Sync

If you’d told Paula Morell five years ago that she’d be producing and hosting a weekly radio show, she’d have thought you were crazy.

Not that she didn’t want to, mind you. At the time she was putting out Tales from the South, now in its sixth year, as a monthly broadcast of real Southerners telling real stories of their lives on KUAR here in Little Rock. But working three jobs already, there just wasn’t time for anything more.

“The funny thing is, I never sat down and said ‘I’m going to do a radio show,’” said Morell, who explained that even the initial broadcast was something of a happy accident. She was an English professor at the time, teaching online for a university in Florida. A colleague out of San Francisco pitched an idea for a show and was looking for good stories to tell. That show never came through, but Morell said in the end she had 10 good stories she’d scrounged up and nowhere to tell them. So she cold called KUAR to pitch a one-time broadcast.

They liked the idea and wanted something weekly from the get-go, but Morell said time, more than anything, was a factor. The stories going on the air needed editing (both then and now), and that takes time — more time than could be given to a weekly volunteer effort.

So, for five years, the show was monthly, featuring three to four stories per episode. They weren’t always by professional writers. From the beginning a central tenant of the show has been to just let regular folks tell their tales, stories that often resonate with commonality of experience.

“We very rarely reject stories (though we do get backlogged and have to close submissions at times), because that’s not what this project is about. It’s about giving people a chance to tell their stories,” said Morell. “I’ve hardly ever, in six years, seen a story without a gem in there somewhere.”

It was partly for that reason that, last fall, the show had won fans with a little financial backing. Tentatively, they took the long-pondered step to become a weekly broadcast for 16 weeks. The results were impressive enough that long-term support was offered via sponsorship from North Little Rock’s William F. Laman Public Library. They formally adopted the project and brought Morell on staff to run it, with a budget and people to help.

“It’s just been amazing,” said Morell of the past month. “It was that missing piece of the puzzle,” she said, describing how, as an independent project, time had to be split between working on the project itself and fundraising for it. Now, money is secured and the focus can be on the program, which will tape 44 times and air every week this year, sometimes as “best of” episodes during summer and winter taping breaks.

Additionally, the show will continue a feature that began with the weekly format in the fall, a recurring segment called the Tin Roof Project. In it, higher profile storytellers are brought on to tell their tales. Not always writers, the list of guests so far includes Grif Stockley, Suzi Parker, Mara Leveritt, and Lawrence Hamilton. Taped on the first Tuesday in January, the episode that will air tomorrow night features Janis Kearney, a publisher, author and educator who worked as the personal diarist for President Bill Clinton. Her often funny, sometimes sad, but ultimately uplifting short story, written for the broadcast, deals with her relationship with her mother. Growing up as one of 19 children in the rural Delta, it wasn’t always the most peaceful of relationships. At this Tuesday’s taping, the guest was award-winning garden and lifestyle designer P. Allen Smith. His story will air Thursday, March 3.

But whether the names are recognizable or not, Morell said she’s excited to see the show taking off. In addition to Laman, sponsorship and distribution has skyrocketed, with the show being picked up on the World Radio Network, a satellite service reaching 130 million listeners. Additionally, the show just signed with the Public Radio Exchange, a sort of clearing house for public radio where stations can pick up the program without the producers having to sell it to them directly. In short, said Morell, 2011 is shaping up to be a groundbreaking year.

“This has always been a pet project of mine,” she said, “so I’m thrilled that people enjoy it and see the benefit of it.”

ON THE AIR:

Tales from the South airs locally on KUAR, FM 89.1, every Thursday at 7 p.m. Tapings are every Tuesday at Starving Artist Cafe, 411 Main St., North Little Rock, with doors opening at 5 p.m., live music at 6 p.m., and the show beginning at 7 p.m. Admission is free; reservations are suggested. Tin Roof shows on the first Tuesday of each month include a ticketed dinner. Dinner tickets are purchased and distributed by sponsors. For more information, visit www.talesfromthesouth.com.

UPCOMING SHOWS:

Taping Tuesday, March 29: A special partnership show with the Susan G. Komen foundation will exclusively feature stories of breast cancer survivors. Submissions are currently open. Taping will be at the Argenta Community Theater.

Airing Thursday, March 3: Tin Roof Project featuring P. Allen Smith.

Taping Tuesday, April 12: An episode presented in conjunction with the Arkansas Literary Festival will feature three prize-winning stories submitted in response to a specific prompt on the Tales from the South website. Each winning story will receive $100. Submissions are currently open.

Taping Tuesday, April 19 and 26: Special shows featuring stories of the Greatest Generation, presented in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Humanities. Storytellers will all be born between 1910 and 1925. Tapings at Starving Artist Cafe and in Arkadelphia, respectively. Submissions are currently open.