~ An American Symphony in Song and Story ~

An American Symphony in Song and Story” and above the actual link to the program:
I created An American Symphony in Song and Story considering our American Constitution’s promise: “…all men are created equal”. But there have always been exceptions for women and black and brown folks. Being a disc jockey and writer, I examined the genesis of America’s creative music…primarily music by black folks who, early on, made up songs while they picked cotton for the farms of the American South. These slaves had to deal with the white slave masters who ran the farms – and who profited literally on the backs of the blacks and women oppressed on so many levels. But over time, the slaves found a new “language” by creating lots of music, richer for us all, of EVERY type and style. This rich ‘harvest’ of music grew to become what I began to call An American Symphony – with many, many players – following those terrible, racist beginnings. Recently, I discovered the National Museum of African American Music – known as the NMAAM – located in Nashville, Tennessee. NMAAM is the only museum dedicated to preserve and celebrate the many music genres created, influenced, and inspired by African Americans. www.nmaam.org

WomanUp.social
ArdisRadio.net
Voicework
Music & Poetry
GodPod
Next America

About Bill

I was born in San Angelo, Texas, in 1940. In 1950 we moved to Austin, Texas, where Mom’s sisters, brother, and other family members lived. My father – realizing he was gay – moved to San Francisco, which at that time had become a welcoming city for gay folks more than Texas.

My cousin Guy, his wife Barbara, their kids and grand-kids live in Central Texas, too… a great place to live. Austin is a terrific music town — hello, Willie Nelson! — with many artists and a raft of Sixties hippies determined never to grow old. Keep Austin Weird; that’s the city’s motto.

My first wife Pat and I brought forth a son, Randy (Pat did the heavy lifting). Randy is a guitarist, an excellent husband to his lovely wife Linda — and they are parenting their three remarkable daughters, bright, sunny and hilarious. Here’s a picture, when they were younger, at cheerleader rehearsal. Or maybe they were being held up by the dreaded Cookie Monster. Not sure about that.

I’m retired now from life as an all-night disc jockey: “Ardis Against The Night” on WHAM, in Rochester, New York, in the late Sixties. Post-deejaying, I veered off into work as a technical writer, grants writer (Stand Against Domestic Violence) marketing and voice recording artist. More recently I located the first love of my life from The Late Sixties/Early Seventies. We moved later from Northern Virginia – a stone’s throw from Washington D.C.,  The Land Where Traffic Never Stops – to a quieter home farther south. Ahhh! Peace and quiet! What a concept.