A quick advertisement, invitation, & pitch:
Since 2012, I’ve hosted The Lost Child radio show, a weekly hour of traditional, classic, historic, & downhome roots musics, spotlighting a wide range of sounds: old-time string-bands, rhythm & blues, field hollers, rockabilly, gospel, southern soul, & more.
In 2021, I’d like to invite you to support The Lost Child by becoming a Friend of the show. Every month for 12 months, you’ll receive something cool in the mail, including Lost Child art prints and original booklets / zines like the one below, featuring music history, writing, research, artifacts, & drawings. Here’s a glimpse of January’s gift to The Lost Child’s Friends: “Bright Glory: Voices of Sumter County, Alabama,” a tribute to the historic community of powerful singers from that region.
For more information, and to sign up, please visit The Lost Child’s new Patreon page. (You can also knock out some holiday shopping by giving a 12-month subscription to a friend or family member.) Please know that your contribution will directly support original, creative, fiercely local radio, helping cover the cost of bringing new(/old) music and research to the airwaves each week. I can’t thank you enough for your support, but I’ll try: it’ll be a good year of radio, and I’ll be working hard to make these monthly mailings something meaningful and unique.
By the way / while I’m here — I apologize that it’s been such a slow year on this blog, with very occasional posts. Most of my writing time this year has been devoted to wrapping up my book, and the website has gone largely neglected. But hopefully there will be some good / big / long-awaited news on the book front in a few months — so stay tuned.
(When I say “long-awaited,” by the way, I really mean by me: this spring will mark ten years since I started writing this thing.)
In the meantime, here’s another piece of good news, and another worthy cause to support: a beloved magazine, The Old-Time Herald, has just launched its shiny new digital platform online. My (long!) story on the music of Alabama Governor “Big” Jim Folsom — a story which began with short posts on this blog, then led me down all sorts of rabbit holes, and finally appeared in full in The Old-Time Herald‘s print edition, last winter — is available to subscribers on the new site. There are several subscription options, both for the print and online versions; you can access the full site for as little as $15 a year, which is a genuine steal. The Folsom story is my own favorite thing I’ve written in a while, and I’m grateful to the OTH for allowing writers like me the space to tell complex, unlikely stories like this one.
That’s all for now. Once more, here’s the link for supporting The Lost Child; many thanks for considering. Until next time, keep yourself healthy, stay safe, and be kind. Happy holiday season to you.
BURGIN MATHEWS 
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