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About The Artist
But World War II was a part of the national history at that time and before long the group broke up with several of the members entering the military service for their country. Dusty went on to work with another famed New England act, Smiling Bill Waters and was heard over WHEB in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Over the years, he performed for listening audiences over numerous stations in the New England area He later appeared with Clyde Joy and the Country Folks on Channel 8, Poland Springs, Maine, and WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire. He currently is a guest on WNGN, the Northeast Gospel Network, Buskirk, NY.
In the early 1940's he and Clyde Joy worked together as a duet. They were billed as the Dixie Yodelers. Dusty had a regular column in the old National Hillbilly News publication where he would keep folks up to date with the country acts who were based in New England. He noted that Clyde was one of the 'best yodelers in New England' at the time and yodeling his way into the hearts of their radio listeners. In 1945, they were on WFEA out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with shows at 6:35am and 10:45am each day. The artists would often talk of the mail response they got from their shows. Dusty notes that to their surprise, they got a note from a listener in Kansas, and they were only on a small 5,000 watt station at the time!
Later in 1946, Richard H. Keeler wrote in his column of New England news for Mountain Broadcast and Prairie Recorder that Clyde and Dusty had gone their separate ways. Clyde had signed on to work with Ed Parsley. On June 11, 2006 he was awarded the Pioneer Award at the Indian Ranch in Webster, MA. Many of the earlier country singers were there, including Johnny White, Georgia Mae, Kenny Roberts, and Tommy Cash (brother of the late Johnny Cash).
In 1949, Claude J. Dugay reported that Dusty and his wife Bonnie were entertaining folks over WFEA at 6:45am each day as well as doing numerous appearances with Clyde Joy over WLAW in Lawrence, Massachusetts. After many years in country music, Dusty attended Bible College and was ordained as a Baptist minister on January 6, 1964. He is the founder of the Calvary Baptist Church in Hanson, Massachusetts and co-founder (with Ivan Smith) of the Windham Bible Chapel in Windham, New Hampshire. Dusty and his son Jay Cal and his daughter Cheryl Darlene are now very active doing Gospel concerts. The family has recorded several audio cassettes and cds. In November of 1986, Dusty and Bonnie's daughter, Cheryl Darlene Ehrlich, wrote a poem for them. Country Shows
He currently lives in Cambridge, New York and still appears as a guest on various country programs. And perhaps Cal would like to leave us with the sentiments he expressed in closing his 1945 letter to the editor: "So long until we meet again, I'd like to say ... so long, yodels of luck, keep smilin', the best of everything to ya, yours with a smile and song... Dusty Cal Witham."
To purchase Cal's CD, send a check or money order for $15 to:
Credits & Sources
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