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welcome one and all—to a little piece of West Virginia history. Settle back in your chairs, draw up close to the screen, and let us take you back to a time when the music was live, the laughter was real, and Saturday night meant just one thing…

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Now the year was 1938. All across the hills and hollers, folks were tuning in to country music jamborees - shows like the Wheeling Jamboree and the Grand Ole Opry down in Nashville. And right here in Fairmont, West Virginia, radio station WMMN decided it was high time we had a jamboree of our very own.

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​Before that jamboree ever took shape, WMMN had already been sendin’ its friendly voice across these hills for nearly a decade. The station first signed on the air December 22, 1928, from the Fairmont Hotel - and by December of 1938, it had increased its power to 5,000 watts in the daytime, carryin’ music and fellowship farther than ever before.

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That’s when Uncle Nat Royster stepped up, tipped his hat, and said, “Let’s call it the Sagebrush Round-Up.” The name stuck, and before long, the music began.

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Those first shows came straight from the WMMN studio with the first ten scripted by Uncle Nat himself and directed by Murrell Poor, also known to listeners as “The Old Partner”. But friends, the crowds just kept growin’. Soon enough, they packed up the microphones and moved the whole shebang over to the National Guard Armory in Fairmont.

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And every Saturday night, that Armory lit up like a campfire. It met with instant approval, and before long had played to more than 300,000 folks who passed through those Armory doors.

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Folks came from near and far - Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio - some drivin’ close to 200 miles just to hear the music live. And what music it was! Cowboy Loye Pack, Cherokee Sue and Little John Graham, Buddy Starcher, Jake Taylor and his Railsplitters, Hank the Cowhand - and a young fella named Grandpa Jones.

 

Why, they say Grandpa was barely old enough to vote, but he sure knew how to win over a crowd. The fan mail poured in by the sackful.

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There were family bands, gospel songs, comedy skits, novelty acts, and plenty of toe-tappin’ tunes. The Singing Gabbards, Eli Haney, Jimmy James with his trombone - everyone had a place on the stage. WMMN was broadcastin’ live hillbilly music for hours every day, and the Sagebrush Round-Up was the crown jewel.

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By 1940, nearly fifteen hundred folks packed the Armory for a single show. The performers shared in the gate money - fair and square - and the program was even auditioned for the CBS Radio Network. Not bad for a little station tucked into the West Virginia hills.

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The war years came and went, but the music carried on. Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper made WMMN their home base, liftin’ spirits through uncertain times. But after the war, competition grew stiff. By 1948, the lineup had thinned, and on October 2nd of that year, the final original Sagebrush Round-Up signed off the air.

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Now you might think that was the end of the story - but not around here.

Because the show never truly stopped.

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The music continued at the Armory, and before long found a new home at the Fairmont Community Building. The sound of fiddles and guitars never faded from these hills - it simply moved across the road where they raised an outdoor stage, giving the music room to ring out beneath open skies.

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And then, in the years that followed, a few folks with big hearts and a deep love for this music stepped forward. Hard Rock Bunner, Norma “Granny” Blosser, and several others donated land so the legacy could live on. Right there on that ground, they helped build what would become the West Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. 

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Volunteers rolled up their sleeves. They hauled, hammered, and built with nothing but determination and devotion to the sound that shaped these hills.

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the Volkswagen office building located in new stanton, pennsylvania was moved onto the property, giving the Sagebrush Round-Up a permanent home - and anchoring this place as a living landmark of West Virginia’s country music story.​

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Before long, that home became the West Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum - a place to honor the pickers, singers, and storytellers who helped shape our sound. That building opened its doors in 1993, and once again the music had a home of its own.

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Today, you’ll find photos on the walls, instruments in glass cases, and memories tucked into every corner. But best of all, friends, the music still plays.

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Every Saturday night, just like back in the old days, the Sagebrush Round-Up comes alive. There’s an open stage for anyone brave enough to step up, followed by hours of classic country music - played honest, played true.

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It’s family-friendly. It’s smoke-free and alcohol-free. And it’s filled with folks who’ll greet you like they’ve known you all your life. For some, it’s supper with friends. For others, it’s a stage where dreams begin. For everyone, it’s home.

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So if you ever find yourself headin’ up a winding mountain road on a Saturday night, follow the sound of the music. You just might find yourself at the Sagebrush Round-Up - where the past is still singin’, and the radio never really went quiet.