HIRAM
HIGSBY Hiram
Higsby was a multitalented entertainer known as "radio's
original rube." Higsby, a Kansas native, got his
start in 1924 while still in high school, performing
on KFBI in Milford, Kansas, as part of the McOwen Hillbillies.
Three years later, Higsby was on Topeka's WIBW, where
he got the call to become a regular on the National
Barn Dance on WLS, Chicago. Higsby then came to Kansas
City and began a 15-year association with KMBC and
the "Brush Creek Follies."Along with announcing,
telling jokes, and playing straight man to the show's
comics, Higsby was a singer, guitarist, and harmonica
player. He also served as a Follies staff writer, hosted
other KMBC programs, and was a serious musicologist,
amassing a large collection of traditional American
sheet music. In the '40s, Higsby left Kansas City and
the Follies for the similarly named and formatted "Bluff
Creek Roundup" on Oklahoma City's KOMA. Higsby
returned to KMBC and the Brush Creek Folliesin the
1950s, with the demise of live radio. The next 20 years
found Higsby working at country radio stations from
Kansas to Canada, hosting a kids' TV show in Tulsa
as Uncle Hiram, and, in 1974, celebrating his 50th
year in country music. Higsby died in 1975 at age 66.Hiram
Higsby was inducted into the Country Music D J Hall
of Fame in 1995.
