 The hillbilly star of the station in 1946 was a 23-year-old native of Smithville, Mississippi, Carvel Lee Ausborn, who went by the name of Mississippi Slim.Ernest Bowen, who had tangential musical connections with Elvis Presley, became a longtime general manager at WELO.Presley occasionally performed on Mississippi Slim's radio program "Singin' and Pickin' Hillbilly."