(computer chimes) - I'm a folk musician and singer-songwriter down here in Minneapolis.

I've been sort of touring the country pretty solid for about 15 years, which means that I've heard a lot of community radio stations coast-to-coast.

Like, maybe most of them by this point, 'cause we're always hunting for them.

It was several years ago, playing at Lutsen when I heard Rainbow show for the first time.

And I, I was just, I mean, you know...

If you could fall in love with a radio show and you can fall in love with a host, (melancholy music) especially as a musician, when you know how much radio means to us doing our jobs, you know.

Anyway, we just kinda started this little fan club for Rainbow Trout down in the Twin Cities.

You know, a bunch of songwriters who love classic country music, we would pass around the CD that the station made and we would - Oh man.

- listen to archives.

So it just got me thinking when I saw that it was your birthday Rainbow, that I just wondered if anybody had really ever formally done a celebration or a tribute because it seems to me you've given a lot of people a great deal with your show.

When I found out Ivy was your granddaughter, I was so excited because it meant I knew somebody who knew you.

(Rainbow laughing) - And Will's always been so helpful.

He burned us copies of Rainbow's show and I just thought it would be a really cool time, you know, especially because public radio is so important and is needing to survive this time.

And I'll tell you this, I sent an email to about 15 musicians just today and I think eight of them already, I've heard back, just instantly, Charlie Parr, (crackling drowns out speaker) Rich Madsen, Barbara Jean, Simonett.

They're all just in, they want to help in any way.

It's basically a glorified birthday party for Rainbow Trout, the way I see it.

(Ivy, Arne laughing) - That's great.

- That is totally cool.

- Are we on?

- Yes.

- Are you ready, Rainbow?

- No.

(Rainbow laughs) - So Rainbow, - Yes ma'am.

- [Interviewer] Who has a rainbow trout?

(slow music) (radio static plays) - [Rainbow] You could hear him the singing the song, and it would fade away and then there would be static.

(radio static plays) (guitar plays) and then slowly the sound would come back and they'd be talking.

- The thing about radio in the age of the internet is radio preserves little bit of a mystery.

- [Rainbow] When I came up north up here, sort of public radio, as a volunteer, I found out that I couldn't do things my way, which was give up lots of songs and lots of music, and little bit of talking.

Boy, that's the way radio shoulda oughta was then.

(laughs) That's my take on radio.

- It's interesting to me because you know, the world of dollars and cents and marketing and publicity, they have nothing to do with touching the heart of why someone's drawn to music.

- And people start to rely on WTIP for many things: from news to information, to weather, to music.

- For me, it's a way to shape the world in a, you know, in a sincere fashion that makes it better and not worse.

- I know when I first heard about rainbow, which was, I think literally in the first week that I worked here, because I used to sit at that desk out there in the music library, there's this painting up on the wall of a rainbow trout.

And I always thought that was really weird.

Like, why do we have this painting of this fish?

And someone was like, well, it's for Rainbow Trout, the guy, the person, and I was like, what?

There's a guy named Rainbow Trout who works here.

- The first time I heard Rainbow, I was driving up the shore by myself, go into play a show in Grand Marais.

All of a sudden time slowed down.

I think it was, you know, I think he's talking about, you know, the fog rolling in, on lake superior, we've got wind from 17 to 22 miles per hour.

And it's just like, I'm talking about like, this is a voice that could come from, I mean, you wanna read me medieval history or something.

- Years ago, I remember driving to this little cabin in which I was staying near Loots and Sunday night turning on, turn on WTIP and having this ethro, other worldly voice come through the speakers at me, talking about really deep old country music.

And that was my introduction to Rainbow.

- The first time I met Rainbow Trout here was actually just like everybody else did was over the airwaves, listening on a Sunday afternoon and wondering who is this fella?

- Oh, when I met him, I didn't know who he was or what girl was going to bring him to the cafe where I was waiting.

And she said, I'll bring Rainbow too.

And I didn't know if she was going to bring a horse, or a cow, or cat, or... (laughs) But I fell in love with him at first sight.

- I can't believe that this guy exist.

And then I saw a little picture of him out there and he's shaking hands with some country star, and it was just like, I got to meet this guy.

- When I first heard Rainbow's voice, the first question is, who the hell is this guy?

How does he sound so gentle?

Where's he coming from?

Where's he been?

You find out that he has, you know, drives over three hours to get in, to do his show.

Why is this show so important to him?

The more you learn, the more you wanna learn.

And I never even saw his face.

(radio static tuning) - [Rainbow] It's a funny thing, you're sitting there doing this on a radio station and you're all by yourself, you're the only one in there.

And you wonder, is anybody out there listening?

(soft guitar music) ♪ I woke up this morning ♪ ♪ Aching with pain ♪ ♪ Don't think I can work ♪ ♪ But I'll try ♪ ♪ The car's in the shop ♪ ♪ So I thumped all the way ♪ ♪ Oh these days, I barely get by ♪ - I was born in California, San Francisco, during the depression.

Father was a drunkard.

The mother committed suicide when I was four.

Became a ward of the state of California and they sent me and a younger brother to go live with a maternal grandfather, and lived in Illinois.

He had remarried so that made his wife, step-grandmother.

She was unhappy to have a couple of brat, young boys.

I was four years old and the brother was two.

So the step-grandmother was a little unhappy to be asked to take on these two undisciplined children from his previous marriage.

So she, she beat me, she beat us.

Unhappy, unhappy home.

(country music) I heard country music back then, back in the forties, fifties, but in the forties first heard it.

And she wouldn't, she didn't want us to listen to that music, it was beneath them.

Country music was looked down on in her eye.

But me, I liked it, you know, I like country music.

The little, the younger brother ran away from home.

He'd keep running away home, cops would keep bringing him back, he'd keep running away.

Finally, they took the two of us and put us in a foster home.

Then from there into an orphanage.

And we were in there less than a month.

The younger brother went back to the foster home, burglarized the place, and then disappeared.

They never saw him again for another 20 years, 15, 20 years.

(country music) And I stayed in that orphanage for a year.

And I'd finally run away.

Set pins in a bowling alley for a living, you could get by.

- Yeah, I think that one of my most biggest memories I have of Rainbow is him sharing his stories about his days working on trains and where he would go between here and Chicago and out west and listening to all those stories and all the different things that happened on the trains with him.

(soft music) - I went to grade school.

Then I went into high school for one week.

I was looking out the window and the teacher come and grabbed me by her shoulder, and said "what are you doing?"

I was looking out the window and a train went by.

And I said, I'm gonna go work on that railroad.

And I walked out.

Oh, I did, I went to work, it wasn't that railroad, it was Illinois Central where I worked for about a year.

Then I went to work on the Pennsylvania railroad.

I went in there and the superintendent running the round house, he said, he'd give me a job if I took the first paycheck and went to trade school and learned to be an electrician.

So I did that, I took the first paycheck, went to trade school, became an electrician.

I studied, I was good at it.

Diesels came, that was my life worked the railroad for, I don't remember 12, 15 years, I don't remember.

Railroads kind of went out of style.

Like they kinda, airlines took over basically and trucking.

I went into construction, but I love railroads.

Love trains, love steam engines, love diesels.

Good memories.

(radio tuning static) ♪ I'm a rolling stone ♪ ♪ All alone and lost ♪ ♪ For a life of sin ♪ ♪ I have paid the cost ♪ ♪ When I walked by ♪ ♪ All the people say ♪ ♪ Just another guy ♪ ♪ On the lost highway ♪ ♪ Just a deck of cards ♪ ♪ And a jug of wine ♪ ♪ And a woman's lies ♪ ♪ Makes a life like mine ♪ ♪ On the day we met ♪ ♪ I went astray ♪ ♪ Started rolling down ♪ ♪ That lost highway ♪ - Maybe I need to go back just a little bit.

(soft music) When I retired, just before I retired, my wife died.

Hi dog.

Like I was saying, my wife had passed away and I, was another couple of months before I was really retired, and then I wanted to come up here, which I did, and found this place.

Was listening to the radio and that woman said we need volunteers.

And I thought, well, that's something I could do.

I was really depressed when I came here and this open house saved my life.

(soft music) And I'm listening to the radio and she's saying, we need volunteers station in Grand Rapids.

That's the station she was talking about doing country music.

You could be doing this country show.

And I thought, well, I could.

I got lots of stuff on tape, you know?

And I finally made an appointment and went up to the station and told them I wanted to do the country show, volunteered to go up to KFC, and do radio, country radio.

They accepted me and say, okay.

I just thought it was something to do.

I was there for two, three years.

And I learned that they were going to build a station up in Granbury, Public Radio Station WTIP.

So I volunteered to go up there.

And up there they loved me.

I was welcomed.

I felt like that's where I belong.

(country music) - (whispers) I love you.

- Huh?

- I love you (laughs) - Tells me, he loves me 10 times a day.

♪ I don't need much from you, ♪ ♪ I ♪ ♪ Don't need all the things pretty girls do ♪ ♪ I ♪ ♪ Don't need no dozen roses ♪ ♪ I don't need no suits and dresses ♪ ♪ I don't need no fancy dinners ♪ ♪ I just wanna sit next to you ♪ ♪ On your front stoop ♪ ♪ Plus I don't even wanna talk ♪ ♪ I just wanna kiss you ♪ - [Rainbow] And didn't even propose to each other, did we, no?

(laughs) It just happened.

- It just happens.

- We woke up one day and looked at each other and said "Oh, oh."

(laughs) - Ah, will be three years pretty soon in February.

(radio playing 'I Don't Need') - [Radio Host] Like, yeah, he's, he's a country host.

He comes in, and ah, he is in his eighties and he drives all the way from north of Duluth to come here and he'll do an entire weekend of music.

And it's like, this is the wild fan I've ever heard.

(upbeat music) - [Rainbow] At first, I didn't want to go up there.

It was too darn far.

- Rainbow drives three hours one way to get here.

- I said I gotta have a three-hour program.

I can't come up here for one hour.

It's gotta be three.

- Most of the time I went with him.

Stayed in a motel, or my daughter Mary's, or... - Does his show, the show ends at 10 o'clock, he takes an hour or two to pack up, and then he drives us three hours back home.

- And I did stay here alone one time.

And I sat in my chair there till three in the morning, waiting for him to come home.

- When I do my program, which was three or four hours in the evening, I'd be kinda too tired to go home.

I had a song that said, make me a pallet on the floor, and little did people know that that's actually what I did.

- Yeah, that's it, I mean, he would sleep in the conference room if he had to.

- Well, there was one night when I left in a snow storm, took me five hours to get home.

Well, it's nobody's fault but my own.

So how long did I did the do this?

19 years, 18, 19, 20?

I don't know, long time.

- It's quite a commitment that he has made over the years.

- That that's always been the most amazing thing is that he did that on a monthly basis, long before he even came here.

And it was just like, this is the normal thing.

This is just what Rainbow does.

And I don't know if you know this, but he would actually come in with whole boxes of CDs and cassettes.

And, so he would not use these computers back here, but he would come and literally with boxes and this entire counter here would be just CDs and cassette tapes from like way back when that he would play on the air, so.

- I must have a, I don't know, I haven't been able to count the CDs that I have.

I have shelves of them back there.

In order to count them, I've measured a shelf as a hundred.

And then I counted how many shelves (laughs) There must be 5,000 CDs back there.

So I got the music and I get to play what I think people would like to hear the way they'd like to hear it, with less, less of me.

They want to be, they want to hear the country music.

That's what they tune in for.

- Yep, right here, I think he was almost always out of here.

And yeah, right on this mic.

- The thing about radio is you want to be surprised.

I don't want to, you know, I don't know what songs coming next.

It's like, if you and I were playing each other records from our vinyl collection, I wanna surprise you.

- Back, back in the 40's, 50's, I didn't like it was being presented, the country music.

It was commercialized and whatever.

- Most radio stations, it's like a Walmart ad.

You know, you know what's coming all the time.

Everything's going to be real safe.

- I knew there were gonna build a up in Grand Marais, and I didn't think they were going to do it.

Not in this day and age, not back then.

I thought it's cost millions of dollars.

They not gonna do it - and they did.

- I don't, I don't know where exactly on Highway 61, the precise point where you're able to tune in to WTIP, but as you get close enough to Grand Marais, you can tune it in, and I always, set it for that.

- Here at WTIP, we allow our community members to play music, to produce music, to engineer at the same time.

And it gives them a sense of belonging here to the station and gives the station a sense of belonging to the community itself.

- And I said, what are you, what do you want me to do?

Just do country music?

You wanna do the country show?

They never told me exactly what, and there was no playlist, it was my program, and I could do it the way I wanted.

- It's sort of just gives you a place to hang your hat.

I mean, I will stream WTIP from home some mornings, if I wanna get that feeling of what the fog rolling in on lake superior feels like.

- It's been, it's been kind of indescribably good.

I gotta say, it's so strange to see a place like this, a radio station almost act as a community hub, in a way, where obviously before COVID happened, people would just kinda be coming in and out.

We had 35 volunteers, kind of, throughout the week.

And so people would just come in and do their shows and leave and catch up with one another on the way in and out.

And people would just stop by for, like, getting prizes from, like, our quiz show in the morning and stuff.

And yeah, it was, it was pretty amazing just having a number of people just know that it was kinda like a meeting place and cause we're like one of the only outlets for that kinda thing around here.

And the staff here has obviously been awesome.

Matthew's a chill guy and he's been running the station pretty well.

And yeah, in all my coworkers and really not, not a lot of complaints, it's a pretty unique situation.

And I feel pretty lucky to have it.

- It's, it's WPIP.

They make it possible.

I couldn't do it without them.

(country music) ♪ If the wife and I are fussin', mister it's all right ♪ ♪ Cause we had the license, the license to fight ♪ ♪ Man, why don't you mind your own business ♪ ♪ So mind your own business ♪ ♪ Cause if you mind your own business ♪ ♪ Then you won't be minding mine ♪ ♪ (instrumental) ♪ - My name is David Huckfelt, I was born in a pretty small farm town in Clay County, Iowa.

Coming from a small farm town, your imagination drives you.

And if you're lucky, it drives you out into the worlds.

- Country music is, I love 'em all.

(laughs) I love 'em all.

There's very few that I don't like.

- Country music, it lifts up the values of home and it reminds you that it's okay if you think life is moving too fast, in some ways it is.

Newer isn't always better, more isn't always better.

And so that, that kinda high lonesome sound of country music, it winds us back and roots us.

Like me telling you my story, you know, hard times how I grew up, you know, my baby left me, you know, I got nothing to eat.

Country music, tell stories.

(country music) ♪ Well the rain came down ♪ ♪ And sheets on my windshield.

♪ ♪ I was driving back to Memphis once again ♪ - Well, we had country music, (mumbles) and all of them.

She puts her CDs on her, first thing in the morning, all day long (laughs) has music.

Oh, wouldn't life be empty without music.

- I love classic country music.

Those are stories that we will, of lives that we will never live.

As much as we wanna go back, back to the land, back to the earth, like in the 50's, the 40's, the 30's, the 60's, country music artists are telling you about their lives, and you get to walk in their shoes.

And Rainbow would serve up, just like, I mean, you get the sense he's picking out these songs because he loves these songs.

(country music) ♪ I get along just fine ♪ ♪ By myself, I don't mind ♪ ♪ I get along just fine ♪ ♪ By myself, I don't mind ♪ - Country music evolves, it changes, everything changes, some for the good some for the bad.

So, if it sounds country, I'll play it.

If it sounds country to me, I'll play it.

- It feels like water in the desert to use a cliche.

Like when you tune into those frequencies where, you know, someone like Rainbow Trout is playing music from his collective, his collection, and his personal experience.

♪ I don't mind ♪ ♪ Dirty boots ♪ ♪ My palms are sweaty ♪ ♪ Lazy eye ♪ ♪ My lids are heavy ♪ ♪ Tell me are ♪ ♪ We going steady ♪ ♪ Another mile will I ever see you again ♪ - I play songs for, for women.

Where the guys getting the bad end of the stick?

Cause I figure, just because I'm a guy don't mean these women aren't gonna get to hear these songs.

I try not to glamorize war, or drinking, or smoking, or drugs.

Although sometimes you can't help it.

Sometimes they slip in there.

- There's some parts of country music that you know, that they are exactly relevant, you know, they aren't exactly, you know, some of those songs have even some racist overtones.

Sometimes they can be very small, small-minded.

- There's one song in particular Hank Snow, I love Hank Snow's music, and he talks about a hobo and these two hobos on a train car, whatever.

And one of them doesn't have much, but he gives you half.

And I forget the words all, but he's thanking him.

He says, that's mighty white of you.

Right there, that's it, that song doesn't get played.

- Sometimes country music is not very relevant.

Sometimes it loses its shelf life, you know, in the way that world was described.

But one thing we can do musically, you know, is we can take these old sounds, these old feelings, and we can engage them with our world.

And then, you know, right now we're in, we're in a fighting time.

I mean, we're in a time to stand up for the small, the local, the independent, the vulnerable, music can do that.

Music is not... Music is not for the rich or the comfortable.

I mean, we take it there, it gets there.

- In these times, these days, music is what we're finding really kinda soothes people when the information is so difficult, we're finding music really makes people feel pretty darn good at these times that are difficult.

- Well, maybe my love for country music was back when, when I was a youngster and step-grandmother wouldn't let us listen to the country music, and I liked it.

What's not to like about country music.

(soft country music) ♪ I've been down this road before ♪ ♪ I'll be done, one more my friend ♪ ♪ Walk with me for a while ♪ ♪ Let me hear you laugh, feel your smile ♪ - Oh, what I like about Rainbow (mumbles) all the good music, and I have all the shows.

And he stays home now.

♪ Show me ♪ ♪ Don't try to hide ♪ - Well, I think one of the unique things about Rainbow is his commitment to the radio station.

- His voice, and that personality, that steps aside and presents to you songs, that's a radio DJ that I'm going to pay attention to.

- Showing up, having a regular schedule, and never wavering.

- When I have been able to talk to him on a couple occasions, now to be able to meet him, you know, he impresses upon you that point where it's not about him as a DJ.

You know, a lot of personalities, they want you to know they're dominating the platform, you know, and Rainbow stepping aside to offer up these stories.

- Giving lots of good feedback, whether it's positive or negative on things that are happening here at the station, he's really truthful, he speaks his mind.

It's wonderful to work with him because you always know where you're at with him.

- I remember a friend of mine coming up here, when I started working up here, I was encouraging him to listen to the station, and he just happened to turn on the radio during Rainbow show, he's like, I love the guy who sounds Winnie the Pooh on your station.

(Over the Edge of Time continues) - For a long time, I agonized over just exactly what am I supposed to be doing here?

And then it dawned on me, by golly, the listeners like what I like, and the ones that don't like what I like, I can't reach them, they're gone, they're not listening.

(radio tuning static) - It's a funny thing, you're sitting there, doing this in this radio station, and you're all by yourself, you're the only one in there.

And you're wonder, is there anyone out there listening?

- [Radio Caller] Hello Rainbow, this is the Frog Pond over here in Michigan.

We enjoy listening to you, have for quite a few years.

Keep up the good work and we'll be tuning you in.

Have a great weekend, thank you much, bye.

- [Elena] Elena Duluth.

Rainbow Trout is contentment.

Rainbow Trout is contentment.

Rainbow, thank you for sharing your joy with all of us.

- [Marine] Hi Rainbow, this is Martine.

And the thing that I appreciate the most about you is that you are such a genteel authentic person.

And anytime you are on the radio, you are talking like I am in the same room with you.

- [Mary] Hey, Rainbow Trout.

This is Mary Somnis calling to say thank you for all your years of beautiful programming.

And we'll continue to enjoy every single one that you're still able to bring to the airway.

- [Radio Caller] I appreciate Rainbow Trout for his dedication and his devotion to serving the Grand Marais community with his shows.

He has an incredible sense of picking set lists.

Thank you, Rainbow.

I really appreciate the energy and the enthusiasm that you've put into your shows over the years, thanks.

- [Mary] Hi there.

My name is Mary and I live in Duluth, Minnesota.

Rainbow Trout, I think is a mainstay of community radio in (static covers audio).

- [Ivy] Ivy Vainio.

He brings so much joy to all of us through his music, radio program, but also he married my grandmother just over three years ago.

He's just brought so much joy and meaning to her life and to all of ours.

I'm very grateful.

♪ Days and weeks ♪ ♪ Go ahead and blow by me ♪ ♪ Every day I sit and think ♪ ♪ Just sit and think ♪ - [Heidi] Heidi, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Who is Rainbow Trout?

Rainbow Trout is sunshine, pure sunshine, bringing light, enjoy, smiles, with the excited hope of future laughter, share, belly laughter, song, an ice cream treat.

- [Elaine] Hi, this is Elaine in Forest Lake, Minnesota.

A couple of words I'd use to describe Rainbow Trout are a modulated and expressive voice, that drowns my week.

I'd like them the following message for Rainbow: Hey, Rainbow, with which for providing an opportunity to hear the music of my youth on the road.

It brings that powerful and healing memories of our families band.

♪ Days and weeks ♪ ♪ Go ahead and blow by me ♪ ♪ Everyday I sit and think ♪ ♪ Just sit and think ♪ (instrumental) - And then somebody comes and says, oh, you got a real following in the cities.

I do?

There's people that listen to me?

Wow.

- I wish you would under standard, I hope he knows how one of them kind he is.

I think he's very, very humble, but he has a fan base and a listening family that spreads so much farther than I think he knows.

- Thank you on behalf of musicians who travel and tour, on behalf of songwriters who make recordings and put their heart and soul into recorded music.

- Thank you Rainbow, thank you for all you do to expose people to some wonderful, wonderful music and just being really one of a kind personality on the airways.

- Sometimes it benefits us not to be in a hurry.

When you hear Rainbow on the air, he's not in a hurry.

It takes as long as it takes, you know, I'm gonna drive three hours.

I'm gonna do my show, that patience is a gift.

Rainbow, you know, he just celebrated his 88th birthday.

But when I hear that show, I'm walking in this world with him.

- I don't feel any particularly age old, but when I look at the number, it kinda scares me, cause there's not a whole lot left.

(laughs) I try not to think about it.

Anything the whole world I would say, wouldn't it be a shame if all the flowers in the world where the same color, wouldn't that be a shame.

Why can't people get together get (mumbles).

That's what I feel.

- I love hearing his voice on the radio and it's just there's, I dunno, there's nothing else like it.

- Part of my goal as a musician is to do in my way, kinda like what Rainbow has done, which is to make some space for the human spirit.

- I love WTIP.

I love Grand Marais, Grand Portage, the whole north shore.

- We miss him coming in every month and he was such a great part of the, of the team here.

Boy, I wish Rainbow you were still here at the station with us.

- Radio is, going to be here for ever.

Some form of radio is gonna be on that radio spectrum.

There's gonna be radio.

Television though, all of it's radio waves.

It's all radio.

So we're going to be here for a long time.

(country music) ♪ How many times have ♪ ♪ You heard someone say ♪ ♪ Oh, if I had his money ♪ ♪ I'd do things my way ♪ ♪ But little they know ♪ ♪ That it's so hard to find ♪ ♪ A rich man in ten with ♪ ♪ A satisfied mind ♪ ♪ Once I wading ♪ ♪ In fortune and fame ♪ ♪ Everything that I needed ♪ ♪ To get a start in life's game ♪ ♪ Suddenly it happened ♪ ♪ I lost every dime ♪ ♪ Richer by far now ♪ ♪ With a satisfied mind ♪ ♪ Money can't buy back ♪ ♪ Your youth when your old ♪ ♪ Or a friend when your lonesome ♪ ♪ Or a love that's grown cold ♪ ♪ The wealthiest man ♪ ♪ Is just a pauper at times ♪ ♪ Compared to the man with ♪ ♪ A satisfied mind ♪ ♪ My life is ended ♪ ♪ My time has run out ♪ ♪ My friends and my loved ones ♪ ♪ Who I leave there's no doubt ♪ ♪ One thing's for certain ♪ ♪ When it comes my time ♪ ♪ I leave this old world with ♪ ♪ A satisfied mind ♪ ♪ One thing's for certain ♪ ♪ When it comes my time ♪ ♪ I leave this old world with ♪ ♪ A satisfied mind ♪