Al Krtil

Al Krtil, a Bronx native, grew up with the music of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and the Sons of the Pioneers. His record collection consisted primarily of western music, along with most of the recordings of Rosalie Allen, Elton Britt, Wilf Carter, Slim Clark, Patsy Montana, Kenny Roberts, and Slim Whitman.

In 1974, he was invited to guest on WTHE, Mineloa, NY, and that led to further guest spots on Country & Western specialty programs in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut; featured the recordings of the above mentioned artists. In 1989, after attending the WMA's inaugural festival in Tucson, Al immediately began including the recordings of WMA artists, many of whom had never received airplay in the east.

This various program format continued until 1999, when his "Early Morning Trails" became a monthly feature on WRSU-FM's "Sudzin Country." His four-hour program (6-10AM, e.s.t.) is heard on the last Saturday of the month http://www.nj.com/wrsu and an abbreviated version can be found on the internet http://www.sudzincountry.com

In 2005 Al was invited to speak at various organizations about western music and the WMA. His presentation includes an overview of recordings from the thirties to the present - with excerpts of recordings included. He has been a WMA "Regional Representative" for the last ten years, and received "The Bill Wiley Award" in 1993.