February 28, 2014
O.J. Sikes is a Western music historian and nationally syndicated reviewer of Western music. Since 2001, he’s had his own Internet radio show called “Western Music Time.” In 2005, he was honored by the Western Music Association for preservation and continuation of Western music. He had a 30-year career with the United Nations, mostly as a branch chief with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). He and his wife Elena have lived in Leonia for 39 years. They have two grown sons, O.J. and Len, both of whom are LHS graduates, and two grandsons. “Unbuckle your spurs and join us in a good cup of cowboy coffee.”
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I was the oldest of three children. We grew up in Albemarle, N.C., a mill town with several textile mills. My mom taught first grade; my dad was a textile engineer for a division of Cannon Mills.
Q: What were you most interested in as a child?
A: Indians. Like most kids back then, I watched cowboy movies every Saturday, but when I was 9 or 10, I read the biographies of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull and I became hooked. For a couple of summers, my parents sent me to a camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains where a Sioux Indian, “Chief Red Dawn” taught us about Indian costumes, dances and customs. It was an amazing experience.
Q: When did you first get interested in Western (cowboy) music?
A: In 1960, while in college, I got a job with security at the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Colorado Springs. The Sons of the Pioneers came in to entertain the scouts, and I fell in love with their version of “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.” It’s now my radio theme song.
Q: What did you study in college?
A: My degree from Vanderbilt was in sociology, with a minor in anthropology. The most interesting project I had involved researching the Inca civilization of Peru. After graduating in 1963, I joined the newly-formed Peace Corps, hoping I’d be sent to Peru.
Q: Where did you serve in the Peace Corps?
A: On the application, I listed Peru as the only country of interest, and fortunately, that’s where I was sent. After three months of language and survival skills training in Denver and Puerto Rico, I arrived in Puno, Peru, a remote, mountainous (12,600 foot) area near the Bolivian border nicknamed “the Siberia of Peru.” It was a fantastic two years. I loved everything but the national dish cuy, (roasted guinea pig). I also met my wife Elena there. She grew up on an hacienda a few hours from Machu Picchu and was attending university in Puno. We married in August 1965. My family flew down for the wedding. We’ve been married 48 years.
Q: Why did you move to Leonia?
A: While still living in Paris, I was offered a job with UNFPA in New York. A Columbia University professor passing through Paris stopped by the office to discuss population education and said, “If you’re wondering about where to live, think about Leonia. I know a professor there who’s going on sabbatical for a year. I’m sure he’d let you stay in his house.” So we spent a year in a lovely house on Howard Terrace. We had two kids by then, one 7 and 1 a year old. I grew up in a small town and wanted my boys to grow up in one. We loved the town and Anna C. Scott School. In 1976, we purchased our first home on Westview. Leonia was a great place for children to grow up.
Q: What was the most memorable meeting in your career with UNFPA?
A: I’ve met presidents, princesses and prime ministers, most only briefly. I’ve even met Roy Rogers! But my meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1994, at her residence in Islamabad, was most meaningful. I represented UNFPA and the aim of our discussions was to promote the education of girls. She agreed to support our initiative. I think the fact that thousands of Pakistani girls came to the defense of Malala last year shows that the door Bhutto opened has made an impact.
Q: How did you get started with your radio show?
A: In 2001, Will Hutchins, a cowboy actor (the “Sugarfoot” TV series) suggested that I get into radio when I retired that year. At a backyard barbecue in Leonia, I mentioned the radio idea to my neighbor, Norm Blagman. Norm, a musician and songwriter himself, invited me to record a demo tape at his recording studio. I sent the tape to a website in Boston and the owner loved it.
Q: How can we listen to your show?
A: My one-hour show is on KKRN.ORG, an FM station in California, which broadcasts the show on Saturday afternoons and archives the shows so people can also listen any time. The 2-hour version is on EarsRadio.com, a website based in Florida. I play Western music recordings and tell stories about the songs, musicians and composers. My listeners range from office workers to truck drivers, from members of the Armed Forces on duty overseas to wranglers gathered around a computer in the bunkhouse. I also have a lot of listeners outside the U.S., especially in Europe.
Q: How did you learn these stories?
A: Mostly first-hand, at an annual get-together of Western actors and musicians in Tucson, Ariz. I met a lot of the old-timers and learned their stories. Most have passed on, but there has been a revival in Western music. Kacey Musgraves, who recently won two Grammys for country music, got her start as a youngster singing Western music.
Q: What’s the difference between Western music and country music?
A: Western music is about the outdoors: horses, cattle, ranches, sunsets, deserts. Examples are “Home on the Range,” “Cool Water,” and “Don’t Fence Me In.” Country music is about what goes on indoors.
Q: How many Western LPs and CDs do you own?
A: Thousands! I also have a huge collection of Big Band music, another interest since high school.
Q: Were your sons interested in cowboys and Indians?
A: When our younger son Len was nine, we took a family trip out west. We flew to Rapid City, S.D., and traveled to Deadwood, Custer’s Battlefield, Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, Wyo. I bought cowboy hats for the boys and we attended a couple of rodeos. They were in heaven! At the big rodeo in Jackson Hole, kids under 15 could participate in a “calf scramble” where you win by removing a ribbon from a running calf’s neck. Len signed up, and lined up across the arena with about 20 other kids, all bigger and older than he was. Surprisingly, he caught the calf and won the contest!
Q: Do you have a favorite travel destination?
A: I’ve worked in 55 countries and traveled to a few more, so it’s hard to pick just one.
Q: Are your grandsons interested in cowboys, Indians and western music?
A: The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a special exhibit on bronze sculptures of the American West this month. On March 8, they’re having a family day with real live cowboys and Indians. We’ll be there!
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