Bob Blackman, who has been a “folk tradition” on WKAR-FM 90.5 in East Lansing, Michigan for some 30 years, signs off later this month.

Bob Blackman

“I still love doing the show, but it’s such a huge commitment of time and energy every single week that I feel the need to give it up and spend my weekends doing other things,” Blackman told listeners during the The Folk Tradition on Feb. 27. “I just feel the need to retire from the grind of doing a weekly radio program. I have a full-time job as a computer programmer [at Elderly Instruments], and almost all of the work I do on The Folk Tradition – which is at least 15 hours a week – gets squeezed into my weekends. And that leaves me very little time to do anything else! So even though it’s very gratifying and fun to do this show, it’s also gotten pretty exhausting, and it’s time to balance my life a little better.”

After 27 years as a staple of the station’s Sunday evening programming, the show ends its run on April 24. Blackman’s last two programs will be devoted to some of the artists and albums that have particularly influenced his love of folk music over the decades. Blackman hosts a special four-hour program as part of WKAR Radio’s spring fundraising drive on April 17, while his final show airs a week later.

“Those two shows will be my last chance to pay homage to the artists who first got me interested in folk music in the sixties and seventies,” says Blackman. “I started with Peter, Paul and Mary, Tom Paxton, and Pete Seeger, so they’ll certainly be on those shows. And I’ll include other artists who became favorites along the way, like the Red Clay Ramblers, the Bothy Band, Stan Rogers, Peter Ostroushko, Eva Cassidy, and as many more as I can squeeze into those final programs.”

In a recent post to folk dj-l, a listserv for folk radio hosts for which he serves as one of the volunteer administrators, Blackman acknowledged that “Many, many faves will still have to be left out, unfortunately, but I’ll try to pick out a few dozen of them for those two shows.” His last “regular” show aired on April 10.

Blackman, whose interest in radio was stirred while he was a morning announcer and part of the “DJ Club” at East Lansing High School, playing records over a PA system at lunchtime, joined WKAR as host of The American Tradition in 1974. After producing 45 half-hour shows, he left the area to pursue graduate studies in folklore at Indiana University. Blackman later returned to his hometown and, in early 1977, launched The Folk Tradition for its initial four-year run. His Sunday evening show debuted in March 1984. Besides airing locally in Michigan, beginning at 6 p.m., it streams on Folk Alley (and via WKAR’s website) with encores at 11 p.m. on Sunday, 1 p.m. on Monday, and 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

“Although I’m retiring from doing this show, I still love folk music and plan to continue all of my other activities in the local arts community,” says Blackman. He’s been an emcee and advisor to the Ten Pound Fiddle coffeehouse in East Lansing that he co-founded more than 35 years ago, as well as the Great Lakes Folk Festival that takes place each August. Blackman also has spoken on folk and bluegrass music at local libraries and been a music consultant for local theatrical productions. A founding member of Folk Alliance International, who has been a moderator or panelist at several of its annual conferences, Blackman also has written for Sing Out! and other music publications. He has also written liner notes for albums by Stan Rogers, Michigan’s own Joel Mabus and Sara Grey.

Beginning next month, The Folk Tradition on WKAR-FM will be replaced by Folk Alley, a two-hour program hosted by Jim Blum from WKSU in Kent, Ohio. While acknowledging that he’s never met Blum, Blackman, who helped the station’s management evaluate possible replacements,” said: “Of all the programs we auditioned, I think Jim’s musical taste and on-air style were the closest to my own… I’ve really enjoyed his work on the Folk Alley webstream, and the more I learn about him, the more it feels like we’re kindred spirits in a lot of ways.”