FUNKSTOWN -- The steep stairs lead from a western-wear store into a dreamy world of God and gospel. In a dollhouse-sized recording studio that used to be an attic, Russ Neff Jr. produces a gospel radio program called "Country Church Time."
Born and raised in nearby Hagerstown, Mr. Neff began recording the half-hour show in 1991.
Now, after three years on WPVG-AM -- Funkstown's radio station -- "Country Church Time" is going national.
Mr. Neff hopes by the end of the year his program will be on 25 to 30 stations in a half-dozen states. "Country Church Time" includes 10 minutes of preaching and several gospel songs, occasionally sung by Mr. Neff's wife, Mariah.
" 'Country Church Time' is the perfect title for it," says Sunny Davis, program director of WPVG-AM. "It has a real country feel to it, a real down-home, Southern feel.
"If there's a unique aspect to it, I guess it'd be the combination of preaching and music. The music is very carefully chosen. It's not just a bunch of songs all thrown together."
At one end of his tiny studio, Mr. Neff sits at his soundboard, selecting songs. It is a cozy, ethereal place lighted by soft lamps and adorned with old records tacked to the slanting walls.
Shaped like a pup tent, the studio is only about 5 feet high. Mr. Neff, who bends down as he shuffles through, says he built it for sound, not comfort.
The 58-year-old businessman turned producer wears a gold necklace as thick as his little finger and owns Maple Leaf Tack & Western Wear in Funkstown. He says "Country Church Time" is his thank-you to God for always riding on his shoulder and showing the way.
"It's his way of giving something back to God for all the blessings God has given us," says Mariah.
Mariah is a country singer who uses only her first name. She especially loves the songs of Patsy Cline, the country music legend who died in a 1963 plane crash, with whom she claims a special relationship.
Mr. Neff made a tape two years ago called "Memories of Patsy," featuring Mariah's voice and Ms. Cline's songs. She recorded the tape in this attic studio, singing into a microphone that once belonged to the deceased performer. Their engineer, Phil Shockey, worked for Ms. Cline and gave Mariah two of her microphones.
"Country Church Time" always begins with Mariah's version of the well-known hymn, "How Great Thou Art."
"I think God uses each of us as his disciple," Mariah says. "Maybe I can reach you with a song when you might not listen to a preacher.
"God gave me the gift of voice. Russ' gift is one of ear, hearing the music, picking it out and putting it together."
Two ministers record the show's sermons, the Rev. Carl B. Black of Four States Christian Mission in Hagerstown, and the Rev. Charles W. Getz of the First Full Gospel Church in Lake City, Fla.
Mr. Getz recently moved to Florida from Hancock. He plans on returning to Funkstown several times a year to record his sermons.
" 'Country Church Time" is the most professional gospel program on radio as far as I'm concerned," Mr. Getz says. "Russ produces it splendidly. Everything works hand-in-hand."
Mr. Neff and Mr. Getz say no one gets paid for their contribution to the show. Sponsors pay for production.
"It's completely a public-service program," Mr. Getz says. "It's all about Christ and getting to heaven."
Funkstown's WPVG, the program's home station, is temporarily off the air while its owners relocate the studio and tower; they hope to resume broadcasting next spring. Mrs. Davis, the program director, says "Country Church Time" has been well-received. Listeners often called in after the show asking for personal prayers.
The closest station to Baltimore airing "Country Church Time" now is WKSL-FM, 94.3, in Greencastle, Pa., just across the Maryland line. It airs the show at noon Sundays.
Stations in Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia and Florida also have picked up "Country Church Time" already or soon will, Mr. Neff says. Stations in South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee may follow, he says.
He and his wife are delighted at the show's popularity.
"This started out as our own 'country church time,' " Mariah says. "We were proud as we could be just to have it on our little AM station in Funkstown."