Long Distance Dedication: Leanne Merritt

Check out DJ Karl‘s long distance dedication to DJ Leanne of “X-Posure

My friend and WXNA DJ Leanne Merritt is an influencer in the truest sense of the word — digging deep into new releases, keeping fresh on upcoming tour announcements, and alerting the world to the next magical act that will grace Nashville stages. She supports local, bringing in tons of interviewees from all over the city. Experimental artists and indie darlings alike are thrilled to be included on X-Posure, Leanne’s weekly exploration of the new and hip, the deep and sincere. She finds hidden treasures like she’s a talent magnet and makes connections to amazing people in a way that feels organic. It’s beautiful to hear the conversations bloom on the airwaves each Wednesday. Thank you, Leanne. The brightness of your X-Posure has given me a lasting burn ❤

Meet Your Wizards: DJ Ed

In this edition of Meet Your Wizards, we bring you DJ Ed, host of Eighties Schmeighties, Fridays from 10am-noon.

Born: Atlanta, Georgia
Home: Nashville, Tennessee
Drafted into WXNA: 2016
Spins: Left (always left)
Fades: Lefter

I think I discovered independent radio growing up in Atlanta listening to the college radio station from Georgia State, 88.5 I think. Then when I went to school in Mobile, Alabama I was shocked to find out there was a very tiny college radio station, all of 10 watts. (Shout out to WTOH!) It was such a small-wattage station they didn’t care whether or not we followed FCC rules. That’s something I had to learn when I became a DJ at WXNA. Hey, you’re not a real DJ unless you’ve been suspended at least once! I love being the selector on Eighties Schmeighties. It beats therapy!

Most played song:Clampdown” by The Clash

Vinyl, CD or mp3? All of the above. Whatever works. Love vinyl, but not a fetishist.

Fave WXNA shows: Free Association, Works Progress Radio Hour, Reggae University, and Punk Not Punks

Pinch-me moment: Interviewing some great artists such as Kosmo Vinyl and Vanessa Briscoe Hay.

When I die: Enjoy Every Sandwich…

Long Distance Dedication: Pete Wilson

DJ Rhatfink of The Continental appreciates Pete Wilson

Just as the soundtrack to American Graffiti changed my life in the 1970s, so too did DJ Pete Wilson, beginning in the early 2000s with his seminal show, Nashville Jumps!

George Lucas’s film, American Graffiti (1973), sent me down the rabbit hole of rock and roll as a young listener. What an amazing soundtrack! I loved that music so much that I had my father make me reel-to-reel tapes of nothing but classic oldies but goodies like The Five Satins, Bo Diddley and Etta James. I played those over and over again until the tapes wore thin. The bedrock rock of DJ Rhatfink is rock and roll. Yet there was still more to discover as I found out when I started listening to DJ Pete Wilson and his outstanding, long-running radio show Nashville Jumps! This was radio manna from heaven coming to us from out of the past to the here and now, flinging open the musical doors of my proto-rocker brain with tunes from Cab Calloway, Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris and so many more! Pete plays nothing but the finest early unbleached rock n’ roll, boogie woogie, jazz and jump blues every Friday morning and has helped me continue a family tradition. Just as my dad shared mix tapes with me, I have had the pleasure of sharing Nashville Jumps! with my daughter as I took her to school. History lessons have never been more fun. Thank you, Pete! Long may you continue to spin those big 10-inch records.

Long Distance Dedication: DJ Rhatfink

DJ Pete of Nashville Jumps appreciates DJ Rhatfink

For “The Continental,” Rhatfink spreads his net WIDE to collect a startlingly wide variety of songs on each week’s theme. He does themes better than just about anybody, and I’m a sucker for a show that follows Lord Sitar with Lou Rawls. But what I like best is his talk breaks. They are performances in themselves. I remember reading once that when talking to a baby, you should vary your voice a lot–soft to loud, high to low, swoops and drops–to keep the baby entertained and paying attention. I resolved to do that as a DJ, but my delivery at its best is a little sloppy.. Rhatfink, you are a far better baby-entertainer than I could ever be.

Meet Your Wizards: Laura Powers

Wherein we pull back the curtain for a personal visit with one of the wonderful wizards of the X. In this case, the DJ keeping us on Needles + Pins weekly — Laura Powers.

Born: Knoxville, Tennessee
Home: Nashville, Tennessee
Drafted into WXNA: 2014
Spins: Right
Fades: Right

I fell in love with independent radio back in high school when I discovered WUTK, the University of Tennessee’s student-run radio station. Doing Needles+Pins each week makes me feel like that 13-year-old kid hearing the B-52’s for the first time. In an increasingly algorithmic world, I love that WXNA is a place where you can still be surprised and excited by music, whether it’s brand new or just new to you.

Most played song:Sonic Reducer” by Dead Boys

Vinyl, CD or mp3? All of the above. Love LPs but definitely not a format snob.

Fave WXNA shows: Runout Numbers, Bedazzled Paradigm Jukebox, Punk Not Punks

Pinch-me moment: Throwing an on-air dance party with Vanessa from Pylon

When I die: Sprinkle my ashes in the New Arrivals section at Wax’n’Facts in Atlanta

Long Distance Dedication: Randy Fox


Big Chief Chaz of Gilded Splinters appreciates Randy Fox

I used to be scared of Jerry Reed, mostly because the song “Amos Moses” was blasted at top volume on the Matterhorn ride at the Allegan County Fair. Jerry’s raucous cackling with thumping funk backing was ominous in a way unmatched by “Free Ride” or “Space Trucking”… Smokey and the Bandit sanded off some rough edges, sure — but he still made me nervous.

I’ve grown since then; now when I think of Jerry Reed, I hear the joy and hilarity of “Guitar Man,” “US Male,” “Lord, Mr. Ford,” or a half dozen others played by Randy Fox on the HIPBILLY JAMBOREE every Saturday on WXNA.

Thanks, Randy!

Meet Your Wizards: Ashley Crownover

Born: Sixth-generation Nashvillian, but
Number of states lived in: 9
Drafted into WXNA: 2011
Show: Friday Friday, Fridays from 7-8 a.m.

I helped found WXNA, mostly by providing massive quantities of unrestrained enthusiasm. I discovered non-mainstream music during my teen years in the ‘80s thanks to the University of Tennessee’s WUTK and Vanderbilt’s dearly departed WRVU, while my love for ‘60s and ‘70s rock comes straight from my dad’s record collection. These days I learn about new music by listening to my fellow WXNA DJs (and, I’m ashamed to admit, via Spotify’s weird algorithms).

Artist Obsession: David Bowie Forever

Favorite WXNA DJ Collaborators: Jonathan Grigsby (Dance Party XNA) and Michael Roark (Hazy Ways)

Biggest (and Funnest) Challenge as a DJ: Playing ear-catching new music in addition to my beloved “oldies”

Most Awkward DJ Experience: When I phone interviewed Denny Laine of Wings and was so in awe I could barely speak. The most notable thing about it was his boredom

Something Listeners May Not Know About Me: In 2008 I wrote a retelling of Beowulf from the female characters’ point of view (Wealtheow: Her Telling of Beowulf, Iroquois Press), and in 2016 I published a children’s book called Nashville Boo (Reedy Press) featuring the ghost of Hank Williams as narrator.

Meet Your Wizards: Sirena Wilson

Born: Nashville, Tennessee
Home: Inglewood, East Nashville
Drafted into WXNA: 2018
Shows: Music for Grownups, Bring Out Your Dead

In the 20-oughts, Sirena loved to listen to two DJs: Bob Parlocha, host of the syndicated show Jazz with Bob Parlocha, and Pete Wilson, host of Nashville Jumps on Vanderbilt University’s WRVU. In the teens, both jocks suffered major blows: Pete’s station died in 2011, and Bob died in 2015. Sirena was cheered to find out, though, that a group of ex-RVU jocks, including Pete, were suffering years-long withdrawal symptoms and trying to get a brand new station off the ground. Miraculously, they succeeded. Sirena attended an event held by the new station in the summer of 2016, found out which of the middle-aged boys was Pete, and introduced herself. A little less than two years later they were married. Before honeymooning in England, they spent a couple of hours the day after the wedding doing Pete’s Sunday show Music for Grownups together. As she did in Pete’s life as well, Sirena morphed from guest to partner, and now she’s the better half of Music for Grownups. As DJ Indigo, she’s also one of the growing rotation of DJs who take turns hosting Bring Out Your Dead. She spent many happy days as a Deadhead and brings flair and savvy to her presentation of the Dead and related bands, Dead-inspired groups, and related musicians like Elizabeth Cotten.

Salina at Tomato Art FestYou may not be surprised when I tell you this is Pete writing this. You surely will not be surprised when I say Sirena is my favorite DJ. I admire her great work as host of Bring Out Your Dead, but her co-hosting of Music for Grownups is closer to my heart. Before WXNA went on the air I knew I wanted to do a show of good old pre-rock pop music, jazz vocals and show tunes. To my mind when I was a youngster in the 60s and 70s, Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee and Nat King Cole were the Music for Grownups–NOT the Eagles or the Stones or the Allman Brothers or even the Beatles. I wanted a show that would appeal to the inner adult inside each of us. Or even the inner nerd–at one point I wanted to call the show “Music for Squares,” which I guess might have been heavier on polkas and Lawrence Welk. Randy is still mad that I abandoned that name, but I wasn’t sure listeners would want to self-identify as Squares.

STOP TALKING ABOUT YOURSELF PETE! I was just leading up to why the show is better with Sirena. Each week we choose some themes, or songwriters to celebrate, or we find out whose birthday it is, and sift through stacks and stacks of CDs (we may be old-fashioned but not so much that we play phonograph records on the show!) to find great and appropriate songs. So many times Sirena has stumbled across an intriguing title that led to a three-minute gold mine. She finds cuts that sound great in succession but contrast enough to keep the ears perked, and has a great ear for a witty lyric. Working together, we’ve come to love many particular singers in common–Lee Wiley, Matt Dennis, and the king of them all, Bobby Short–while also individually claiming certain songs as our own pets. For Sirena those include “Big Spender” from the show Sweet Charity, Bobby Short’s cut of “I’m in Love Again,” and Stacey Kent’s version of “He Loves and She Loves.” Kent herself is an example of something else Sirena brought to the show: contemporary performers whose styles and choices absolutely fit our premise. Kent and Harry Connick Jr., for two examples. The contemporary crooner she’s championed most is the handsome singing archivist Michael Feinstein, whom we both call Candy Face out of love and respect. What’s more, Sirena’s playful enthusiasm on the air makes our talk breaks a blessing. She is audibly pumped about introducing our listeners to standards of the Great American Songbook.

Also, she rustles up new PSAs for the station. SO MANY NEW PSAs!

Pete Wilson, Nashville Jumps

Our Favorite Records of 2021

We have completed yet another trip around the sun. While there were certainly some patches of optimism (remember how great the early summer felt, pre-Delta?), 2021, like 2020 before it, was a tough one. Thankfully, the music helped get us across the finish line. There seemed to be a ton of new releases this past year, likely a byproduct of artists being home-bound for so much of 2020. We asked our DJs to recommend some of their favorites. The list below not only provides an excellent time-capsule for year, but also illustrates the wide variety of musical styles and genres played on WXNA.

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Our Favorite Records of 2020

It used to be that the end of a year was a time to look back, to reminisce, to think fondly of days gone. But not this year! So long 2020! You were the worst. Please don’t come back. But with that said, time is amorphous and doesn’t like to be pigeon-holed. Just because those 365 days felt like an endless hangover (and not the good kind!), doesn’t mean that there were no sources of joy. In fact, it was a good year for music — which makes sense, because music is how many of us weather tough times. Below is a list of the best music as picked by the WXNA DJs. This is music they played, listened to and got them through a truly rough year. Luckily we can look ahead to 2021. I’m sorry, what’s that? Oh, 2021 is also a total mess? Ah, so it is. Well, we still have the music.

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