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Let’s Hear It for People-Powered Radio!

WXNA FM

When we brag that WXNA FM is people-powered radio, we mean it. Listener support makes possible our broadcasting in Nashville at 101.5 FM and online, with a wide array of freeform and speciality programming coming to you seven days a week. This Spring Pledge Drive (May 13-19, 2019), we thank you for expressing your love for WXNA by making a donation. Here’s what several of our volunteer DJs had to say about what people-powered radio means to them.

 

Leanne Merritt of “X-Posure”

People-powered radio, especially WXNA, is a positive example of a thriving symbiotic relationship. I love seeing how music connects us all and I realize every day just how small the world is as I meet people through music. I believe that music is a powerful connector, and that it creates community. I hope that the joy I get by sharing new sounds on my radio show is also experienced by the listener tuning in and by the artist who is getting their music played on the radio.

 

Plato Jenkins of “The Needle in the Groove”

WXNA gives me a reason to search out new (to me) music. It’s like spinning records in my living room, except I’m sharing with more than just my dog. 😜 And the other shows inspire me.

 

Laura Pochodylo of “Big Little Records” and “Runout Numbers”

For me, being part of a people-powered radio station is an exercise in putting my time, effort and money where my mouth is. If I want an alternative to corporate mass media, I had better help build and support it! Hosting two shows each week is a great excuse I can use to keep buying cool records, and I love that it expands my sonic horizons while building my confidence in my musical knowledge and on-air abilities. Being a part of WXNA feels like having an extended family all throughout Nashville.

 

Alexis Stevens of “Free Association”

WXNA reflects the eclectic tastes of the Nashville community (and beyond), and it belongs to the listeners who support it—that is people-powered radio. On a personal level, it fulfills a deep desire in me to share the music I love with others. I think all WXNA DJs feel that way and take the responsibility/privilege seriously. Long live freeform, people-powered radio! LONG LIVE WXNA!

 

Peter Rodman of “Peter Rodman Goes Off”

Music changed my life the minute WXNA went on the air. It changes my life every day listening to the station. I learn more about music now than I had learned in the 50 years prior to the launch of this station! It shows how much the station revitalizes this 67-year-old–we want to do that for everyone listening!

 

Chris Nochowicz of “The Future of Jazz”

When I found out that I have a listener in another country building their personal playlists off of what I play; when I have a listener tell me that what I played got them out of a tough point in their life; when I know I have sold music for artists because their listeners heard it on my show, I understand how important what I play is. All of a sudden I realized that what I play and say is important. I need to stay fresh and current and keep finding the struggling artist that doesn’t have the money to promote, but has some of the best music out there. I’ve been doing this for fifteen years and I could go on forever about why I do this. Better than a paid day at work. Oh, and then the large group of friends I met because of the ❌

 

Nashville Leslie of “Studio & Stage” and “The Soap Radio Hour”

People-powered radio means radio that still reflects free speech and real people playing music they’re passionate about!

 

Lauren Turner of “Shout, Sister, Shout!”

From the late-great “Seaship Auricle” to “Maiden Voyager”—this station has got the whole world’s music covered, as well as the music of the weird and wonderful people in your backyard, making your breakfast, and teaching your children! The magic of the everyday is alive and well on-air, and running on community support is totally a part of that!

 

Celia Gregory of “What Moves You”

When plotting a move to Nashville from my college town a decade ago, aiming to immerse myself in LIVE music, it never occurred to me I might have the opportunity to spin songs and talk to artists I love, sharing their art and perspectives with a wider audience via terrestrial radio. WXNA is a people-powered labor of love, and a dream come true for the volunteer DJs who lend their time and record collections. But we hear from listeners that this is THEIR radio home, too, and there’s room for all! Inclusive. Inspirational. Addictive. For those about to rock (tuned to 101.5 FM), we salute you.

 

Heather Lose, Founding President of WXNA and “Aging Hipster” Host

To me it’s all about connecting with the audience. Our world is a complicated, scary, amazing, beautiful, horrific place. Prepping each week’s show in response to what’s going on out there helps me process, and sharing these songs brings community together to celebrate, mourn, rage, or just enjoy an awesome Elvis Costello song on a pretty day. Because it’s happening live, we’re doing these things together, and anything that helps bring people together is very special and very needed.

 

Lauren Bufferd of “Different Every Time”

I came of age at a time when radio was the primary way I learned about new music or really any music, short of sharing with friends. I first heard Coltrane on a late night jazz show and had to pull over to the side of the road. I’d never heard anything so beautiful–I had to stop driving. Though nothing’s been quite as transcendent since, I have been exposed to lots of new music via radio. When I do my show, I am thinking of someone like me who has big ears and eclectic taste and is going to hear something new and beautiful and exciting on “Different Every Time” and fall in love, just the way I have, so many many times. Also, it’s a great excuse to buy more CDs.

 

Michael Buhl of “The Scatter Shot”

I suppose “people-powered radio” is about individual passions—certainly that of the DJs, who would do their show the same way regardless of whether they had one million listeners or no listeners at all, but also that of the listeners who get their individual tastes and interests catered to as well as being able to discover new ones.

 

Ashley Crownover of “Set Records to Stun” and “The Soap Radio Hour”

Freeform radio is magic brought to you by wizards who are secretly regular people just like you. The songs they play are spells that say, “You are not alone.” The power to cast these magic spells is created via a mystical process of ritual and belief that combines faith, science, and financial support in a big black cauldron of community. DJs stir the concoction at 33 1/3 RPM while cackling maniacally to themselves in a room full of alchemical equipment made possible by listener support. The result is a sparkling fresh batch of people-powered radio sent straight to your head and your heart every single day!

 

Ed Brinson of “Eighties/Schmeighties”

Being part of an organization that is dynamic, growing, and engaged with the community is a true privilege. And planning shows and presenting music beats paying for psychoanalysis!

 

Hound Dog Hoover of “Goin’ Down South”

To me, people-powered radio means that WXNA is bigger than the sum of its parts. Our individual shows might cater to a particular audience, but anyone that tunes it at any time will find some delightful surprises.

 

Drew Wilson of “Loud Love Show”

I love having the opportunity to play songs that a listener might not get a chance to hear anywhere else. For that one kid who hears a punk song on the radio late at night and starts learning three chords. To build a community and give an outlet to those that already exist. Music is both a release and a unifying bond. To hear songs that mean something to you, that would never get airplay on a commercial station, that can be life changing.

 

Randy Fox of “Randy’s Record Shop”

Radio is the sound of human voices singing, talking, and connecting with others. It’s one of the most powerful inventions ever created and can be, and should be, more than a means to make money and sell products. “People-powered radio” is real human beings sharing their passion for music, the arts, and the human condition—changing lives and inspiring visions of a world bigger and more diverse than one imagination can contain. It’s also the best means possible to inspire hope, move feet and shake booties, raise a fist in solidarity, rock your ass off, and share our humanity in the moment, right here and now.

 

Some Kind Words from a WXNA Superfan

WXNA FM

“Dude, there’s gonna be a street party at Third Man Records during the eclipse.” Those were the exact words my friend living in Nashville told me. Of course I was sold. I live in south Alabama and there was only going to be a partial eclipse here and that’s barely worth looking at. But the rare opportunity to view a total solar eclipse and visit good friends in Music City sounded well worth the drive.

While I was in town, my buddy and I spent a good bit of time cruising around. As soon as we started driving, he told me, “You’re gonna love this station up here, they play everything. I heard Crass on here one morning.” He turned it to 101.5 FM. I was completely enamored from the very first song.

Later that afternoon we visited Grimey’s and my buddy casually said, “I think WXNA broadcasts from upstairs.” I had to investigate and see what this was all about. I saw a small WXNA sticker on the door of an unassuming building and knew it was the place; I went in and up the stairs and lo and behold there was station co-founder Randy (I figured this out later) and DJ Juan (he was training at the time).

I am blown away that this group of over 80 volunteer DJs put together so many completely different sets week after week! I listen to 40+ hours of music at work every week. Iit had been a struggle finding quality music that was also safe for a work environment, but I knew immediately that the problem had been solved.

I found WXNA during a once in a lifetime event in a fascinating city and it has been life-changing. I hear at least 50 new songs every single day! I feel so lucky. I’ll occasionally call a DJ to tell them I like a song or a set or make a request. It turns out one of the DJs has a family member near me and we had a beer together when he was in town. What’s better than making connections with quality people? Isn’t that what music is about anyhow?

A total solar eclipse is an extraordinary experience but I have to say that discovering WXNA has had a more profound impact on me. WXNA helps me keep my mind focused and keep living right. I think I am a bit of an odd bird and have even been dubbed a superfan but I am sure there are many others out there that share my love for the station. I only look forward to the success and growth of WXNA.

Oh, and they have a heavy metal show!!!

Brad Johnson
Fairhope, Alabama

Photo Credit: Wim Mulder, Flickr

Shout, Sister Shout!

WXNA FM

Sister Rosetta Tharpe is the reason I titled my radio show Shout, Sister Shout!. I have my pal Joey to thank, introducing me to her music years ago while working together at the since-defunct J&J’s Market & Cafe, where all of us baristas frequently played things not only as cafe music, but as our own form of conversation: “Have you heard this?! Listen to this one while you’re doing the dishes!” not unlike many other no-frills haunts in Nashville, I’m sure.

“Have you heard this?!” is something I’m postured to ask every Sunday from 1-2pm on WXNA FM, where I host the show named after Tharpe’s song Joey played for me that day. I delight in asking that question and hearing that question, being surrounded by fellow DJs and listeners who teem with that obsessive curiosity about where sounds come from and what they can mean to us. 

Born Rosetta Nubin on a cotton plant in Arkansas,Tharpe came of age playing thunderous electric guitar in traveling gospel groups and married an evangelical pastor in the 1940’s. Her voice is both cloud and lightning bolt: chilling wisps of tenderness alit by hollers of fury. She would bring gospel tunes to the nightclub via her signature Gibson SG and record all sorts of songs that defy the clarity-grubbing confines of genre. She was at long last inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame just last year. Later in life, she became musical and life partners with another woman in a time when that was unspeakable—especially for a woman of color. Her voice continues to cross every kind of boundary.

* * *

When an opportunity arose to host an hour of programming on the community radio waves of Nashville, I thought about existing radio shows and attitudes around the sharing of music. I considered how I would love to have a show defying genre and celebrating the nuances of form as it shape-shifts throughout tradition and culture in our rapidly globalizing world– and did so experimentally, yet accessibly. I thought about what my experiences could bring that maybe others could not, and my female-ness became difficult to ignore.

I felt that sense of delight seeping into my thoughts and my record collection, seeking out women I hadn’t heard of or had previously passed by for whatever reason, mining record shops and deep corners of the internet. I listened for sounds to play in conversation with Tharpe’s, voices of women and non-binary folx who were (or are) complex and genre-defying, marginalized and silenced–people like Beverly Glenn-Copeland or Nashville’s own Jackie Shane. I also looked for records by women that are celebrated but maybe not played as often as their brothers on the radio, for whatever reason. The music I’ve been choosing is personally inspiring, musically exciting, and culturally relevant– and there is almost always a new sister waiting in whatever crate I choose to dig in.

Despite this excitement and sense of certainty, approaching Shout, Sister, Shout! during #metoo and a clamoring, confusing call-out culture was tough. I wanted to approach it with a spirit of thesis more than antithesis, with joyful revolution more than reactionary rebellion. I didn’t want the show to feel exclusive to anyone, men included. The intention was to center the show around the sounds & stories of women, but trace their influences to all kinds of human experiences. It wasn’t necessarily designed to be explicitly radical, but if I’m honest– the show is radical simply by existing in a man’s world.

Playing majority women and nonbinary artists for an hour on the radio is noticeable, where playing all male voices for an hour is just– not. The airwaves tend to reflect the status quo rippling throughout everything else– in festival lineups, media coverage, and opportunities to make music without experiencing harassment. Recently a fellow DJ at WXNA (Hey, Heather!) brought to the community’s attention the sexist attitudes of a self-described commercial radio “consultant” who argued that if women made up 50% or more of programming on the radio, people would start to lose interest and touch the dial. He also added that in his astute opinion, female DJs are great to have for their “mom factor”, another gross condescension that masks as… I don’t know, being a mama’s boy?

* * *

There are endless complexities and nuances to hold in imperfect hands when we speak of gender, sexuality, and art. There are ever-evolving approaches, even in Nashville alone, on how to make safe space for women and nonbinary folx in music specifically. These are exciting times! I am in no way an expert or an authority on inclusivity, and I am not offering my records prostrate at the virtue-signaling-altar of the Goddess of the Politically Correct, who isn’t a substantial entity after all! However, I do think these communities (my communities) need representation– and that representation is more than a buzzword that lands corporate sponsorships and approval from the right kinds of people.

I think representation, like I saw articulated so well by NPR’s Jess Skolnik recently, needs to be paired with revolution. It’s not as simple as playing Joni in equal parts to Dylan or inserting Betty Davis into every conversation about Miles. Maybe it’s noticing the ever-spinning web between all of these artists, and when women are spun with duller thread, inspecting it a little closer and with tenderness. Keeping in mind that history has not been kind to her threads, that they may need some repair and restoration; and that they are not to be objectified on a pedestal of exclusivity, but rather recognized as part of the complex web of human musical history. Being intentional about the voices of women is difficult, painstaking work. It’s delicate and powerful, like I’d imagine adjusting the gears of a clock might be.

* * *

Let’s use The Rolling Stones as an example here. I haven’t played The Stones on my show. I don’t need to expound on this, obviously, something like “Brown Sugar” is not a counterpart to the sounds and stories of black women, not to mention it being overplayed and lyrically offensive. And yet, I don’t think I should “cancel” The Rolling Stones or burn every copy of Sticky Fingers as a listener of American music. But oh boy, do I listen to it with a critical ear, and think about what they continue to mean to our zeitgeist while tapping my toe. Here’s a thought– maybe I would play “Gimme Shelter” and discuss oft-overlooked, dynamite-vocalist Merry Clayton, how her name was misspelled as “Mary” on some of their releases, and play another one of her recordings in the same set. And hell, I’d throw in Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville next to that too, and the whole show could be a self-referencing historical conundrum, and it would sound dynamic and great. As a DJ, I think it’s my responsibility to the community not to censor but to curate, and to play the voices that are less likely to be heard in elevated spaces such as these. Maybe it’s also our responsibility to explore how those voices can respond and add to the existing conversation. Isn’t recognizing the humanity in someone or something you don’t relate to the most radical thing we can do in a world of ever-dividing divisions?

* * *

In Nashville specifically, conversations around music can tend to feel pretentious and stilted. It is sometimes intimidating to do live radio for a city of musicians and critics, to know that my transitions may likely be analyzed, to know that as I struggle to pronounce someone’s name correctly, there is a listener out there in the void– driving their Volvo down Gallatin and cackling at my best. In this cultural moment, specifically in Nashville, I think we need to be able to fumble in front of one another. We need to dig for what delights us and unabashedly dust it off and spin it for our neighbors.

Looking into past generations and histories for the show has been such an enticing and inexhaustible adventure, but I think the most fulfilling points have been connecting them to people and music that are active now. The most meaningful moments of the show thus far have been the live interviews and in-studio sessions featuring women in Nashville who are doing really cool, important shit: Meg Pharr (of riot grrrl punk band Depression Breakfast), Sean Della Croce (singer-songwriter and co-founder of a print publication called Broadside), Ziona Riley (singer-songwriter & bassist for local band Heinous Orca), Kate Haldrup (local drummer and audio engineer), Eve Maret (synth wizard and Hyasynth House co-founder), Dream Chambers (electro-pop musician and other Hyasynth House co-founder), Wu Fei and Celine Thackston of chatterbird, and Peggy Snow (matriarch of the decades-running local experimental folk band The Cherry Blossoms and virtuosic painter of Nashville’s condemned buildings). Each of these women has brought wildly different playlists and perspectives into Martha’s Chicken Shack. Having them with me in that space feels electric and energizes me to ask more questions, to seek out more women, and ultimately to turn people onto more beautiful, meaningful shit.

In these moments when someone else is sharing from behind their particular lens of experience, I feel like I am getting to create the kind of space I intended to make on the show and that I long for more of in the world. I experience this as a listener, too– It makes me feel like the ever-spinning, ephemeral web of musical history is being held to new light, refracting incessantly for whoever chooses to turn the dial and tune in.

DJ LT
Shout, Sister, Shout!
Sundays, 1 p.m.-2 p.m.

Music-makers as Community Change-makers: Let’s Hear ‘Em Out

WXNA FM

Shut downs, (democratic) socialists, and supreme court battles, oh my.

It’s April 2019, and we’re still here, somehow, some way, with our new(ish) Congress ushering in all sorts of new stories, drama and eventually — fingers crossed! — new laws to debate, celebrate or mourn. You don’t have to be fan club president for a famously ripped-and-dissenting octogenarian, nor a click-baiter’s MAGA dream, to be an informed and politically engaged American these days. The info (and infotainment) is all around us, downright inescapable unless you unplug all media but your FM radio with the dial set to 101.5. (We WXNA volunteer DJs approve of that path, for the record.) But even then, Twitter app deleted, cable news shunned, you might tune to a show on the X — yours truly with “What Moves You” Wednesday mornings, perhaps, or Laurel’s “All About Nashville” midday Friday — and stumble upon an interview with someone who makes music, and also chooses to make statements about that which influences life and music. For many, arts and activism (<< the name of a former WXNA interview show, incidentally, big ups to Ariel!) are not mutually exclusive pursuits, and I, for one, am grateful for the blending.

Obviously, art has forever accompanied and in many cases helped to power political and cultural movements. (I love this collection of important works in the Civil Rights era from nonprofit Teach Rock.) But midterm elections aren’t sexy — it’s far too easy to generate a weary “meh” about down-ballot races, disconnecting oneself from policies that actually impact the day-to-day (hello, Nashville transit referendum). It’s in fervor for or against executive candidates that we usually see the artists and other pop culture influencers out flexing their sway over us commoners (see: Rock Against Bush, this Millennial’s first memory of real-time music made and marketed in protest, plus countless others).

But the year 2018 was a surprisingly major one for political activism, locally, nationally, globally, and musicians were both participants and soundtrack providers in the democracy we made. Speaking as a community-loving freeform DJ, but also a superfan of civic engagement and voting rights, I’ve never seen such galvanized support from the music community to make changes in our country, and at the neighborhood level, too.

Early last year, I interviewed local soul-rock bombshell Alanna Quinn-Broadus of Alanna Royale the week of the second Women’s March. Additional “What Moves You” interviewees, Nashville-based artists Will Hoge and Ron Pope, respectively hosted spring and summer “& Friends” benefits for nonpartisan nonprofit HeadCount, for which I moonlight as a Team Leader registering voters at concerts. Come September, my show guest Kyshona Armstrong was pairing up with Nicki Bluhm to celebrate “rowdy women” at the book release of local author Sarah Hays Coomer. In that same month, an embarrassment of riches put me in a room chatting with Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls, a duo historically vocal about and involved in many human rights and environmental causes, before both Amy and Emily Saliers played a National Voter Registration Day concert at City Winery alongside an impressive slate of singer songwriters. Sheryl Crow, Amanda Shires and Jason Isbell, Billy Ray Cyrus and Brit songstress Lucie Silvas, among others, played a free, Saturday morning “Party to the Polls” event that culminated in a march from Ascend Amphitheater to Howard Office Building to early vote.

With even more national relevance and resonance, Jason Isbell’s August performance at Marathon Music Works in support of 2018 Senate candidate and former TN Governor Phil Bredesen drew the ire of GOP leaders and voters who just want their Americana uncluttered with/unfettered by their politics, thankyouverymuch . Down in Texas, Willie rallied for then-Senate and now-Presidential hopeful Beto and hordes of fans were shocked and appalled by Nelson’s affiliation with the progressive young candidate, despite decades of overt activism for left-leaning priorities. And then, who could forget previously mum (or at least middle-of-the-road) Tay-Tay’s extraordinary impact on last-minute registrations in the Volunteer State by Istagramming her support for Dems in early October? WHOA.

I’ve volunteered for more than a decade with HeadCount, founded on the very premise that live music fans can and should all be participants in their democracy, so let’s meet them where they are (music venues) and make that first step (registering to vote) convenient and fun. It never ceases to amaze or delight me the difference made in our engagement with fans when the (wo)man with the mic casually nudges the captive audience to “check out the HeadCount table in the lobby” or “register to vote if you haven’t already, it’s too important.” Roots-rock darling Michael Franti made such a call to action from stage in the summer of 2008, remembers my husband and co-Team Leader, spurring an immediate and steady stream of potential voters to turn their heads to the top of the amphitheater lawn, and make their ways to complete an official voter registration form in an exciting if not eerie Walking Dead effect.

Save the “sheeple” jabs: if artists recognize their influence and choose to use it beyond music, we should appreciate and celebrate this conscious choice to not just “shut up and sing,” as the anti-war Dixie Chicks were advised nearly 16 years ago . Maybe music is your escape from the madness, and I can certainly appreciate its life-giving powers as divorced from any other belief system, including our hyper-divisive American politics. But I’ll continue to dig into what moves artists to create their work, and to — as our fellow (concerned) citizens, real people seizing their status for good — advocate while amplified.

DJ Celia
What Moves You
Wednesdays, 9 a.m.-10 a.m.

Photo credit: Romel Sanchez, Flickr

Mr. Narrator, This Is Joe Strummer to Me:

WXNA FM

Hello, my name is Ed, and I am a Clash-a-holic… (In my mind you are calling back “Hello Ed!”)

Today is International Clash Day. We should give a shout out to fellow DJ John Richard at KEXP in Seattle who initiated Clash Day in 2013. Yay John! Really, it should be called International Clash FAN Day. We celebrate not only the Clash themselves but the brother/sisterhood of Clash fans worldwide, and here in Nashville. In the teenage recesses of my mind, I still think the Clash are somehow on the edge—weird, marginal—and I’m still kind of shocked when I run into other passionate Clash fans. So cheers to us! Passion is the fashion!

Personally I came to the Clash, I’m sure like many of my generation, overnight. One day it was Yes and Rush and 20-minute rock concertos; the next it was Year ZERO, laser focus on what matters, and London’s burning AND I’m SO Bored with the USA. The Clash gave us bullshit detectors!

To borrow from Duke Ellington, there are three types of Clash music: early, middle, and late. And I love them all. The fury and pure punk of early Clash with “White Riot,” “1977,” “Jail Guitar Doors,” and “Garageland”; to the expansiveness and cinematic quality of middle Clash with “London Calling,” “Spanish Bombs,” “The Card Cheat,” and “Death and Glory”; and finally to the experimentation of late Clash with “Magnificent Seven,” “Washington Bullets,” “Lose This Skin,” “Ghetto Defendant,” and “Straight to Hell.” It’s all fantastic!

The Clash broke up in 1983; Mick Jones was fired in September of that year. So that’s where I mark their end. To hell with post-Jones Clash! Wait, back up. Even I can learn a thing or two about the Clash. This year on WXNA I interviewed Kosmo Vinyl, sometimes known as the fifth member of the Clash, about his time with the band. He mentioned that a new book about Clash 2.0 had just come out and that I should check it out. Mark Andersen’s We Are The Clash covers the band from Mick’s ouster to the finale. This book radically changed my view of this period of the band, and I highly recommend it. It may challenge your likely derisive view of the band during this era. (You can listen to Kosmo’s interview here: https://www.wxnafm.org/broadcasts/7776.)

Regardless, the Clash came to an end over 35 years ago! And here we are, celebrating International Clash Day in 2019. What’s going on here? Perhaps the Clash, their music, their example, their inspiration persist because we need them to. These times require deep reserves of musical, artistic, and spiritual sustenance. The Clash really only existed from 1976 to 1983. In those six years they put out six full length albums (two of which were multi-disc) and many EPs and singles. Digging into that output, you will find much that speaks to us today. What I’m struck by is the deep humanism of the band and Joe’s lyrics in particular. They weren’t perfect, they weren’t the best musicians, they didn’t invent punk, but they were true believers for a time. It was and is true rebel music.

The Clash were not Joe Strummer’s band. They were a collective unit: Joe’s lyrics, Mick’s arrangements, Paul’s pure style and chutzpah, and Topper’s solid drumming chops came together to create a unique sound and sensibility. In ways not true for other punk-era bands, they continue to spark our imagination and our collective will to resist. And to rebel in the Albert Camus sense of the term—or as Joe had slapped on his battered Telecaster, “ignore alien orders.” They were sincere without being goofy, they were ironic without being distancing, and they believed what they were saying even if they were at times naive. “I think people ought to know that we’re antifascist, we’re anti-violence, we’re anti-racist, and we’re pro-creative. And we’re against ignorance.” Tell it, Joe!

The Clash and the spirit of Joe Strummer are still with us. In 2016, after what seemed like a calamity, Henry Rollins put it as succinctly as I’ve ever heard: “This is not the time to be dismayed, this is punk rock time. This is what Joe Strummer trained you for.” Goddamn, I can hardly say that without tearing up. WXNA, the DJs and the volunteers, are proud to be on the side of our community and when necessary to be part of the fight to make this community open to all. That is the spirit of the Clash, and that is what Joe Strummer taught us. “Without people, you’re nothing…”

I’m a collector of Strummer quotes. There’s one for just about any situation. Here’s one for right now: “If I had five million pounds I’d start a radio station because something needs to be done. It would be nice to turn on the radio and hear something that didn’t make you feel like smashing up the kitchen and strangling the cat.”

The creation of WXNA in 2016 gave us a chance to re-enchant our love affair with music, and through music to connect with each other: My long love for this band has been reawakened. And I am heartily grateful, because, damn, I needed it. So let’s raise a glass to St. Joe Strummer and to The Only Band That Matters. Cheers and Solidarity.

DJ ED
Eighties/Schmeighties
Friday, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

Starman Ascending

Roger Blanton

WXNA DJ Anne McCue Remembers the Star Star

 

That night I woke up at about 3 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep. Usually I try to meditate when that happens but for some reason unknown, I picked up my phone and checked in and saw the news. Unbelievable. There was someone I never realized would actually die. He hovered over our childhoods and our teen years in Australia, a superlative human, part alien (all too convincing), fantastic planeteer.

I saw The Man Who Fell To Earth when it came out with some of my teenage siblings at Huskisson Theatre which doubled as a church on Sunday mornings. Sitting in a little old rickety cinema with wooden seats in a tiny coastal town in Australia we were transported into the seemingly “Bowie Universe.” We were intrigued, mesmerized, captivated; and it was hard to doubt that Bowie was actually from another planet. Nearly impossible to separate the man who sang Starman from the character in the film, especially when you are a kid whose imagination is attempting to brim over and get loose.

Throughout the ’70s, Bowie shifted and transformed and could do no wrong. He was made to be a star and handled it better than just about anyone. He was fearlessly and brazenly unconventional. His inspiration was limitless, his imagination was unencumbered.

I’ve been revisiting Low and Hunky Dory. Low – that depressed, stoner album – can make me feel as weird as I used to feel when I listened to it all those years ago, like an ethereal flashback to a past nightmare dream of darker, more wintery times. Happier is Hunky Dory, the elvin Bowie hasn’t completely thrown off his hippie whimsy on this wonderful album. We have loved so much of him and will keep on at it. Wow, Mr. Jones. Happy Birthday! xo

 

Anne McCue
Songs on the Wire
Tuesday, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

https://www.wxnafm.org/broadcasts/10123
annemccue.com
songsonthewire.com

Our Favorite Records of 2018

Roger Blanton

Every year here at WXNA we like to ask our DJs a simple question: what was your favorite record of the past year? Then, for your convenience, we take their responses and form them into a handy list. Below you will see an amazing collection of some of the best music from 2018 across numerous genres and styles. Like WXNA, there’s a little something for everyone.

DJ PICKS:

Heather Lose/Aging Hipster :: Fantastic Negrito “Please Don’t Be Dead”

Laurel Creech/All About Nashville :: Western Medication “Taste”

Brer Sunshine/The Black Gold Historical Society :: Blood Orange “Negro Swan”

Adam McDole/Body to Body :: Daughters “You Won’t Get What You Want”

DJ Killjoy/Cities Under Cities :: Big Ups “Two Parts Together”

DJ Rhatfink/The Continental :: Weird Al Yankovic “The Hamilton Polka”

BadN8/Coolin’ :: Marlowe (L’Orange & Solemn Brigham) “Marlowe”

DJ Rodge/Delicious Elixir :: Colter Wall “Songs of the Plains”

DJ Lauren/Different Every Time :: Anna & Elizabeth “The Invisible Comes to Us”

DJ Karl/Dizzy Spell :: Beak> “>>>”

Joe/Double Shot with Joe & Sue :: Ben de la Cour “The Hight Cost of Living Strange”

Sue Havlish/Double Shot with Joe & Sue :: The Record Company “All of This Life”

Bill Verdier/Down the Back Lane :: Ry Cooder “The Prodigal Son”

Will Orman (Popcorn Brain)/Dreambeat :: Pinkshinyultrablast “Miserable Miracles”

Chad Pelton/Dustbin Days :: Doug Paisley “Starter Home”

DJ ED/Eighties Schmeighties :: The Good, The Bad & The Queen “Merrie Land”

popGeezer/The English Breakfast :: Kasey Musgraves “Golden Hour”

Brady Brock/Fidelity High :: Fucked Up “Dose Your Dreams”

DJ Mike/Flying Lesson :: Maribou State “Kingdoms in Colour”

Natasha/The French Connections :: Clara Luciani “Sainte Victoire”

Chris Nochowicz/The Future of Jazz :: Jeff Lorber Fusion “Impact”

Hound Dog Hoover/Goin’ Down South :: Ry Cooder “The Prodigal Son

Randy Fox/Hipbilly Jamboree :: Various Artists “The Beginning of the End: The Existential Psychodrama in Country Music (1956-1974)”

Ramona Reid/Holistic Revolution :: Brandi Carlisle: “By the Way, I Forgive You”

DJ Hot Car/Hot Fudge Tuesdays :: Dear Nora “Skulls Example”

DJ Sweetbaby/Hot Fudge Tuesdays :: The Convenience “The Convenience”

DJ TravisT/I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead :: Kraus “Path”

DJ Susan/The Inconsiderate Mixtape :: Daniel Blumberg “Minus”

DJ Juan/International Echo :: J Balvin “Vibras”

Jeff Hackett/The Jazz Connection :: John Coltrane “Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album”

Drew Wilson/Loud Love Show :: Telethon “The Grand Spontaneon”

DJ Charlotte Rollerskates/The Maiden Voyager :: Jasmin Kaset & Quichenight “Tuxedo”

Jason Piffier/Melted Clock Radio :: Robyn “Honey”

Nexus/Musical Mysticism :: Kikagaku Moyo “Masana Temples”

Laura Powers/Needles+Pins :: Cable Ties “Tell Them Where to Go/Choking to Choose”

DJAK/No Remorse :: Sleep “The Sciences”

Angie/Nothin’ But the Blues :: Fantastic Negrito “Please Don’t Be Dead”

Trevor Nikrant/Our Golden Tones :: Laurel Halo “Raw Silk Uncut Wood”

Jay Millar/The Plural of Vinyl :: Lithics “Mating Surfaces”

Mike Mannix/Psych Out! :: Sunwatchers “II”

Randy Fox/Randy’s Record Shop :: The Pandoras “Hey! It’s the Pandoras”

Jammin’ James Riley/Rockabilly N Blues Radio Hour :: Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis “Wild! Wild! Wild!”

blackcircle (Nekos Barnes)/theRoot :: Khruangbin “Con Todo El Mundo”

Laura Pochodylo/Runout Numbers :: Kasey Musgraves “Golden Hour”

Josh Mock/Sad Songs for Happy People :: Shame “Songs of Praise”

Michal Scatter/The Scattershot :: Des Lions Pour Des Lions “Derviche Safari”

LT/Shout, Sister, Shout! :: Yo La Tengo “There’s a Riot Going On”

Michael Roark/Slings & Arrows :: Insecure Men “Insecure Men”

DJ Anne McCue/Songs on the Wire :: Angela Perley & the Howling Moons “Homemade Vision”

Erica Schultz/Soul of the City :: The Carters “Everything Is Love”

DJ Cajun Mitch/Sounds of the Bayou :: Beach House “7”

Leslie Hermsdorfer/Studio & Stage :: The Breeders “All Nerve”

Jonathan Marx/Transmission :: Eve Maret “No More Running”

DJ Jonni Downer/The Unlistenable Hour :: Iceage “Beyondless”

Anna/Untune the Sky :: Lithics “Mating Surfaces”

Erin Mock/Wishful Thinking :: Lawrence Rothman “I Know I’ve Been Wrong, But Can We Talk?”

DJ Burch/Works Progress Radio Hour :: Amy Rigby “The Old Guys”

Dawn Kote/Yum Yum Eat’em Up :: Maggie Rose “Change the Whole Thing”

WXNA Thanks You!

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WXNA thanks you — our generous listeners — for helping us not only meet but exceed our fundraising goal for our fall pledge drive. Your support will help make sure this station continues to grow and thrive. We are so grateful that you are the people in #peoplepoweredradio.

Tis’ the Season

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‪Tis’ the season! If you want to find the coolest gifts, head on over to WXNAfm.org and check out our fantastic selection of swag, including our brand new “Best of Nashville 2018” long sleeve shirt. And the 2017 shirt is now on sale!

Happy Holidays from WXNA :gift: