“Broadcast: A Man and His Dream” to Premiere on UNC-TV
A dream nearly twenty years in the making is about to be fulfilled when Reidsville, North Carolina native, Jordan Nance, premieres his first documentary, “Broadcast: A Man and His Dream” on UNC-TV Thursday, February 19th at 10 pm. “Broadcast” tells the story of Ralph Epperson who grew up in the foothills of southwestern Virginia in the 1920s and 30s and then went on to found legendary radio station WPAQ in Mount Airy, NC.
Overcoming many obstacles, he started the station in 1948 with the promise to promote the traditional string music native to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Today 740AM still plays and promotes bluegrass, old time, and gospel music along with live performances at the weekly Merry-Go-Round show. The film features a soundtrack of more than fifty original music recordings and interviews with pioneers of traditional music including Benton Flippen, LW Lambert, and others.
Four time Grammy award winner and musician, David Holt says of the film, “Jordan Nance has put together a fine documentary about radio station WPAQ in Mt. Airy, NC. The station can be credited with helping keep traditional mountain music thriving in the Blue Ridge. Kudos to Jordan for bringing an engaging and important history to life.”
Nance, who is thirty-one and lives with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy since birth, had the idea to document Ralph Epperson’s creation of WPAQ after his first visit to the station in 1995. Eleven years later in 2006 he had the opportunity to interview Epperson just six weeks before he passed away.
Nance, along with his parents Keith and Joy, traveled around the region talking to family members, musicians, on-air talent, and listeners about Epperson and the early days of WPAQ when much of the music was broadcast live.
“Broadcast: A Man and His Dream” airs on UNC-TV Thursday night, February 19th at 10 pm.
To learn more about the documentary or purchase a DVD, visit BroadcastTheDream.com or Facebook.com/BroadcastBluegrassRadioFilm. For more information, contact Jordan Nance at jordycoy@triad.rr.com or Joy Nance at 336-951-1525.
