Luzerne County Historical Society receives donation

of COVID-19 interviews from radio host 

The Luzerne County Historical Society receives a donation of 19 recorded interviews focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. The interviews, which were conducted by radio show host Alan K. Stout, discussed how COVID-19 has affected the local arts, entertainment and musical community. Shown, from left: Mark J. Riccetti Jr., director of operations and programs, Luzerne County Historical Society; Alan K. Stout, radio host, The River; Mary Walsh, interim executive director, Luzerne County Historical Society.
  

WILKES-BARRE - The Luzerne County Historical Society, which is hoping to preserve the oral history of the COVID-19 crisis, recently received a donation of 19 recorded interviews focusing on the pandemic. The interviews, which were conducted by Alan K. Stout, discussed how COVID-19 has affected the local arts, entertainment and musical community. Stout is a radio show host with The River. (100.7-FM. 103.5-FM, 104.9-FM) 

Stout covered arts and entertainment for The Times Leader and The Weekender from 1992-2011. His weekly music column, "Music On The Menu" appeared in The Times Leader from 1994-2005 and in The Weekender from 2005-2011. He continues to contribute occasional stories to both publications as a freelance writer. Stout's weekly radio show, also called "Music On The Menu," has aired every Sunday night since 2004. The show was put on hiatus on March 29 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the closing of Mohegan Sun Pocono, from where the program is broadcast. Shortly thereafter, Stout began conducting phone interviews from home with various people involved in the music scene of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Titled the "Music On The Menu COVID-19 Podcast Interviews," the conversations were posted to the Music On The Menu channel on YouTube and posted to the Music On The Menu page on Facebook. 

"Initially, when we put radio the show on ice for a while, due to COVID-19, I thought I'd just take some time off from Music On The Menu," said Stout. "Between the newspaper column and the radio show, I'd been doing something with local music, every week, for 26 years. But after about two weeks, I guess the old newspaper reporter in me kicked in. I wanted to talk to people. I wanted to interview people. I wanted to see how they were doing, personally, and how all of this was affecting them professionally. Because we'd never seen anything like it." 

The first interview was posted on April 15 and the last on June 1. The series included conversations with Bret Alexander, Jimmy Harnen, A.J. Jump, Bill Kelly, Joe Nardone Jr., Will Beekman, Dustin Douglas, Richie Kossuth, Ellie Rose, Joe Wegleski, Patrick McGlynn, Chris Hludzik, Richard Briggs, Eddie Appnel, Loreen Bohannon, Tom Flannery, Mike "Miz" Mizwinski, Aaron Fink and Michael Cloeren, Most interviews ran 30-40 minutes in length. They have been donated to the Luzerne County Historical Society as a 10-CD set and also in mp3 form. 

"They are timepieces," said Stout. "Some of the first ones were done pretty early on when we were just getting into the stay-at-home orders and everything was shutting down. And, like everywhere else, the affect on the music industry was pretty devastating." 

　 

The interviewees ranged in age from those in their twenties to sixties. Stout says his intent was to talk with not just working musicians, but with people from all walks of life working in the music industry. 

　 

"Quite a few of those that I spoke with were working musicians, and with all of their gigs suddenly being cancelled, they certainly had a unique perspective on everything," said Stout. "Most of them got very creative right away and started doing live web streams from home on social media. But the series wasn't just about musicians. I also talked to people who produced records in local recording studios, and people that managed music venues, both large and small. And so you have A.J. Jump from Karl Hall talking about postponing about 40 shows and Will Beekman from Mohegan Sun Arena talking about postponing concerts and sporting events. Jimmy Harnen, a native of Plymouth, is the president of one of the largest record labels in Nashville, and he shared his perspective. Joe Nardone Jr. talked about the challenges of keeping his record stores in business. Richie Kossuth co-owns a music store and sound company and plays in a band, so he had thoughts on everything. Loreen Bohannon tours the country as a sound technician and all of her summer tours were canceled. Richard Briggs talked about canceling the Briggs Farm Blues Fest. Bret Alexander had played with The Badlees. Aaron Fink had played with Breaking Benjamin. Both were national recording artists and had seen a lot, but nothing like COVID-19." 

Stout says that some of the interviews were done shortly after the passing of Jerry Hludzik, a legendary local musician who had been a member of national acts The Buoys and Dakota. Thus several of the guests in the interview series who had known and worked with Hludzik also shared their thoughts on him. In early June, when most of Northeastern Pennsylvania began to enter the yellow and green phases of re-opening, he felt the series had covered every topic and thus decided to end it at #19. 

　 

"Nineteen seemed like the appropriate number to wrap up the COVID-19 series," said Stout. "When we started, everyone was still a bit shell-shocked by everything that was happening and nobody really knew what direction things were heading. And about six weeks later, when we did the last one, Micheal Cloren, who manages the Penn's Peak concert venue, was talking about trying to put some shows back on the calendar for the fall. There was a light at the end of the tunnel which, hopefully, will remain bright. But there's still a lot of uncertainty." 

　 

The Luzerne County Historical Society appreciates receiving the recordings. 

　 

"This is great donation," said Mark J. Riccetti Jr., director of operations and programs at the Luzerne County Historical Society. "I think it will be a great impetus for future donations, and it also shows that you don't necessarily have to be what we call one of the 'front-line' workers. It doesn't have to be the stories that you see on TV. We're looking to collect any oral histories. We want to know how this affects every single person in the valley." 

　 
Stout says that, through the interviews, he's grateful to have helped play a small role in helping preserve some local history. His weekly radio show will return to the airwaves on August 2. 

　 

"I love the Historical Society," said Stout. "I've worked on some projects with them in the past. And when I saw a post on their Facebook page asking for people to contribute some oral history stories regarding COVID-19, I thought the interviews that I had done might interest them. Granted - they deal mostly with arts, entertainment and music - but their stories are also a part of the story. Everyone, no matter what your profession may be, has a story. And these people from our local music community talked about how the pandemic has affected people's creativity and their livelihoods. And I'm grateful that they took the time to share those stories. 

　 

"Hopefully," he added, "more people from all walks of life will do the same. If you're a doctor or a nurse and you were, or still are, working in the ICU with COVID-19 patients, take 20-30 minutes some night and document your story. If you worked in a supermarket, do the same. If you had COVID-19, or someone close to you did, document it. You can record your thoughts and memories as a voice-memo right on your smart-phone and e-mail it right to the Historical Society. It's easy. And it's something that future generations will certainly be interested in. This has been one of the most significant historical events of our time." 

(For information on submitting COVID-19 stories to the Luzerne County Historical Society, call (570) 823-6244)