Each weekday morning, Ray Macklin, known as “Silky Ray” in the blues music world, helps Marion wake up with soulful vocals, sliding guitar riffs and syncopated rhythm.
“Good morning, good morning,” Macklin announced over the air on a recent Tuesday morning as he cued up a setlist of blues songs. “It’s TruBlues, baby.”
The local FM station, WDIF, played rock music for around 20 years, but was struggling to stay afloat. So nearly a decade ago it made a bold decision: to embrace soul music. Macklin helped usher in the distinct sound when he became a host at TruBlues975 in 2016.
“Marion is a rock 'n' roll country town. And when we first went on the air, people were like, ‘Oh no, it's not going to make it’,” Macklin recalled from his host chair. “Well, second year, everybody started listening and our listenership went up, not just in Marion, but overseas.”
Now around 4,500 people out of Marion’s population of around 35,000 listen daily. Part of that is the rarity of the station’s existence: they’re the only all-blues station in the state, according to Macklin. But he believes the real reason the genre survives here is because the people in Marion need its emotional release.
“We’ve had factories close and move. But the people in Marion are so resilient … Blues tends to release things that's in your soul. It's deep down inside of you. And you feel it. It pulls it out,” Macklin said.
Ohio blues history
Blues music was the mostly melancholic forerunner to rock ‘n’ roll and R&B, pioneered by the likes of B.B. King, Muddy Waters and Ma Rainey.
In his broadcasts, Macklin draws on Ohio’s rich history with soul music. Famous blues players came to record their music at King Records in Cincinnati. In the ‘60s, big name acts stopped in rural Ohio at The Hines Farm Blues Club, a premiere soul spot outside of Toledo. And a number of blues legends were born in Ohio, like singer and saxophonist Benjamin “Bull Moose” Jackson and the so-called Queen of Blues, Mamie Smith.
These artists helped the state develop its own unique sound, Macklin said.
“Ohio has a jump swing feel as far as their blues was concerned,” Macklin said. “Piano and a strong bass line. That's Ohio blues.”
The future of blues
But the station doesn’t just want to reminisce on the past. They also want to be part of its future.
“We want to keep the blues alive,” said Scott Shawver, TruBlues975’s general manager and early morning host.
The station organizes a blues festival each summer, with acts from across the region, and it launched the nonprofit “Marion Makes Music” to pass on the love of soul to the next generation. They donate instruments to schools and families and offer free music lessons.
The organization has helped young teenagers, like Sophia Raimo, to find their passion. Raimo said drum lessons have opened up a world of possibility for her. She even started her own band, called Uprising, with other 14-year-olds who like to play.
“When I started playing, I just felt amazing, like I could do anything I wanted without limit,” Raimo said. “If I didn't have connections with [Marion Makes Music], I wouldn't be the drummer I am today.”
Right now, Raimo and her friends are mostly interested in playing rock n’ roll. But that doesn’t bother Shawver.
“I know that somewhere down the line they're going to realize that all of the rock and roll music that they're playing has its beginnings with the blues,” Shawver said.
And once they do, Shawver said the station is right there, waiting for them.
