A company that recorded some of the most vital sounds of American music was the focus of a recent “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Professor Charlie Dahan

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Charlie Dahan, a professor of recording industry, first aired Oct. 24 on WMOT-FM/Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org. You can listen to their conversation below.

Dahan is co-author with Linda Gennett Irmscher of “Gennett Records and Starr Piano,” the story of a Richmond, Indiana-based piano manufacturer that expanded into the production of phonograph records in the early 20th century.

The Gennett label made the music of underrepresented groups in society more readily available to the masses. This included jazz, blues and country music. Jelly Roll Morton, Uncle Dave Macon, Louis Armstrong and Gene Autry were among the artists who recorded for Gennett.

“They had really the only recording studio in the Midwest,” said Dahan, “so they had this sort of vacuum where they were really the ones who could consistently record and were sort of in the right place at the right time to sort of hit upon that hot jazz sound of the 1920s.”

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, visit the searchable “Audio Clips” archives at www.mtsunews.com.

For more information about “MTSU On the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.