Rural TV - now on Sky

Campbell 'Doc' Mercer (mandolin), of the Cumberland Highlanders, with Dr Ralph Stanley and former Blue Grass Boys Wayne Lewis and Clarence 'Tater' Tate

Thanks to Dave Byrne of 'Byrne's Country' radio fame for news of the Rural TV channel, which features bluegrass and classic country music among many other things likely to interest BIB readers.

The station, which became available in Europe this month on Sky 279 and Freesat 403, is the international dimension of RFD-TV, which was founded to provide 24-hour TV for rural America. In extending coverage to the UK, Europe, and beyond, RFD-TV founder Patrick Gottsch says:

The love of horses, the joy of collecting and restoring old tractors, the desire to produce better crops and animals, the love for traditional country music, the excitement of competition, the commitment to leave this earth in better shape than when you arrived, are all international bonds. Rural people have more in common than they are different.

Regular features include the Kentucky-focused 'Bluegrass & backroads' (on tonight at 5.00 p.m.), showings of the classic 'Hee Haw' series, the Porter Wagoner and Wilburn Brothers Shows, guest appearances by such artists as Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, and the Cumberland Highlanders (above).