Ray Baumler

I am a native of Buffalo NY, graduated from the University of Buffalo and started work in the property and casualty insurance industry in New York City in 1962.  I was transferred to Rochester in 1965 and retired from the insurance industry in 2000.  I live in the town of Chili.

As an active member of the Golden Link Folksinging Society, I became a DJ on their radio show, called “The Golden Link Folk Fest”.  This was in 1980 at radio station WGMC 90.1 FM in Greece NY.  I was there several years and did other folk music shows on that station.Sometime after that, I hosted a show on station WRHR (now WBER), called “Folk Songs at Supper”, and at a later time I went to station WJRZ and occasionally introduced folk recordings on that station.

In 1996 my friend, and fellow DJ, Tom Bohan and I came to WRUR and started to present our show, “A Variety of Folk”.  Tom unfortunately had to leave the show in 2007 due to illness.  Since then I’ve done the show each week and more recently with engineering help from my partner Sue Tennenbaum.  Sue and I, besides doing radio, are folksingers and perform in retirement communities and other settings in the area.

My interest in radio stems from a deep love of certain music that is included under the heading of Folk Music.  I have a lot of recordings, have gone to many concerts and spend a great deal of time listening to and playing the music I love.  The joy, warmth and sometimes depth of this music can generate very positive experiences.  Both as a radio host and as a folksinger I enjoy presenting songs that are special to me, feeling sure that there are others who would love them too.