I Think I Just Found The Oldest Known Minor League Baseball Recording! (Milwaukee Brewers 1938)

I recently stumbled upon what is believed to be the oldest known recording of a minor league baseball game and it just so happens to be from a game of the 1938 American Association's Milwaukee Brewers (from whom the current Brewers got their Barrelman logo)! Pretty rad that it's just been tucked away in the UW Archives broadcast transcription disc collection all these years. I'm currently digitizing that collection and our own UW Libraries just published a cool piece about that disc, the discovery, the digitization, and audio restoration involved. Should you want to hear or see it, peep this article: https://www.library.wisc.edu/.../10/27/out-of-left-field/

And of course, it's a pretty special find given the current moment as the major league Milwaukee Brewers go for their first ever World Series victory again tonight. I guess that's why I'm on Madison TV again today. Thanks to Christopher Hawbaker and Channel 3000 for the story and rad vintage Borchert field video footage to go along with the disc! https://www.channel3000.com/news/rare-1938-recording-captures-milwaukees-baseball-fandom/article_6a3fe459-f1fe-466c-a338-e8ccbccaf6eb.html

Flower Show on Back to the Country 10/14 via WORT FM

Do you love flowers? I love flowers. Butterflies and bees love flowers. My wife Rachel loves flowers, too, and she's been planting and growing many of our favorites all summer (see photos of her exceptional yardwork below).

Many classic country musicians love flowers, too, and tomorrow morning I'll be back on WORT hosting Back to the Country and spinning a garden full of classic country goodness for all my anthophile friends. Plant ya now and dig ya later! Wednesday 10/14 9 am-noon (cst) on 89.9FM and streaming at wortfm.org! 

Baseball Special on WORT FM tomorrow 10/7/2026

Howdy friends! Tomorrow I'll again be hosting Back to the Country on WORT FM and, as you likely know, baseball is very much on my mind. The Milwaukee Brewers are in the playoffs and crushing. The Stardazers and I have been playing Brewers-songs-only gigs. I'm still writing new Brewers-themed songs every week. And at work this week I just uncovered what might be the very earliest recording of a Milwaukee Brewers (then American Association minor league) radio broadcast from 1938!

It's been two and a half years since I've done a baseball-themed show so I think it's time again. I'll bring my guitar to the station and sing you some of my new Brewers songs. I just digitized the Brewers 1938 WHA 16" lacquer disc and will play some of my favorite Alan Hale broadcast snippets from it (they were giving out cases of Wisconsin sauerkraut, corn, and green beans to the players if they got specific base hits in certain innings!). I've got lots of great records queued up about baseball. And I'll also play some of my favorite tunes sung by the major league Milwaukee Brewers legends!

Go Baseball! Go Brewers! Go WORT FM! And of course, let's go Back to the Country! It goes down tomorrow morning (10/7) from 9am-noon CST and streaming via the app and web (wortfm.org).

Beer Barrel Polka Gets 8+ Million Listens And I'm Now A Viral Sensation!

This past weekend my nephew Ethan informed me that my version of "Beer Barrel Polka," from our recent Fear the Beer Brewers project, has officially gone viral. I didn't believe him at first, but apparently it's a very popular backing track for "beer-themed" Instagram reels. In terms of views last week, it was second only to some Luke Combs song, and one of those reels alone has more than 8.6 million views! Whoa! Hot damn! Thanks again for the heads up, Ethan!

I couldn't wait to login to distrokid to find out just how much my newfound viral celebrity status paid out. Turns out, it's $1.30 and I have to fill out a W-2 to get it. Not quite what I expected, but maybe Luke Combs will hire Nate Gibson & the Stardazers as his opening act?

Beer! Beer! Beer! We Want Beer! On Back To The Country via WORT 89.9fm 8/12/26

Howdy Friends, tomorrow morning I'll again be hosting Back to the Country on WORT FM and the theme this week is Beer. Thanks to my pal Brad Serdan, who works at the Miller brewery, I just recently received this amazing LP filled with beer. It's a fun listen and it also got me thinking about all the great classic country music songs about beer.

But I'm also thinking about all of the not-so-great country songs about beer. And how most of the drinking songs in country music are actually about wine, moonshine, whiskey, tequila, "drinking" (generally), or getting "drunk/high." But how many good classic country songs are explicitly about beer? Well, actually, quite a lot.

I'll play three hours of the good ones tomorrow morning, including this here record filled with the High Life and Dive Bar Sounds! Hopefully by then we'll know how the WI primary election turned out and some folks may also want to drink a few beers during the show! Either way, be sure to VOTE today and TUNE IN tomorrow! 89.9fm in southern WI or streaming at wortfm.org.

A Radio Love Letter To Bloomington, IN on Back To the Country (WORT 89.9FM) 7/8/26

Howdy Friends. I'll be hosting Back to the Country on WORT again tomorrow morning (7/8) and this week I'll be playing three hours of my very favorite country music from Bloomington, Indiana.

I lived in Bloomington for close to seven years while attending graduate school and in addition to working on my PhD in folklore and ethnomusicology and teaching courses on country music and songwriting, Bloomington is also where I got truly serious about my record collecting efforts (out of financial necessity). It's also where I played in dozens of super fun bands and heard hundreds more great ones. It was a creative music community like no other and I keep a lot of this music close to my heart!

In the past I've done shows about the classic country music in my previous hometowns of St. Louis, Boston, and Helsinki, and I'm super excited to share with y'all my Radio Love Letter To Bloomington tomorrow morning! Tune in via 89.9 FM or streaming at www.wortfm.org

Wisconsin shows for Nate Gibson and the Stardazers 7/3 (High Noon Saloon-Madison) and 8/12 (Sh*tty Barn-Spring Green)

Madison/WI friends, the Stardazers and have got two shows coming up fast and we'd love to see you there! The first show is this Friday, July 3rd, at the High Noon Saloon Patio. It's two sets. It's 5:30-7:30pm. It's outdoors. It's free. It's our only Madison, WI date on the books this year. And it's always a blast. Did the venue get our name wrong after playing there almost every summer for the last six years? Yup, but you don't have to. We're called Nate Gibson and the Stardazers.

https://high-noon.com/event/nate-gibson-and-the-stargazers/

Also, and I'm super excited about this, Nate Gibson & the Stardazers will be playing the Sh*tty Barn in Spring Green, WI with local faves Ladyslipper on Wednesday August 12th! Yes, it's still six weeks away, BUT tickets go on sale this Wednesday, July 1st, and they almost always sell out! If you've never been to the barn which can't be named on the radio, it's an incredibly intimate venue w/ great food, good beer, and a strong community vibe. We'd love to see you there! New songs. New clothes. Same great sound. Ticket link is here:

https://shittybarnsessions.com/show/466