Country Continues to Care
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2/7/2008 In the most recent move in the fight against childhood cancer, leading Nashville country radio station 98 WSIX (97.9) devoted their airwaves to collecting deserving donations for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. “St. Jude research doesn’t just benefit the children who walk through the doors of the hospital, but kids everywhere—in the United States and around the world. I’m a direct beneficiary of that research,” says recording artist Kevin Sharp, a cancer survivor. WSIX is also featuring a charity auction of several autographed items. For more information on how to help or to see those listings, please visit www.wsix.com/pages/stjradiothon.html The station's hosting of this radiothon continues until the end of the broadcast at midnight tonight. Among the programming geared towards the special event are calls and recorded messages from families affected by cancer, emotional song choices such as "One More Day" by Diamond Rio, and of course encouragement by the radio personalities to give in the quest for a cure. WSIX is one of hundreds of stations across the country now carrying the marathon, which is in its 19th year. (However, the Hospital itself has been actively involved in radiothon fundraising for more than 30 years). Hundreds of radio stations across the country have helped raise more than $315 million for the life-saving work of St. Jude, and the St. Jude family of partner stations continues to expand, even to other music genres. Highlighting the importance of this year's event is a new song by Randy Owen called "Braid My Hair," Randy's solo debut single. It shares a truly unique and moving outlook from the view of someone dealing with cancer. Randy played a vital role in establishing Country Cares in 1989, and he tells that how he came to find and record the song is itself a miracle - recently revealing to Country Music Across America that his mom constantly gets music from those who hope Randy will record it - but out of all those, "Braid My Hair" is the first one to ever make her tell Randy "You should listen to this." “I listened to the song four or five times and thought, ‘wow, what a song,’” Randy recalls. “The song is so real, and I’ve seen this lived out time and time again with the kids at St. Jude. It’s an incredible story done in song.” "Braid" is written by Chris Gray and Brent Wilson. Everyone involved has agreed to donate 100% of the publishing royalties to St. Jude, with a portion of sales benefiting them too. Randy and the story of the song will be featured on CMT Insider this weekend. Airtimes are: (in CST)
