91.7 FM
I arrived at work a little later than usual today, and as I was easing into a parking spot, KOOP’s Country Roots program was getting off the ground. It’s a shame that I haven’t listened to this program more often than I have, especially when the KOOP (RealPlayer) stream sounds so wonderful, even on my laptop’s built-in speakers. How better to start the day than with a Turbo from Jo’s and George Jones, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, and Loretta Lynn on the radio?
In Austin, 91.7 is a shared frequency, with KOOP broadcasting between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. weekends, with KVRX, UT‘s student radio station, broadcasting at all other times. Both stations give airtime to music not otherwise widely available on the Austin airwaves, and like Austin’s two other listener-supported stations, KMFA and KUT, are absolutely worth a listen.
Listen:
KAZI (88.7-FM) is also a listener-supported station. Lady J and some of the other people with shows have collections of music not to be heard elsewhere, items not found even in Paul Ray’s goldmine of music. KAZI broadcasts through the night and also has blood-stirring gospel first thing in the morning. The Wake-Up Call is on every weekday morning, and on Thursdays there’s usually a guest, frequently a member of the city council. Friday mornings at 8:00 am, the Breakfast Club offers some of the best political conversation in town (Akwasi Evans of NOKOA – The Observer and Tommy Wyatt of The Villager join the Reverend Frank). This is the station that carries city council meetings on Thursdays, starting in the afternoons, which is so important for those of us without cable TV or broad-band connections for our computers.
Rod Moag’s country and rockabilly jamboree, mentioned in the original posting, draws on his ever-growing collection of rare music. (Tom Allen’s Saturday-morning show on KVET also lets you hear examples not easy to find.)
Other great shows on KOOP are bhangra music on Sundays at 5:00 pm (you’ll find that you remember the tunes, which are mostly from Bollywood movies and have real hooks), Fiesta Musical (sometimes there’s live music in the studio) on Thursdays from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, and of course the ever-popular lounge show, again with rare recordings (Saturday mornings). And let’s not forget Thomas Durnan’s Czech music show and jazz show featuring music from the ‘twenties and ‘thirties.
We are so lucky with our radio stations here in Austin. Sometimes it’s easy to complain that KUT is paring down local shows in favor of nationally syndicated offerings and that KMFA seems to slight vocal music these days, but we’re still very, very fortunate.
I forget about KAZI because we don’t get reception at our house (we’re in something of a black hole), but you’re right, it’s a great station and I have enjoyed it many times while driving (or sitting in traffic).
I just looked them up to see if they’re streaming, and it looks like they are. I added their homepage to my list.
I know there are a few other stations left of the dial–Radio Free Austin at 90.1 being one, last I checked–but so often the signal strength is low, so I have yet to hear the call letters or numbers enough times to commit them to memory.
It’s funny that you say that about KMFA, because the last few times I’ve tuned in I’ve heard vocal music. I remember thinking to myself that they must be playing it more frequently.
Other shows I love on KOOP are Spanish Rock Radio (Tuesdays), Ear Candy (Saturdays), Graveside Service (Saturdays), Radical Mothers Voice (Wednesdays), and Commercial Suicide (Sundays).
There’s been lots more vocal music on KMFA these last several days than there’s been recently, perhaps because choral music is so important to this season. But KMFA used to have a complete opera every single Saturday afternoon and played lots of lieder throughout the week, as well. Thursdays and Mondays had programs devoted to vocal music. All this seems to have been displaced by a rota of the same old chestnuts, leavened with movie scores. At least there’s still organ music. And don’t get me started on KUT!