A good Musician A Good Guy A Good Friend every Saturday Night..........He'll be missed here.
http://www.pagewilson.com/Page Wilson, musician and radio host, dies at 56
Page Wilson was known for always being a friend to struggling musicians.
By RANDY HALLMAN
Published: March 16, 2011
Talk to those who knew Page Wilson, and the theme emerges. He loved his music, but he loved people even more. He spent his life helping other musicians and anybody else who needed a han
Miah Page Wilson was found dead at his Hanover County home Tuesday. Police said Mr. Wilson died of natural causes. He was 56.
Mr. Wilson had been the host for his "Out of the Blue Radio Revue" for decades, most recently at central Virginia's public radio station, WCVE. In addition to providing exposure and support for musicians, he was a master of ceremonies and organizer for festivals and benefits.
A singer-songwriter, Mr. Wilson was a masterful guitarist and had a powerful bass voice. He had toured with his own band, Reckless Abandon, and played and sang with others.
His brother, Paul D. Wilson of Hanover County, said Mr. Wilson was always a friend to struggling musicians.
"He would try to bring them to the public and let them hear their music. He was looking for the up-and-coming musician, trying to be a star — or the dropped-out musician on the way down."
Musician Janet Martin of Richmond said Mr. Wilson supported her music from the beginning of her career 16 years ago.
"He reached out to me and invited me to come on his program," Martin said. "He always supported me 1,000 percent." He called Mr. Wilson's death is "a tragic loss for the Richmond music community, for the radio community and for myself personally."Mr. Wilson attended the University of Richmond but left in the 1970s.
He spent time in Nashville, Tenn., his brother said, but found the music scene there too commercial. Eventually, he came back to Virginia.
"I used to tell him that's how you paid the bills — commercialism," said Paul Wilson. "But that just wasn't his approach."
Tim Timberlake, a former radio host for a popular morning show in Richmond, was a longtime friend of Mr. Wilson's. He said Mr. Wilson's radio show was "theater of the mind" that created the illusion of an at-home gathering of musicians.
"It was like people sitting around the kitchen table at his Chickahominy Swamp house, eating, drinking, talking and playing music."
Kevin McGranahan worked alongside Mr. Wilson on the radio show and at venues such as Richmond's Irish Festival and the St. Baldrick's benefit at which Mr. Wilson annually shaved his long hair to support cancer patients.
On his radio show, Mr. Wilson said he promoted "purebred American mongrel music." McGranahan said that term took in a wide swath — country, bluegrass, zydeco, rock'n'roll, folk.
Mr. Wilson struggled financially and physically himself in the past few years. Martin and many other musicians and friends held a 2008 benefit concert called "Party for Page" to assist their longtime patron.
Even then, when his fortunes had turned for the worse, he was thinking of ways to help others. At his insistence, 10 percent of the event's proceeds went to Positive Vibe Café, which provides employment for the disabled.
In addition to his brother, survivors include a daughter, Virginia Blue Wilson of Hanover; another brother, Stephen L. Wilson of Richmond; and a sister, Laurann Whetham of Luttrell, Tenn.
Plans for a memorial service have not yet been made, Paul Wilson said.
I WAS A FAN AND I MISS THIS GUY............
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