Craig Lloyd Faulkner

“Throughout my life I’ve held an abiding love of music. In 1996 I happened to meet John Baxter who was then the program director at Jefferson Public Radio. He had friends who attended the swing dancing classes I was teaching at the time and I mentioned to him that part of the fun of the classes was playing the old big band, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll recordings I had in my collection. John indicated that he was looking to place a vintage music type program in the JPR lineup, said that I had ‘a good radio voice’ and asked me if I wanted to make him a demo tape. ‘Pretend you’re on the radio,’ he said. ‘Let me hear what you’d play and what you sound like.’

Evidently it went over well and American Rhythm debuted February 1, 1997 and has been on the air every Saturday evening since that day. It’s done ‘pro bono’ and has been an enjoyable, ongoing opportunity for me to play some great old records, continue exploring and expanding my knowledge of the roots of American popular music, and share it all with the JPR listening audience.”