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Linda Lou Stone
WHGB Harrisburg, PA


About The Artist

In 1956, Linda Lou Stone was entertaining folks from 2:00pm to 3:00pm each day on her show that was called "Western Serenade" over radio station WHGB out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She was also the featured female vocalist on the "Hayloft Hoedown" that aired over WHP-TV.

A 1954 article mentions she was the only female vocalist in a band known as the "Silver Star Boys". She was said to combine "...excellent guitar strumming with some fancy yodeling."

She wrote Norma Barthel, Ernest Tubb's long time fan club president, a note in a 1954 edition of their publication, "Melody Trails" that she got requests on her show from just about every state and over the border in Canada. She told Norma that she had started her radio show over WHGB in June of 1953.

She wrote of her experience in appearing with Ernest Tubb and the Texas Troubadours during one Pennsylvania tour. She noted that she was on that show more to see Ernest than to perform. But true to Ernest's consistent efforts to help local talents get seen and heard by audiences, he saw that Linda Lou did a number on his show. After the show, Ernest made sure they all got personal autographed photos as well.

While doing the Western Serenade show, she got to interview such stars as Johnnie and Jack and Jesse Rogers (Ranger Joe) when they were in the area.

She did numerous personal appearances in the area with a group known as "The Western Swing Kings". She had shared the stage with the Grand Ole Opry acts when they came through the area such as Kitty Wells, Johnnie and Jack; Hank Snow; George Morgan; Little Jimmy Dickens, hawkshaw Hawkins and Ernest Tubb. She counted Rosalie Allen and Kenny Roberts as close friends.

The Western Swing Kings were headed by Bob Johns, who also played steel guitar. The band, in 1956, included Joe Hoover on bass fiddle and vocals; Mac Ambrose and EArl Vogelsong played guitar; Bobby Fowlder played accordion; George Mummart played left-handed fiddle and rhythm guitar.

She appears to have continued to work in the Harrisburg area for several years after that. Red Wilcox wrote in his Washington DC Area News column in June of 1965 that she was a part of a big show in Harrisburg that was sponsored by radio station WBMD in Baltimore, Maryland. That show featured Ray Price, Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells, Stonewall Jackson, Johnny Wright, Bill Phillips, and Andy Reynolds and the 101 Ranch Boys.

Credits & Sources

  • Melody Trails; Vol. 10 No. 4; Fall 1954; Ernest Tubb Fan Club; Roland, OK
  • Cowboy Songs; No. 38; December 1954; American Folk Publications, Inc.; Derby, CT
  • Country & Western Jamboree; Vol. 1 No. 3; May 1955; Country and Western Jamboree, Inc.; Chicago, IL
  • Cowboy Songs; No. 44; January 1956; American Folk Publications, Inc.; Derby, CT
  • Cowboy Songs; No. 48; October 1956; American Folk Publications, Inc.; Derby, CT
  • Country Music Review; May/June 1965; Cal-Western Publications, Inc.; Anaheim, CA

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