| MIDWEST BLUES BEAT |  |
by Eric Steiner TWISTIN’ THE DIAL...
Growing up near Chicago Heights, one of my hobbies was listening to shortwave radio. I’d tune in to Willis Conover’s jazz program at the Voice of America; I’d listen to different perspectives on the Vietnam conflict from Radio Hanoi or Radio Moscow, and discovered aboriginal music from Radio Australia in Melbourne. My father had many health problems, so listening to shortwave radio was something we did together after he was released from St. James’ Hospital. He told me stories about listening to a Zenith Trans-Oceanic that looked more like furniture than a radio. I’d like to think that I’ve carried on my late father’s interests in other cultures online instead of the airwaves. Over 35 years later, I still listen to international radio stations, but instead of stringing up an antenna in the backyard, I click on my Internet browser. Next weekend, would you check out an online blues show before you go out and hit the clubs? I’ve included three shows below that I visit from time to time. I listen for bands from that station’s local area, and hear how each station presents the blues. These three shows are winners on my desktop, and are a regular part of my weekend blues journey. Great Blues Resources Online WGLT-FM from Illinois State University in Normal plays the blues on Fridays 8pm to midnight, Saturdays 1am to 5am and noon to midnight, Sundays 1am to 5am and noon to 6pm Central Time. As a former staffer at WGLT-FM (ISU, Mass Communications, ‘79), long before the station joined National Public Radio, I’m biased. I particularly enjoy “The Delta Doctor,” Delta Frank on Fridays and Saturdays from 8pm ‘til midnight. Delta Frank’s web site is a blues treasure trove, and it’s a great place to learn more about Midwestern blues happenings. Click on Delta Frank’s own web site, the Blues Blowtorch, at www.bluesblowtorch.com/site/ for local updates, blues news you can definitely use, and some great pictures of the Blues Doctor hanging with the likes of Deborah Coleman, Joanna Connor, Robin Crowe, Skeeter Brandon and one of my favorite gents, Willie Kent! As Delta Frank, would say, “Have Mercy!”
Every Saturday and Sunday, I listen to “All Blues” from Pacific Lutheran University’s NPR affiliate in Tacoma, WA. “All Blues” playlists are diverse, ranging from Tangle Eye, North Mississippi All Stars, Victoria Spivey, Pink Anderson to Bernard Allison, just to sample a recent playlist. Saturdays belong to the dulcet tones of Robin Lloyd, and Sundays, John Kessler hosts. In 2003, they both were honored by the Tacoma Blues Society as “Best Blues Disc Jockeys of the Year.”
I first discovered KRVS-FM along the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway from Lafayette, to Baton Rouge, and then to Biloxi, Mississippi on a blues pilgrimage in 2002. This signal beams from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the heart of Cajun Country. Friday mornings, I regularly click in Raoul Breaux’ “Blues Box” as well as their original “Zydeco Est Pale” and the “Cajun and Creole Hour” for some tasty musical gumbo. As they say down Louisiana way, les bon temps roulet, especially in Mardi Gras month! Remembering Jody Noa | ||
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