The British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) has begun presenting radio programs on old-time music that include performances recorded at the Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention in June.

One 60-minute program was aired by BBC Radio 3 from its London studios last Saturday, and a second installment is scheduled to be broadcast at 10 a.m. today (local time). Today’s show can be heard live online through the Internet link http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n6ykp.

However, that link also is expected to be available for accessing the programming later on, which will remain on the Web site for listeners’ convenience.

And for those lacking a computer, WPAQ radio in Mount Airy — a major promoter of old-time music — is seeking permission from the overseas broadcasting corporation to carry the programs locally, according to station owner Kelly Epperson.

“I think it could happen very soon,” Epperson said Friday, adding that the dates for those broadcasts will be announced as soon as they are finalized.

Two representatives of the BBC — including broadcaster, writer and musician Banning Eyre — visited Mount Airy in early June as part of a series entitled “World Routes: An Appalachian Road Trip.”

Their mission was to discover and record the “uniquely American folk music” that originated in the Southern Appalachian mountains through the 18th and 19th centuries.

“I think that we’re very fortunate the BBC recognized Surry County as the heartland of old-time traditional music,” Epperson said. “England seems like a world away, and just knowing that others are getting a real taste of our musical heritage is exciting.”

Epperson said he and others locally enjoyed the visit by the BBC team and that the resulting project has given fine treatment to the subject of old-time music, including explaining how it differs from the more well-known bluegrass variety.

Since old-time music has roots in Great Britain, Epperson also thinks it is noteworthy that people in the “old country” can now be exposed to what has become known locally as the Round Peak version of that genre.

The first of the two programs set in Mount Airy includes a series of songs recorded at the fiddlers convention on June 5-6, including “Whoa Mule” by Surry County’s Benton Flippen and the Smokey Valley Boys” and “Sugar Hill” by The Slate Mountain Ramblers, an Ararat, Va., group. Other songs are included by out-of-town artists who performed on the convention stage, including renditions of “June Apple,” “Hop, Old Rabbit” and “Cotton-Eyed Joe.”

Interviews also are part of the first program as well, including one with Epperson featuring music from the WPAQ archives, and another with musician and folklorist Mike Seeger, recorded just months before Seeger’s death.

There is also an interview with former Surry County resident Paul Brown, an old-time musician who has been associated with such groups as The Toast String-Stretchers. Brown is now a broadcaster with National Public Radio in Washington.

A fourth interview features Phil Jamison, a dance caller, musician and flatfooter.

The first program also includes mention of a “delicacy” the BBC visitors encountered while here, deep-fried Oreos.

In the second program debuting today, sessions from Benton Flippen and the Smokey Valley Boys are included, among others, along with a trip to the Beech Mountain workshop of Rick Ward.

When recently announcing the programs, BBB Radio 3 Producer Peter Meanwell expressed thanks to everyone here who was involved in making them and added that the crew enjoyed meeting the people in Mount Airy.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.