Exiled!

Napoleon’s Exile on Saint Helena by Franz Josef Sandman [de] (1820) (PD)

No, I haven’t met my Waterloo, but Saturday the 22nd of August was the last live Hillbilly at Harvard—for a while. How long? A few weeks? Months? The rest of the year? I don’t know.

Apparently spooked by the hysteria surrounding the Wuhan Bat Bug (an epidemic no worse than many in the past that never resulted in lockdowns and other restrictions), the administrators at Harvard have decreed that only 40% of enrolled students will be allowed back on campus for the new term, and only those students, plus some employees, will be allowed into campus buildings. Since WHRB is in the basement of Pennypacker Hall, a freshman dorm, I am excluded. I cannot even get into the HAH record library.

Fortunately, over the past few years I have recorded a number of what I call ‘Generic Hours’ to run when I’m out of town, or otherwise unavailable (as now). These will be mixed and matched to create four-hour HAH shows, and there are enough that there shouldn’t be too much repetition. Some listeners have told me they like the GHs (more favorites and less talk).

If The Exile continues for more than a couple of months, I’ll have to think about creating new GHs, maybe using live performances and other segments from the past that I have recorded over the air here at home. I don’t have a home studio, but it might be possible to create one, or even rent studio space somewhere.

In any case, the plan is to resume live broadcast of HAH as soon as the Powers That Be at Harvard say it’s OK for me to enter the building. The student management at WHRB supports this plan. You should be aware that they are under enormous pressure to maintain a 24-hour broadcast schedule with only a small fraction of station members on campus, and that HAH is only a tiny part of their responsibilities, so don’t blame them. Harvard makes the rules.

PS The Internet stream going silent Saturday was unrelated; just Murphy’s law: whatever can go wrong, durn sure will.  /CL

PPS Might as well have some fun. Here’s Stonewall Jackson’s ‘Waterloo’ (1959), written by John D. Loudermilk and Marijohn Wilkin:

And here’s a beautiful, rather sad, version of ‘Bonaparte’s Retreat’ that I just chanced upon, played by Aly Bain, with some significant associates: Jerry Douglas (dobro), Danny Thompson (bass), Tommy Hayes (Percussion), Michael Doucet (second fiddle), Russ Barenberg (guitar), Donald Shaw (piano):