After 55 Years, The Louisiana Hayride Is Coming Back
The Louisiana Hayride is on its way back, and in a big way. Arguably the 2nd most iconic and influential music program in country music history, only rivaled in stature by The Grand Ole Opry, it’s been an effort that has lasted over 20 years and seen a major renovation of the radio program’s original home of The Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana that has put organizers on the brink of bringing the show back to the airwaves after being shuttered for over 55 years.
It’s where Elvis Presley got his start. It was a home for Hank Williams when the Grand Ole Opry admonished him. And no other stage in American music saw the type of talent from not just country, but many forms of American music blossom on its stage.
On Saturday, April 11th, a press conference was held in Shreveport where Louisiana Lt. Governor Jay D’Ardenne, the mayors of both Shreveport and Bossier City, and other organizers and supporters including Billy Bob Thornton gathered to explain their plans for bringing the iconic music institution back.
At the very heart of returning the Louisiana Hayride to its previous prominence has been the head of the Louisiana Hayride Foundation, Maggie Warwick. Known to dedicated classic country music fans as songwriter and performer Margret Lewis who penned “Reconsider Me” and many songs for Jeannie C. Riley, she performed on the Louisiana Hayride when it was still active, becoming a member in 1958, and has worked tirelessly for many years to bring the program back. But first organizers had to save the original home of the Louisiana Hayride, the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, know affectionately to some locals as “The Muni.”

“Well that’s our story. My husband and I, that’s when we started getting involved in the late 80’s,” Maggie Warwick explains to Saving Country Music from Shreveport. “The city had made plans to tear the Municipal Auditorium down. So we intervened in that. My husband did governmental relations for the company he worked for, and he knew a lot of the politicians in Baton Rouge. So he made some phone calls and they got on board, and it was actually the State of Louisiana and our representatives from Shreveport and Bossier region that were able to raise the money to save the building. And we helped in that process all the way through.”
With the historic auditorium preserved, the next step was bringing back the Louisiana Hayride itself, but that would take Maggie Warwick and her husband Alton Warwick many years of legal wrangling.
“We started doing research, started looking into the legal side of it. There was no one that had any legal right to [the name]. It had gone into public domain from the years that had gone by since KWKH had closed it. So we began the process to get all the legalities out of the way, which took way longer than we thought, and much conflict, false claims, people coming out of the bushes. So we had to clear all of the crooks out of the way, and that took us a lot of years. Then we had to deal with political issues here in Shreveport.”
The plan to set out to relaunch the Louisiana Hayride was inspired by a conversation the Warwick’s had with country artist and close friend Merle Kilgore, and Louisiana Hayride organizer Tillman Franks.
“The people who knew each other from the Hayride, we all became lifelong friends. So unfortunately when it was closed down by KWKH, there was a mass exodus out of Shreveport moving to Nashville to get on the Grand Ole Opry. It was a real loss to Shreveport and its cultural quality of life that they had here. It’s become a quest my husband and I tackled years ago at the request of Tillman Franks and Merle Kilgore. One day they came to us when Merle was in town and we all went to lunch. They said, ‘Maggie, you and Alton have to do something to save our music.’ Tillman said, ‘I’m too old, I can’t do it.’ We didn’t know what to say. It was the last thing on our minds, but it became our mission to save the Louisiana Hayride.”
The Louisiana Hayride, which began in 1948 on KWKH, differed from The Grand Ole Opry by allowing young, non-established stars take the stage. This led to the institution launching some artists that otherwise may have never had a chance without the opportunity the show presented. As a performer on the show, Maggie Warwick saw first hand the effects the Louisiana Hayride had on American music.
“It was unrestricted. So many of the great stars that were not accepted on other shows when they first started out were totally embraced by the Louisiana Hayride like Hank and Elvis and Johnny Cash, and all of those artists Sam Phillips cut on Sun Records. And before that, Webb Pierce, Faron Young, Jim Reeves, Tex Ritter, and even Bob Wills played the Hayride many times. The Louisiana Hayride discovered and opened the door to more great stars than any other show of its kind in history. All the styles of music, from the roots music, it all evolved at the Louisiana Hayride. Nobody made them play a certain way. Everyone was free to play the way they wanted. I really credit the producer Horace Logan for that because he encouraged originality, and Tillman [Franks] did too from these young artists in their day. It was a critical part of the evolution of American music. If we had not had the show, I don’t know what would have happened with the styles of music because it influenced them so much. It was an evolution of not just country music, but every style of music was played on the Hayride. It started with country, and then went to the country blues, rockabilly, and rock and roll started at the Hayride too.”
But the organizers insist that the new incarnation of the show won’t simply be a re-enactment or a period piece. Nor will it be turned over to some of today’s country artists who may not symbolize the spirit of what the Louisiana Hayride was all about. They also hope to bring the program back to its previous prominence, and they believe they have the support to do so.
“We want to re-open the show in a real professional manner for television,” says Maggie Warwick. “The Lt. Governor’s office, the new mayor of Shreveport who just took office in January, and the mayor of Bossier City are all supporting this. So we’ve got all the political leadership aligned so we could relaunch it. Joel Katz is our attorney. He represents Willie Nelson, George Strait, The Grammys, the CMA, and he’s done a lot of television negotiations for the CMA and others, so he’s the one that’s working with us to get the deals with a broadcaster. He’s in the process of that right now. We’re also working to get the right producers to produce the show, and we’re recruiting all of that as we speak in pre-production with hoping that September will be a good month to launch it because that’s Hank Williams’ birthday month. We’re shooting for a weekly show. We want to do a TV special first to kick it off, and then follow that with a weekly show.”
Maggie Warwick, originally from Snyder, TX, was first brought to Louisiana at the age of 15 from West Texas by Johnny Horton and Tillman Franks. Tillman was Johnny Horton’s manager at the time. The memories of the music, the camaraderie between the performers, and wanting to rekindle that magic in a modern form is finally paying off after going on three decades of legal wrangling, planning, preparation, and restoration. There’s also plans to open a museum where many of the artifacts and memories from the show can be displayed and preserved.
“At last we have come to a place in time where it has all come together. We want it to be a wide open door where artists of all ages can come and perform.”
April 15, 2015 @ 8:18 am
Interesting stuff. I visited the Municipal Auditorium recently – it’s a beautiful building. good luck to them!
April 15, 2015 @ 8:24 am
I have some cassette tapes of various starts performing on the Hayride from way back, including a very young George Jones, Johnny Cash, Faron Young… Carter Family, the list goes on… How is this new show to be broadcast? just regular terrestrial radio? internet broadcasting? what does “real professional manner for television” mean, exactly?
October 28, 2016 @ 8:10 am
Do you have a tape with the singer, Martha Lawson? She was a regular on the Hayride in the late 40s and early 50s. She was a yodeler. She was my mother. We have lost all recordings of her voice and would love to locate something.
January 11, 2017 @ 10:12 am
Carla:
My name is Joey Kent, owner of recordings from the show. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything by your mom, but I do have one photo of her belting it out on stage. Drop me an email and I’ll send it to you.
April 8, 2019 @ 11:31 am
Mr. Kent, do you have any recordings when the Hayride moved to LA 1 in Bossier City. I performed there more than once, was invited to perform on one of their anniversary broadcast shows on KWKH. I believe your father was still the MC then.
September 3, 2020 @ 6:16 pm
Hello my name is Robert Belcher looking fo pictures of Bill Belcher played with the Son’s of the Pioneer s in the 40 and
50 ‘s that was my Dad my e,mail kd5ouf@yahoo.com
October 26, 2020 @ 7:25 pm
Dear Mr Kent
Do you have a tape with a singer named Fig Newton ? This was my dad’s nickname “Lol”.
He played the piano and sang in 40s and 50s. I was told he was offered to sign with a record
company but turned it down . He died from a stroke at an early age and I would love to hear
anything or see any pictures you may have of him. I would love to share this with my children
and grandchildren. Thank you
April 14, 2023 @ 4:21 pm
What was your dad’s real name? My dad also played on the Hayride in the 50’s and I recall he had a friend named Fig Newton. Cannot remember his real name and not even sure I’d recognize it.
September 10, 2023 @ 10:11 pm
Do you have any recordings or pictures of Alice from Dallas, her son was a guitarist Randy and her daughter Fae was on there too. Thsmks
April 15, 2015 @ 8:32 am
This seems like a very intelligent move, timing wise. If they make an attempt to keep it Country, they could possibly steal some of the Opey’s audience. And that would serve the Oprey right, after all the adultery it’s committed over the past 20 years.
Trigger, do you have any information on what kind of acts they’ll be booking?
April 15, 2015 @ 8:46 am
I think they want to have young artists and old artists that embody the spirit of what The Louisiana Hayride was all about. What specific flavor the lineup will take is the big question right now, and probably won’t be answered until we see who the producer or producers are that Joel Katz can bring on board.
I know there’s probably going to be some folks who will say, “Eh, they’ll just book Cole Swindell and Florida Georgia Line and screw this up like the Opry,” but that’s one the reasons that us as fans need to be engaged in this process and let our opinions be known about what we would like to see from these institutions. The Opry actually has tons of great older country acts on these days, but it’s because many of the younger acts don;t care to play the Opry. If the Louisiana Hayride embodies its original spirit of giving folks a chance other shows won’t, it could become a really important proving ground for a new generation of authentic country talent.
April 15, 2015 @ 8:51 am
Clint: I get your grudge with the Opry, they tried to shaft Stonewall, they let Luke Skinny Jeans on-stage. But the Opry is packed full of our beloved classic artists, most of whom are its members. Obviously they haven’t inducted the FGL guys, thing one and thing two, but the Opry too has to keep current, and they only have so many stars to choose from to try and stay relevant. I’ve brought up Pinky and the Brain before, but do you remember the episode in which Brain writes a country song that brainwashes people and goes on the Opry to use it to take over the world? It ended when he got on the stage of the Opry, and people booed him off yelling “we want to see somebody famous!” As much as we want our friends like Isbell and Sturgill up on that stage, they’re not famous enough, and of the famous people the Opry has to choose from, lots of them are at odds with traditional country music. The Opry needs new stars to keep relevant, but the new stars are at odds with the Opry message, and it just puts the institution in a bad place. what do you think?
April 15, 2015 @ 1:46 pm
Chris janson played the Opry before he had any semblance of a hit personally. Arguably he still doesn’t, but he did have that buy me a boat song that bobby bones played.
April 15, 2015 @ 6:04 pm
As much as we want our friends like Isbell and Sturgill up on that stage, they”™re not famous enough…
Well, Sturgill has already been on the Opry five or six times at this point. In fact, last time he was on he was sandwiched between the two most recent Country Music Hall of Fame inducted acts, and they even let him sing a song about drugs and reptile aliens. 😉
He always seems to get a good response on the show, and I expect he’ll continue to be on when he can.
April 15, 2015 @ 10:24 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj0yV8ZlKMc&feature=youtu.be
April 15, 2015 @ 10:23 pm
Oh my god this is terrific.
April 15, 2015 @ 10:30 pm
I want to send this to everyone I know, but unfortunately, I’m sure most of them have never even heard “Who’s Gonna Feel Their Shoes?” And I don’t want to explain a hundred times that it’s a reference to a George Jones song. Cause then I’ll, once more, be the guy who won’t shut up about how much this new stuff ain’t country and keeps making obscure references to lame old country singers that no one listens to or cares about anymore.
The hell with it, I’m a do it anyway.
April 15, 2015 @ 10:42 am
Wonders what the performance pay will be.
April 15, 2015 @ 12:08 pm
This is awesome. Would that Shreveport-Bossier still had a country music radio station worthy of it. I sure do miss KWKH. Listened to it all the time when I was growing up in Northeast Texas….
April 18, 2015 @ 8:05 pm
Whereabout did you grow up? I’m from Carthage, myself, about 30 minutes from Shreveport.
April 21, 2015 @ 7:05 am
Small world! I grew up in Texarkana, about 70 miles north of Shreveport.
September 24, 2020 @ 5:26 am
I was born in Texarkana, Arkansas 1947and a brother born in Vivian, Louisiana and had the pleasure of meeting and sitting on Hank William lap at the Louisiana Hayride,I don’t remember,my Mom and Dad,took me with them,they couldn’t find a babysitter !!
April 15, 2015 @ 3:13 pm
The bill should include acts like, but not limited to Frank Foster, Wade Reeves, Chris Canterbury, Cody Cooke, Beaux Atkins, El Matador, Jason Boland, and several more like that. A good local feel of local music
April 15, 2015 @ 7:28 pm
This is good news, and an absolutely great idea.
Like everyone else, I’m just curious to know what kinds of artists will be featured on the new shows.
April 16, 2015 @ 12:28 pm
This is great news! I just hope they do it right, and don’t turn it into the “Lousy-anna Hayride”!
April 16, 2015 @ 4:40 pm
It seems to me that a partnership between Louisiana Hayride and NASH ICON would be very beneficial to both groups. Hayride would get their name out to listeners all over the country and NASH ICON would have very cool feature that could attract more listeners to their stations.
April 17, 2015 @ 12:40 pm
This is exciting news. I hope they consider a webcast or other outlet that makes it available outside the area… the equivalent of a broadcast.
April 20, 2015 @ 4:49 pm
Very proud of my hometown. I hope if takes off in a big way. I never got to experience those days but the Hayride is legendary in Shreveport and yet it reminds local music fans of what could have been if only…
Perhaps the timing of this incarnation will generate enough traction to position it for success. It doesn’t hurt that Shreveport is now a casino town and brings in a good share of out-of-towners or that the Hank Williams film, produced in Shreveport, will be released this year.
Who knows, it may bring me back home more often.
August 11, 2015 @ 5:45 am
Maggie: ;your recent music production at the Strand Theatre was a disgrace to the historic name
“THE LOYUISIANA HAYRIDE”. THE NOISE WAS GREAT (YOU COULD NOT HEAR OR UNDERSTAND THE WORDDS OF THE SINGER (EXCEPT FOR HANK WILLIAMS DAUGHTER). . MANY EAR DRUMS OF THE AUDIENCE WAS DAMAGED.
HOPE FUTURE PRODUCTIONS WILL ENHANCE THE NAME “TRHE LOUISIANA HAYRIDE
INSTEAD OF —— ROB
April 16, 2016 @ 7:10 pm
How I would love to play on that stage again. Remember the great musicians that crossed that stage.The johnny & Jack Band, Floyd Cramer,the westerners,d.j. fondana,scotty moore, red srewart, don manuael,And so many more.
July 3, 2016 @ 4:27 pm
I USED TO GO TO THE HAY RIDE WITH MY PARENTS FOR MAY YEARS AS I WAS BORN IN SHREVEPORT IN 1950 AND LIVED THERE TILL 1969. WHAT GREAT TIMES TO REMEMBER IN THAT VERY SPECIAL BUILDING. I’M SO GLAD IT IS STILL THERE AND ALIVE
April 23, 2017 @ 5:02 pm
I am looking for a video of the grand ole opry reunion which featured those from the Louisiana hayride. Thank you.
July 21, 2017 @ 12:11 am
Watch for Amelia Presley coming to the Hayride.
January 13, 2018 @ 8:20 am
I sang on the Louisiana Hayride back in the 70-80’s !! I sang Jambalaya with an upbeat
sound !! I Sang The Tennessee Waltz also. If I sang now in 2018’s lol, I would rather sing a Gospel type song !! The intentions of management should be made clear to all performers both young and older as they prepare to be on the Hayride !!
August 13, 2018 @ 6:57 am
Hello,
I’m curious if anyone on this thread, or that may read this comment…knows any information or update on this project to begin producing the Louisiana Hayride again? I’m an Indie music producer and performer. I have a special interest in the Hayride, and would like to join the effort.
Anyone know the folks originally posting this?
September 22, 2018 @ 6:12 am
Thank God the Louisiana Hayride will be back. The Hayride was out entertainment when we’d hear the battery operated radio on Saturday nights back in the 1940’s and 50’s. Wow!
September 22, 2018 @ 6:16 am
http://www.helenboudreaux.org / .com I am an entertainer/singer/songwriter/music/award winner plus more. Thank you!
September 22, 2018 @ 6:17 am
Oops, Country/Cajun
October 15, 2019 @ 11:54 am
I performed on the Louisiana Hayride in the 70;s below is a link to my first appearance on hayride copy and paste in your browser or go to you tube and type Teddy Sadler and it will be listed with my other recordings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlbQCVZMMzo
January 19, 2020 @ 3:49 pm
Does anyone have photos or tape of Taylor Morris and His Oregon Country Gentlemen playing on the Hayride? My Dad, Willie Ray Duncan was in the band but I have no photos or anything of him.
Thank you!
February 3, 2020 @ 6:34 am
I just saw this post…Am I to believe now that the Louisiana Hay Ride From Bossier City , across the Red River from Shreveport , is back in operation ?
I went there in 1970 { age 14 } to find it closed down . I was crestfallen , but now my heart leaps again .
April 17, 2020 @ 1:58 am
anyone help me with a list of name for the folks pictured? please. https://youtu.be/FbZbpodRH6o?t=158
June 18, 2020 @ 1:20 pm
Why I declare, good news Shreveport . land of our birth. When did or will the La. Hayride open? What is the criteria for performing artists new or well seasoned?
July 24, 2020 @ 10:27 am
Does anybody have tape of Leroy Dillhyon singing on the Hayride? He was my father and competed in amateur singing contest in the 70’s against Raymond Myers. I lost my copy and would love to get my hands it again!
January 19, 2022 @ 3:41 pm
I would like to see the Louisiana hayride start up again. My daddy talked alot about it when I was growing up.my Daddy (Douglas Ray Johnston) and his brother Tim Johnston sang on the Louisiana hayride many times in the late 50s and early 60s. My daddy said that him and his brother Tim Johnston sang there one night and a record producer was there and heard them sing and wanted them to come to Nashville to record a record, but 2 weeks before they were to go My uncle Tim was working on his car and it fell off the jack and killed him ,my daddy (Douglas Ray Johnston)said that he was not going to do it without his brother Tim. Uncle Tim passed in 1964 I believe it was,my daddy (Ray Johnston) wrote and sang many more songs up until he passed in 1994 be never tried to go anywhere with it. I would like to know if ya’ll might Still have some recordings on my dad (Douglas Ray)and his brother Tim Johnston. If so I would love to purchase them. Uncle Tim Johnston recorded 1 record that I know of that he wrote in Monroe Louisiana, the name of the song that he recorded was yes indeed, you can find it on YouTube. If you have any information on them,please let me know, thanks Kenny johnston