COVID has given this Kentucky Headhunter time to ‘grow’ his 18-year-old radio show

Usually by late July, Greg Martin’s life on the road is in full motion. As lead guitarist for the entire 34 year history of the Kentucky Headhunters, along with additional tenure in the band’s earlier incarnation as Itchy Brother and extensive ‘80s band work with country singer Ronnie McDowell, the Glasgow artist has spent nearly every summer of his adult life on tour. Until this year.

But the performance inactivity triggered by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has hardly put Martin out of commission. In fact, it has given him time to further his other great musical passion – radio. For the past 18 years, Martin has hosted a weekly program called “The Lowdown Hoedown” for WDNS-FM (D93) in Bowling Green. The show, devoted largely but not exclusively to blues music, airs every Monday evening at 8 pm EDT. Though started mostly as an outgrowth of a fascination for radio that began as Martin grew up in Louisville, the show has increasingly become more than a hobby to indulge in after weekend road trips with the Headhunters were completed.

“Ever since I’ve done the show I’ve been working on the road,” the guitarist said. “I guess I’ve been like a hamster in a wheel. I’m on the road and sometimes get home Sunday or Monday. A lot of times, I actually plan the show out on the road. I take a big box of CDs with me. It’s just a routine – not that I was doing it haphazardly or anything. But I was in the routine of being on the road, getting home, doing the radio show and spending the rest of the week doing laundry and getting ready for the road again.”

Martin’s love of radio grew hand-in-hand with his devotion to music. In essence, one device dispensed the latter product, as it did for most rock ‘n’ roll kids of the 1960s.

“When I hear ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’ by The Byrds, I can remember walking down Berry Boulevard in Louisville and hearing it on a transistor radio. I remember hearing (guitarist Roger) McQuinn’s intro. This was when music really connected with me. I play a lot of music from the ‘60s and ‘70s on the radio show because that’s the music I have an emotional attachment to. I feel there are a lot of folks out there who do, too. A lot of times on the show, I still connect to that vibe I had as a kid.”

That led to a steady diet of listening to three of Louisville’s prime AM radio stations of the era for contemporary music – the rock-oriented WAKY and WKLO, along with the soul/R&B-based WLOU.

“I would take a Louisville transit bus to Broadway and 4th Street and go downtown to Vine Records and then to the WKLO showcase window to watch the DJs, guys like Johnny Randolph (the veteran Louisville broadcaster the day after my conversation with Martin). I just loved watching those guys. I’m talking about 1965 and ‘66. They had two turntables and all these cartridges that handled the commercials. All of it just blew me away. It was a magical time, around ‘65 and ‘66.”

A family move to Metcalfe County in late 1966 may have disconnected Martin from his favorite Louisville stations, but not from radio. In the evenings, he could pick up numerous programs from around the country, including a highly influential Sunday night underground music show, “The Subterranean Circus,” hosted by Ron Britain out of WCFL-FM in Chicago.

But as his own career as a touring musician took hold, Martin’s fascination with radio took a back seat. Eventually, after initial runs at programs for stations in Munfordville and Campbellsville, he settled in for “The Lowdown Hoedown” at WDNS.

While the show was initially focused on blues music of the ‘50s and ‘60s, Martin has broadened its scope to include vintage psychedelic, soul and pop recordings. A recent program, for example, spotlighted the late ‘60s music of The Rascals. There have also been occasional guests that call in for conversation ranging from local and regional musicians to national celebrities like Cars guitarist Elliot Easton. Even Britain, his one-time radio idol, was a guest.

“There’s not very much on the books this year for the Headhunters (although, the band has been confirmed for an Aug. 27 concert with Jackyl at the Kentucky State Fair). So as we got into the pandemic, I had a lot of time to think about focusing on the radio show and how to grow it a little more. Its started out as a complete blues show. But as much as I love Robert Johnson, as much I love B.B. King and Albert King, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed and all those great blues guys, I have to say it goes all over the place now. I can’t even call it strictly a blues show anymore.”

One of the means to “grow” the show, aside from already utilized internet and phone app technology that makes the program instantly available to listeners all over the globe, is the prospect of broadcasting it from home. Some of his down time from the road has been devoted to that transition.

“My basement was a total wreck about two months ago with stuff gathered up from 30 years of touring. It’s back to where it’s actually presentable now. So that’s my goal, to upgrade my studio equipment - a couple of CD players, a turntable, a computer - and power the show right down to D93 and every now and then just do it from home.

“Honestly, what I would like to be able to do with the show is syndicate it. I want to stay at D93 because they’ve been really good to me, but I’d like to have a syndicated version, as well. That way, in case the pandemic gets too crazy, I just won’t leave the house.”

This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 11:39 AM.