Oscar Yates and the Woodchoppers

During the early days of radio in Henderson, listeners did not always hear music from records. Local and traveling musicians often performed live inside WSON’s original studio on Zion Road.

This advertising postcard, believed to date from around 1950, features Oscar Yates and the Woodchoppers. Appropriately posed among freshly cut logs, the four-man country band included two guitarists, a mandolin player and an upright bass player.

The reverse of the card advertised their live WSON program each Saturday morning from 9:30 until 10:00. The band was also “open for engagements,” with anyone wishing to hire them instructed simply to write or call WSON.

WSON began broadcasting on December 17, 1941, and its Zion Road studio soon became a stopping place for country musicians traveling through Henderson on their way to Nashville. Other groups heard locally included Les Smithhart and the Super X Cowboys and Bob Berry and the Country Showboys.

The names of the Woodchoppers standing alongside Oscar Yates have not yet been confirmed.