Saturday Bluegrass Show

I have played old time music since 1976, when I met and took a banjo class from my good friend “Cousin Ernie” Williams. In addition to clawhammer banjo, I also play old time fiddle, guitar and autoharp. I began participating in The Florida Folk Festival in White Springs by playing with Ed Flemming and Friends, then The Hyde Park Hysterical Society String Band and Mr. Ethnic’s Wednesday Night Fiddle Support Group. Since 1980, just after our community radio station went on the air, I've brought old time music to WMNF radio audiences. Tune into Mr. Ethnic's Old Time Music Show on the first Saturday of the month to hear some of the best vintage and contemporary old Time music. I'm a founding member of the folk-arts advocacy group, Friends of Florida Folk, and have been on the Board of Directors, as well as Secretary and Vice President. Also a founding member of the Florida Folklore Society, I've served on the Board of Directors. I'm a member of the Florida State Fiddler’s Association and the newly formed Florida Banjo Society. I've performed at festivals such as the “Rattlesnake Roundup” in San Antonio, FL, “Pioneer Days” at the Pioneer Florida Museum, the “Heart of Florida Folk Festival” in Dade City, and the “Fall Country Jamboree” in Barberville. I was extremely honored to open a concert with the Mr. Ethnic group for the original Red Clay Ramblers at a WMNF concert. Along with “Cousin Ernie”, I have been Co-Director of the Florida Old Time Music Championship since its inception. As such, I've brought some of the best master old time musicians to central Florida. I am also Co-Director of the Suwannee Old Time Music Weekend held at and sponsored by the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs.

Note* To listen to the archive of my show for one week afterward, you need to go to the Saturday Bluegrass page.

Tom Henderson is a guy who has always loved music played with simple

instruments and sung in mournful Southern accents. But doing a syndicated

bluegrass radio show, being a member of a bluegrass band and owner/operator

of a music shop dedicated to bluegrass and country music, I’d

say he has a total passion for it. Rightly so, bluegrass, the original

country music, just has that sound.

Tom does a syndicated radio show called "This is Bluegrass"

heard throughout the Southeastern U.S. and originates through WMNF-FM

in Tampa,FL. For listeners in the Tampa, Florida area, it is heard Mondays

at 7:00pm on WMNF 88.5. If you like bluegrass music or have an interest

in the original sound of country music, don’t miss "This

is Bluegrass". The broadcasts include the best in bluegrass and

country music and will always feature: something old, something new,

something borrowed and something blue.

The Bluegrass Parlor Band started as a result of Tom’s desire

to help keep the bluegrass tradition alive. In 1983, Tom was to play

a country music show held at the Tampa Theatre and he thought it would

be a great idea to form a band with some of the youngsters that came

to his Bluegrass Parlor to kick off the show. When 11 year old banjo

player David McMillian walked out on stage, "the crowd went nuts"

and the Bluegrass Parlor Band was born.

From 1980 until 2005 Tom had been owner/operator of The Bluegrass Parlor,

a store located in Tampa, Florida. The Parlor has been a place for great

deals on musical instruments and hard to find bluegrass musical recordings.

The Bluegrass Parlor is also a place to go for some good old bluegrass

jams held every Thursday night at 8:00pm. Bluegrass music lovers and

musicians worldwide have visited the Bluegrass Parlor. In 2005 Tom sold

the Bluegrass Parlor to longtime associate Jeff Jones. Tom is still

involved in the store, he still works a few days a week and still hosts

the weekley jam session, but has turned over day to day operations to

Jeff.

As a result of Tom Henderson’s dedication to the great sound

of bluegrass; in 1988, Tom received the International Bluegrass Music

Association Certificate of Merit, an honor given to legends like Bill

Monroe and Earl Scruggs. Tom’s dedication to the preservation

of bluegrass music is greatly appreciated by all who love the sound

of the original country music - - bluegrass.�