Bill Pearce's "Nightsounds"

By DAN ROBINSON Editor/Photographer

LINK: Nightsounds web site

I discovered this one-of-a-kind radio show in the spring of 1997 via WJYP 100.9 FM in Charleston, WV, not surprisingly during my several-times-per-week nighttime drives in the country (usually after work updating the local newspaper web site). Christian radio has been full of great material I've discovered over the years, but Nightsounds tops my list as one of my all-time favorites.

The show is hosted by accomplished trombonist and Christian radio broadcaster Bill Pearce, and typically airs late at night on widely scattered stations across the country. The show consists of Pearce talking about a chosen topic, interspersed with music that fits the theme of that night's broadcast. The show's defining characteristic is Pearce's calm voice and demeanor, one that conjures up visions of a grandfather sitting down giving advice/comfort/small talk to his grandkids.

During one of my random internet searches last week, I visited the Nightsounds web site and was saddened to read that Pearce had passed away in February of 2010. He was truly one of the greats of Christian radio in my mind. The show lives on in the form of reruns on the air and via the Nightsounds site. Give it a listen sometime.