Found: Good Radio!
While traveling this weekend I perused the FM radio wasteland and actually found something worth passing along.
American Public Media, a nonprofit organization, is the second largest producer and distributor of public radio programming and the largest owner and operator of public radio stations in the nation. Included within their programming is an absolute gem of a show called American Routes.
Within the first hour alone of this program I heard a no less than breathtaking set of tunes including, The Band, Solomon Burke, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash.
Most amazing of all though, was the original demo of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” that totally eclipses the official version that we’re all so familiar with. To hear the song stripped bare of all the orchestral embellishments and Joni singing the song as a straight run through was to practically hear it properly for the first time.
The hour concluded with an revealing kd lang interview that detailed how she was initially shunned by the powers that be at Nashville because of her sexual preferences, only to be embraced by many of the old guard down there specifically none other than Minnie Pearl, who went out of her way to champion her music.
I caught this wonderful program on WHYY FM in Philadelphia, but as luck would have it, it’s a syndicated show and by going to the link I provided, you can then click links right there on the site to find out where and when it’s broadcast in your area.
Upcoming shows include music from Lyle Lovett, A visit to the legendary Muscle Shoals sound studio in Alabama, a tribute to Johnny Cash, a trip through Hank Williams’s childhood home, and a report from the W.C. Handy music festival. This is must hear radio, folks.