Gene Shay

Gene Shay (born Ivan Shaner, March 4, 1935 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American radio personality. He is a representative of Philadelphia's folk music scene. He has produced weekly folk radio shows since 1962 (now on WXPN and his final show on WXPN was February 1, 2015; previously heard on WHAT-FM, WMMR, WIOQ and WHYY-FM). A founder of the annual Philadelphia Folk Festival and its emcee since its inception, he has been called the "The dean of American folk DJs" by The Philadelphia Daily News and "The Grandfather of Philadelphia Folk Music" by The Philadelphia Inquirer. Shay also serves as a host for the online "Folk Alley" stream originating at Kent State University station WKSU and carried on WXPN's website.

His early interviews with Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, John Denver, Tom Waits, Phil Ochs, Bonnie Raitt and Judy Collins are almost legendary—some of these recorded interviews have been bootlegged.

Shay was the first to bring Bob Dylan to Philadelphia in 1963 for his debut concert. As an advertising writer and producer, he wrote the original radio commercials for . He helped design the famous "smiling banjo" logo for the Philadelphia Folk Festival and years later came up with the name World Cafe for the nationally syndicated series produced by WXPN and distributed by National Public Radio.

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