Country music singer Doc Williams became a big star in small places through the power of radio.
In the years before World War II, his Wheeling, W.Va.-based radio show built him a following in Maine, Vermont and the Canadian provinces — places where he later toured, and where some fans still tap in time to songs from his band, the Border Riders.
Williams died Monday at his Wheeling home at age 96.
"I don't know if the state of West Virginia had a better ambassador than Doc Williams," Country Music Hall of Famer Bill Anderson told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "You thought of Doc Williams, you thought of Wheeling, you thought of the Jamboree," Anderson said, referring to Jamboree USA, one of radio station WWVA's most popular programs.