Today will be Jim Schwall’s last official day of hosting the popular Tuesday morning Folk Show “For The Sake of the Song”. Schwall will continue to sit in occasionally, but new voices will be filing the Tuesday morning slot on a regular basis.
Jim Schwall first came to WORT in 1994, originally hosting a Wednesday morning Classical music show called “Concert of the Century” and later moving to Thursday morning to host the Classical Music show “Variations on a Theme” highlighting 20th century classical music. When John Fabke moved out of Wisconsin in the Fall of 2010 and left his Folk program “Pastures of Plenty,” Jim quickly stepped up and made the show his own, changing the name to “For The Sake of the Song,” and focusing on singer-songwriters.
Jim Schwall grew up in Chicago where in 1964 he joined together with Corky Siegel to form the popular Siegel-Schwall Band. The award-winning blues powerhouse continued until 1974, be has reassembled for several successful reunion concerts. Jim moved to Madison, Wisconsin where he taught in the public schools and got a degree in composing from the University of Wisconsin. He also ran for mayor in 2002 and has served on WORT’s Board of Directors and the station’s programming committee.
Jim’s real love is performing. Today he regularly appears with several Madison bands – sharing his years of knowledge and experience with many younger musicians in a wide variety of styles. During his five years of hosting “For The Sake of the Song” on WORT, Jim would always bring in local up-and-coming artists to share their talents live on the air.
We look forward to seeing Jim back in the WORT studios on a regular basis, as well as on stage at clubs and festivals around our listening area.