Louisiana Hayride

The world reknown Louisiana Hayride, known as "Cradle of the Stars", first hit the KWKH airwaves on April 3, 1948. The line up for that inaugural broadcast included: the Bailes Brothers, Johnnie and Jack and the Tennessee Mountain Boys with Kitty Wells, the Four Deacons, Curley Kinsley, the Tennessee Ridge Runners, Harrie Smith, the Ozark Mountaineers, the Mercy Brothers and Texas and the Texas Playboys.

Horace Logan was the shows original Producer and emcee and the program was broadcast from the Municipal Auditorium in dowtown Shreveport, LA. Inspired by and modeled on such seminal "barn dance" radio programs as the famed Grand Ole Opry from Nashville and the WLS Barn Dance out of Chicago, the Hayride evolved into a true phenomenen. From it's earliest days, the Hayride featured performances by a string of legendary artists such as Hank Williams (who first appeared in August of 1948), Johnny Cash, The Willburn Brothers, Webb Pierce, Jim Reeves, Faron Young, Johnny Horton, Nat Stuckey, Maggie Lewis, Claude King, Merle Kilgore, David Houston, Maddox Brothers and Rose and even the King himself, Elvis Pressley (first appearing on October 14,1954.

During it's heydey the Hayride was broadcast nationwide and, for a time, was even heard overseas on Armed Forces Radio (Source: http://www.louisianahayride.com/history.htm)