Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor
Keven Richards celebrates 30 years of Country Line Dancing in Upstate New York “with a free ‘Wild West Line Dance Fest’ at the Wild West Ranch/The Barn at French Mountain” on Route 9 in Lake George on Friday, April 22.
“I fell into it and I never got out of it,” the Corinth native and CMA winner says of his dual careers in country music radio and “line dancing-entertainment.”
Mr. Richards says his highest accolade was winning Country Music Association Radio Personality of the Year in 2006.
“Radio brought me to line dancing,” Mr. Richards says. Country music, he got growing up in Corinth, from his mom and grandma. “They were big fans of the classics.”
“At 12,” he recalls, “I was on the air at WSCG, a small little station in Corinth, but it was the big country station here. It was walking distance from my house.
“I don’t think anything ever would have happened if I didn’t live near that station. I won a contest to be on the radio, and then I just started hanging around. The people in the town, the ladies in Town Hall, saw how excited I was to do it, so they figured out how to get me a child actors permit.
“They rooted and supported me to make it happen. I am so grateful.”
That was 1986, the start of his radio career. In 1992, along came “Achy Breaky Heart,” Billy Ray Cyrus’ massive hit. The crossover MTV music video introduced this new thing called line dancing.
“It changed the world. It started popping up in New York City, all over the world, and line dancing exploded in the 90s. A lot of bars went country, even in the City.
“I was working at a local station, I think WBAR on the corner of Maple Street here in Glens Falls, and we said, we’ve got to do it. I learned two, three dances. Our first dance was at O’Toole’s in Queensbury. Nobody knew what it was. I didn’t either. I’m not a dancer, never been. We did the same three dances for two hours.”
He says, “I never thought it would last 30 years. I think it is appealing entertainment that enhances your lives. Especially for older active adults, I think it, for a lot of people, it becomes their lives.”
What makes a line dance? Typically, it’s a pattern of 16 to 32 steps repeated over and over, Mr. Richards says, “The difficulty varies. It’s not as popular today as it was originally but we have found a way to make it succeed.”
He says country bars are harder to find these days. Now he offers lessons and dance nights at skating rinks, community centers, Rivers Casino, cruise nights on Lake George.
“It’s not cowboy hats and Stetson boots. It’s usually a lot of women, like a Zumba class but more a lifestyle than exercise, and it’s very family friendly….
“What I like is, it’s being able to have fun listening to the music I like, rather than just sitting, listening and drinking a beer in a bar. It’s very social. You meet the nicest people.
“A lot of people who come, you can see, they’ve had a life change, lost a partner, new to the area. Line dancing, all you need is yourself. People come and they get hooked. It changes their life. That’s my greatest joy, and I see it over and over again.”
Mr. Richards says his own grandmother took it up at age 80, and is still dancing weekly with him at age 94, “95 in September.” He has dancers in wheelchairs, those with developmental disabilities, young kids, “even teenagers, too cool for school,” he says.
“I try to create an environment of welcoming. Anybody can dance. You do what you can. A lot of it is about building self confidence.”
At onset of the Covid pandemic Mr. Richards says he shifted “immediately” to Facebook Live and Zoom: “We never missed a week of dancing. I’d have 50-60 people consistently on Zoom.”
As restrictions lifted, they’d do in-person “driveway dances” at core members’ houses across the region— plus a big group dance at Double M Western Store in Ballston Spa, and several dances outside at nursing homes, to entertain the residents, including one “very cold” Christmas dance in December.
When gyms opened, they called it “Country Cardio” and social distanced indoors.
Returning in-person at the Fun Spot in Queensbury since February, “we had 117 people last week. Demand is back again.”
Mr. Richards currently DJs a morning show for Albany Broadcasting’s Big Country 107.1, out of Latham.
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