Hardy, Arkansas, is about 100 miles due West of Kennett, Missouri (and KBOA). Like all performers of that era, hitting all the nearby radio stations would have been important. They were pretty well known (see below) by the time KBOA went on the air in 1947. The photos below were taken in the first/temporary studios. As you listen to some of the oral history interviews on this site you’ll hear repeated references to how big a deal the Wilburns were during the early days of KBOA

“Virgil Doyle Wilburn was born July 7, 1930, in Hardy, AR, with Thurman Theodore Wilburn following on November 30, 1931. Their father, Benjamin, a disabled World War I veteran, purchased from the Sears, Roebuck catalog a guitar, mandolin, and fiddle in the hopes that the children might aid the family’s dire finances by performing in public, and with older brothers Lester and Leslie and sister Geraldine, Doyle and Teddy began their professional music career as the Wilburn Family on a street corner in Thayer, MO, on Christmas Eve 1937.” (CMT Artists bio page)

“In 1956, the Wilburns were offered the chance to record “Heartbreak Hotel” before Elvis Presley.[6] After hearing the song they decided against recording it, describing it as “strange and almost morbid”.” (Wikipedia)

Brothers Teddy, Doyle, Leslie (guitar), Lester (bass) and sister Geraldine.

The photo above appears to have been taken some years later. Behind the Wilburn brothers are Jimmy Haggett, Charlie Harrison and Joe Bankhead.

Selling songbooks was a common practice during this period of live radio performances.