This lively presentation offers a fun, down-to-earth look at the rough-around-the-edges traditions that grew up alongside country music and often ignored its rules. The talk explores where old-time and bluegrass music come from, what they share and what sets them apart.
From front-porch fiddle tunes and driving banjo rhythms to the high, lonesome sound of bluegrass, the people, places and stories that shaped the music will be explored. Along the way, we’ll meet larger-than-life characters and hear how these traditions were passed down in kitchens, barns and jam sessions. The presentation also explains why old-time and bluegrass still matter today, influencing modern folk, Americana and jam scenes while remaining proudly independent and full of life.
Clint Holley’s life in music did not begin in a studio but with a stack of records and a deep curiosity about where songs come from. At an early age he fell in love with country music after inheriting his grandparents’ records by Lefty Frizzell, a gift that sparked a lifelong relationship with sound, history and storytelling. By the age of 10, Holley was already building a vinyl collection, searching flea markets and thrift stores for country records and learning the voices and traditions preserved in their grooves.
In 1991, Holley founded his first music-related business, a DJ company that marked the beginning of a professional journey spanning performance, broadcasting, live sound, recording and historical preservation. From 1999 to 2010, he wrote and performed in the country band Hayshaker Jones, grounding his understanding of traditional music through experience as a working songwriter and musician.
Holley spent 20 years as a classic country DJ on WCSB in Cleveland, hosting an all-vinyl program under the name “The Concrete Cowboy.” Through this long-running show he became a trusted voice connecting listeners to the roots of country music while exploring the stories behind the songs and the artists who shaped them. From 2000 to 2009 he also worked as a live sound engineer at the Beachland Ballroom, supporting touring and regional artists while developing a deep technical understanding of live performance. He later studied recording arts at Cuyahoga Community College from 2008 to 2010.
In 2010, Holley founded Well Made Music, a disc mastering studio focused on careful and intentional mastering for vinyl. Since its founding he has worked on thousands of vinyl releases, including Grammy-winning albums by Molly Tuttle and Billy Strings, artists whose work reflects the ongoing evolution of Appalachian-rooted music.
Holley’s commitment to history and physical media also led to the founding of The Earnest Tube in Bristol. The studio connects the modern vinyl resurgence with the earliest days of commercial country music recording and sits in the city made famous by the Bristol Sessions, where Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family recorded some of the first influential country music records.
An avid amateur historian of country music with a focus on early bluegrass, Holley has also expanded his work into podcasting and public history. He created the Ohio Heritage Music Project to document and preserve musical traditions across the region and developed Instrumental History for the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, a podcast centered on the famous blue yodel guitar owned by Jimmie Rodgers.
Today, Holley continues to bridge past and present as the host of "Pressing Matters," an all-vinyl radio program on WBCM-LP, and as a board member of the Birthplace of Country Music. Through his work as an engineer, broadcaster, musician and historian, he remains dedicated to preserving and sharing the living history of Appalachian and American roots music.
