One of the most beloved and longest-serving characters in the Vermont music scene, Robert Resnik, died on Monday, July 21, at age 72, according to his family via a social media post. Resnik had been battling a series of health issues in recent years, including Parkinson’s disease.
Resnik played a huge role in shaping the Vermont folk music scene, not only as a musician and multi-instrumentalist who played on scores of albums and performed countless live shows in his career, but also as one of the best-known DJs in the Green Mountain State. Resnik cut his teeth spinning records at WRUV 90.1 FM at the University of Vermont in 1970.
That radio experience kicked off a career that spanned more than half a century, from his first WRUV program, “The Shirley Temple Show,” to his renowned folk and traditional music show, “All the Traditions,” which aired weekly on Vermont Public starting in 1996.
Resnik was a fearless DJ who would spin whatever his heart told him to spin, a throwback to the days of DJs before corporate programing and Clear Channel turned playlists into algorithms. His love of folk music was unparalleled. He treated the genre as a constantly unfolding mystery and was always excited to find a new artist or old song he’d somehow missed. He put his folk music acumen to good use from 2003 to 2019 as a freelance music reviewer for Seven Days.
He was inducted into the Folk Alliance International Folk DJ Hall of Fame in 2023, an honor that truly tickled Resnik, he told Seven Days at the time — though he was just as pleased to receive the award in Kansas City, Mo., where he could eat at his beloved barbecue joint, Arthur Bryant’s. He also took home the 2019 Herb Lockwood Prize in the Arts, awarded for a lifetime of service to music in Vermont.
Like many a musician, Resnik held down a day job for most of his career. He spent almost 30 years working at Burlington’s Fletcher Free Library, including as codirector, and often managed to perform on instruments from his vast and treasured collection. Somehow, between the library, playing on tons of records and hosting a weekly public radio show, he found time to write a book in 2013 titled Legendary Locals of Burlington. It’s a group whose ranks Resnik has surely now joined.
“I spent a lot of time watching my father do things he didn’t like for a living,” Resnik told Seven Days in a 2019 interview. “It taught me not to do that. Besides, with me, it always comes back to music. I can’t help it! It’s what I’m made of. I’m made of musical notes!”
Update, July 28, 2025: This story has been updated to note Robert Resnik’s tenure as a freelancer for Seven Days.
This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2025.
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