk's own Alan "Mac" McHale, who has been playing bluegrass for more than 50 years.

And, at 76, he's still going.

Indeed, at an age when most people would be content to settle in with a good book and an afternoon nap, Mac has 110 concert dates lined up for the year ahead. Among them is one for Dec. 7, when he and the Old Time Radio Gang will play onstage at Kennebunk Town Hall to help raise money for fuel assistance this winter.

Bluegrass, he says, has been around for a long time, originating in the '20s and having its heyday in the '30s and '40s when radio was king and most stations featured live performances. It wasn't until the '50s, however, when Bill Monroe — considered the Father of Bluegrass — signed with the Grand Ol' Opry that the music got its name. Monroe was among the most prominent musicians of that genre, and the name of his band, Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys, became the name of the music.

McHale and seven other New Englanders, including Roland Valliere of Biddeford, are credited among the 60 for "having developed bluegrass into a cultural phenomenon that has spread to a fan base numbering in the tens of millions in 75 nations," according to the International Bluegrass Music Museum, which is in the process of collecting and archiving video histories of these performers.

There are actually two groups with whom McHale performs: A duet headlined as Two Old Friends, which plays Irish and Appalachian tunes, and the Old Time Radio Gang, which is strictly bluegrass, the music for which he is being honored.

In addition to McHale, the Old Time Radio Gang comprises John and Sally Roc of Wells and Herman McGee of Kensington, N.H. The group has 11 recordings to its credit and McHale himself, in addition to playing all the good old tunes, has written more original compositions than he cares to count off the top of his head.

Among the fan favorites that he plays are "When Roses Bloom Again," a Civil War song, "Orange Blossom Mandolin" and, an original composition, "Glory Days Are Coming."

For his efforts he has been inducted into both the International Bluegrass Music Museum and the Maine Country Music Hall of Fame, and nearly every square foot of wall space in his home office, overlooking the Kennebunk River marsh behind Gooch's Beach, is filled to capacity with plaques, certificates and commemorative photos.

McHale, who has never studied music and says he "can't tell a do from a re," credits the start of his musical career to Radio Station WLBZ in Bangor where he grew up. As his mother used to tell the story, he would be out in the yard playing and somehow he just knew when the noon-time country music was about to start. From that moment it was a race from his house into downtown Bangor where he would watch the musicians coming out of the station and loading their instruments into their car.

"One day," he recalls, "someone told me I could climb the stairs and go right into the studio. I could actually watch them play. Well, I was thrilled and scared at the same time, and I crept up those stairs to the second floor where the studio was and I parked myself in the very back of the audience — but, from that day forward, I was totally infected."

He had yet to pick up an instrument but already he was a musician.

His introduction to an instrument occurred sometime later, in the eighth or ninth grade, when a fellow student, a boy who was bussed into Bangor from Hampden each day, showed him a few chords on his guitar.

"After that," he says, "I went out and bought a $5 guitar, which I played till my fingers bled."

But he also had his heroes to keep him moving in the right direction: Curly Glidden and Gene Hooper, among others, already playing professionally, as he was just getting the itch.

It was 1950. He was 18 years old, and Curly Glidden invited him to play with him and another musician at the American Legion in Orono. That performance he recalls as his professional debut, his first pay day: $4.50 split three ways.

At about the same time, he started laying in benefit minstrel shows, black face and all, to raise money in the fight against polio.

Gene Hooper, however, occupies that space in his heart reserved for most memorable moments.

For years he had listened to Gene Hooper on the radio, learning the trade from a distance, but he had never met him. Years later, however, McHale was playing a hall in Millbridge and Hooper was in the audience. McHale invited him to play with him that night and subsequently to play in a series of jamborees with the Radio Gang — and, for the next 10 years, they played together in jamboree shows, a kid's dream come true. To this day they are the best of friends.

People frequently remember each other in music and, underscoring that idea, he recalls chatting with a piano player one evening. He asked him if he knew "River of Roses," a song from the '20s. The piano player did not know the song, but he said he would try to pick it up if McHale could sing it, which, of course, he did. A year later, McHale walked into that same piano bar where that same piano player was playing, and, seeing McHale, he slipped as easily into "River of Roses" as if the song he had been playing was its introduction.

From Grange halls to Washington's Kennedy Center, McHale has played just about everywhere that there's room to crank a fiddle or strum a banjo; and, at 76, the only complaint he seems to have is a little arthritis in his fingers.

"But it only hurts when I'm not playing," he says.