He began pitching the idea of a show to focus on the less commercial, yet highly gifted artists playing music that was authentically inspired by American roots tradition.
[11] While similar in that it was a live radio broadcast with a traditional announcer at a podium, it added contextual relevance by also including journalist-interviewer Craig Havighurst, who had written a historical biography of WSM's influence on Music City called Air Castle of the South.
The company was called Heng Dai Media, LLC,[18] named for their shared love of HBO series Deadwood; an analogy for the Wild West's similarities to the post-digital music industry.
Mayo coined the phrase, "A community of fans, bands and brands",[21] and the two built a strategy for digital distribution and pioneering use of social media to connect the show to a worldwide niche audience.
Nashville music aficionado and restaurateur Tom Morales had recently inspired a group of investors to save the aging Loveless Cafe and Motel from extinction at its remote location at the foot of the Natchez Trace Parkway.
The first season featured performances from Sam Bush, Mike Farris and the McCrary Sisters, Charlie Louvin and many others, spanning the range of emerging to legendary artists, both young and old.
The first webcast in July 2010 featured Brandi Carlile, and immediately began garnering a large audience to watch the filming of a live radio show.
In addition to licensing their library of recorded live performances, they built the formatted playlist and consulted in building audience and revenue to the powerful but low-rated station.