Tom Ball
Host and Marketing RepresentativeTom Ball is the host of 'Homespun' on WCMU, and is also a marketing representative for the station. He is responsible for securing program sponsorships for both WCMU Public Radio and WCMU Public Television.
Tom has been married for nearly 20 years to his lovely and talented wife Diana. They have one cat, and a yard full of beautiful flowers (no thanks to him!). Tom has been associated with WCMU for over 35 years, doing everything from fundraising, to filling in for vacationing staff members, to even taking out the trash!
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Spring is for FOLK MUSIC! Michael Cleveland, Nickel Creek, John Hartford, The Double Deckers, Mac Benford, and others will represent folk music on the next Homespun! Tune in Saturdays at 6pm for this representation, plus the release this week (in 1969!) of Bob Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline”! -
Easter is nearly upon us, and Homespun celebrates this most holy time of the year with the Gospel sounds of The Nashville Bluegrass Band, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Dixie Hummingbirds, Mahalia Jackson, The Soul Stirrers, Johnny Cash, and much more! Tune in Saturdays at 6PM! -
As we ease into April, Palm Sunday arrives on the way to Holy week and Easter. On the next Homespun, we’ll get there with help from Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, The Gibson Brothers, Larry Sparks, Mindy Smith, Gary Nicholson, John Hiatt, and more! Tune in Saturdays at 6PM on WCMU! -
…October means gathering leaves, drinking Apple Cider, and generally settling in for a change of season. I’m Tom Ball, and those things all go with new music from Laura Orshaw, Kenny and Amanda Smith, along with the classic Country sounds of George Jones, Carl Smith, and Leon McAuliffe! Tune in Sundays at 3PM for all this and more !! -
….Mary McCaslin and Loretta Lynn were two outstanding singers and songwriters in their respective fields. We lost both of them recently, and on the next episode of Homespun, we’ll celebrate their lives through their music, along with the old time sounds of Jody Stecher, Bob Carlin, Big Hoedown, and much more! Tune in Sundays at 3PM! -
…The changing of the seasons are upon us, and Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, Flatt & Scruggs, and Alison Brown ushers us along. Erynn Marshall refers to Old Barns and Cheryl Wheeler drives us home! Check all that out and more on Homespun Sundays at 3PM! -
…The Year 1972 was an outstanding time for music-especially live music. On the next Homespun, we’ll celebrate the 50- year Anniversary of The Band’s seminal live album “Rock of Ages”-recorded at the Academy of Music in New York City on the eve of 1971-72. We’ll also hear a track from Ry Cooder’s 1972 masterpiece “Into the Purple Valley”, and much more! -
…After touring the globe for 47 years, playing every state in the Union, Cajun Ambassadors Beausoleil will come off the road and end touring, but continue to make Cajun Music. This week’s Homespun will spotlight some of their music, plus the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, Octa Clarke & Hector Duhon, along with The Gibson Bros., Dale Ann Bradley, and more! Tune in Sundays at 3PM! -
…By the late 1950’s, the “Folk Revival” was in full bloom on College Campuses nationwide, and one of the reasons for the music’s popularity was the first Newport Folk Festival. On this week’s Homespun, we’ll sample live tracks from Flatt & Scruggs, plus Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard ; We’ll hear a rare Bill Monroe instrumental from mandolinist Mike Compton, and also give a nod to Joni Mitchell’s recent performance at Newport! Tune in Sundays at 3 PM! -
…A Musician, Folklorist, Musicologist, Teacher, Arts Presenter, and advocate, Mick Moloney was a large influence on the development of Irish Music in America. On the next Homespun, we’ll celebrate his life through song and music with tracks from his solo career, and ensemble work with Greenfields of America. Tune in each week at 3 PM!
