Picture: Anne McCue
Show: Songs on the Wire, Mondays 3-4pm
One of my big dreams was to have a real radio show. I always loved making mix tapes when I was a teenager – using cassettes back then. After that I was able to make mixed CDs and so the natural progression was to have a radio show. I think it was about 5 or 6 years ago that we started broadcasting Songs On The Wire on MainFM. My sister Christine suggested it and Bridget Haylock made it happen.
My show was first broadcast on East Nashville Radio and then on the community radio station WXNA (also in Nashville.) I’ve been a musician for 30 plus years and have travelled all over the place for music, starting in Sydney then living in Melbourne, Ho Chi Minh City, Los Angeles and Nashville. I’m about to release my 8th album and am also a producer. There is so much great music out there – the music that has gained mainstream approval in any era is just a tiny percentage of the records made. I’m mostly interested in hearing music I have never heard before whether it was recorded in the 60s, 30s, or yesterday and released in Asia, Africa, etc – anywhere, anytime. What we have heard so far is just the tip of the iceberg, there are so many recordings to be discovered.
My show is called Songs On The Wire. It is a (hopefully) soothing show that is not limited by considerations of era, fashion or genre but loves melody, harmony, originality. The show has been on Mainfm for about 6 years. It’s my chance to just sit and listen to and discover music I haven’t necessarily heard before. I think listening to music you haven’t heard before is good for song writers. Many people get stuck in that one era of music that came out when they were teenagers. Hopefully my show challenges that whilst being entertaining as well. I want my show to go with your day rather than challenge it, so you won’t likely hear punk or metal on my show! I do like psychedelic rock though and have played quite a bit of King Gizzard. In my troubled teenage years I listened to jazz and New Wave. So what motivates me? Hoping to introduce other people to all those side Bs and obscure LPs that have been released but ignored plus the underplayed artists of today.
It’s great to feel like you are a part of some kind of community in these alienating times! The generic music that makes it to mainstream radio can be depressing. It’s wonderful to have so many viewpoints on one station instead of the one programming director who tells everyone what to play. That is the great gift of community radio. It’s not just a product of the community but I think it helps to shape the community itself. It’s so important that outsiders have a voice.
Steve Charman’s Open Tuning show appeals to me because he doesn’t stick to any one genre. Talk about introducing people to music they haven’t heard before! It takes a lot of effort to put playlists like that together, so much appreciated! Bridget Haylock’s Femme Fortissimo is another – counteracting the non-parity of radio airplay is so crucial!
To me, ‘community radio’ means underground, musical revolution, freedom, a voice, beating the corporations, avoiding corporate gentrification of art and humanity. It means people doing something for it’s own sake and not for financial or egotistical gain or status.
Keep loving music. Thanks for the questions! 🙂