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Arizona Art Emerick
WLOA Pittsburgh, PA


About The Artist

Arizona Art Emerick was being heard over radio station WLOA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania along about middle of 1949. Mary Jean Shurtz wrote gushingly about his singing talents after he had stopped by her home for a visit, as many artists did in that era when the National Hillbilly News was published. She wrote, "...All we can say is that radio station WLOA is one of the luckiest stations in these United States to have a singer like that."

It seems during those visits, she would put them to the test, giving the visiting artist a musical test so to speak, to see how they would handle a tune. It sounds subjective to say the least, and maybe she overstated her efforts - but many an Mary Jean was visited by many an artist during that era. She noted that Arizona Art was "just as good on poular songs as he is on the hillbilly numbers." Unfortunately, her writeup covered only his singing talent during his visit and didn't relate much in the way of personal notes about Arizona Art.

In another issue, Mary Jean relates in her "Your Song and Mine" column some tunes that Arizona Art had co-wrote with others. He wrote "One Final Chance" with Sonny Day and Marvie Pounders. Then, Sonny and Arizona Art wrote, "I've Been To The Mailbox", "Counting Stars Together", "I'm Waltzing 'Neath The Arizona Moon" and "Molly of the Mississippi", which were indicated to have been published by Hill and Range.

Credits & Sources

  • National Hillbilly News; July-August 1949; Orville W. Via, Publisher; Huntington, WV
  • National Hillbilly News; September-October 1949; Orville W. Via, Publisher; Huntington, WV

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