WFCR’s programming has, for a long time, consisted of a predictable group of stalwart shows, with extremely large doses of classical music and jazz leading the proceedings. If you’re in the mood for either, you always know what you’re going to get with a twist of the knob to 88.5: classical in the daytime, jazz at night. There have been exceptions in the past, like Afropop Worldwide and Valley Folk, and Sunday nights still bring the major change-up of the locally produced Latin music show Tertulia!.
The last time WFCR tinkered with its programming—Tertulia!, along with Valley Folk, Thistle and Shamrock, and Afropop Worldwide, got axed in early 2007—a lot of people got upset. The Valley’s folk fans, in particular, didn’t appreciate the loss of DJ Susan Forbes-Hansen, who’d been on WFCR for a quarter-century. That led to resolutions in Pelham, Shutesbury and Amherst town meetings asking for more “accountability” from the radio station to surrounding communities. The only concession to such concerns was the revival of Tertulia!, which rejoined the roster in a shorter time slot.
The station’s responses employed a curious maneuver: directing listeners to other sources of folk music, notably including WFCR’s big competitor (if such a term applies in public radio), Albany-based WAMC, which airs less music, but a greater diversity of sounds. It was, perhaps, an embrace of the reality for listeners in the Valley, who can choose from at least two, in some places even more, NPR stations. That great pileup of choices may be frustrating for stations in search of audience share, but it’s fantastic for listeners who want to enjoy music and talk without the incessant advertising.
It seemed clear in 2007 that WFCR planned to solidify its identity as the region’s primary source of classical music and jazz, casting off the exceptions in its lineup. It’s also worth noting that the station hoped to add American Routes to the lineup that year. Executive Director for Programming for WFCR and WNNZ Helen Barrington, in a recent interview, said, “We did not succeed at that point.”
What happened? “A bunch of things,” she explains. “One was budgetary. The other was that, with the other changes, it didn’t seem like the right time.”
I asked Barrington how a popular music program fits into the idea of the station’s classical and jazz-based identity. “That’s not how I view American Routes,” she says. “I think American Routes is really about roots music, and the jazz programming, during the week with Tom Reney and during the weekend with Kari Njiiri, is very much in that vein of American roots music. I think it’s a very congruent show with what else we’re doing.”
Regardless, for listeners who aren’t solely devoted to classical or jazz, American Routes is a remarkable breath of fresh air, odd man out or no. It comes from Tulane University in New Orleans, and is hosted by folklorist Nick Spitzer. It’s the kind of thing radio does best. Spitzer’s shows aren’t just informed playlists and good in-studio chatter. In a recent show, Spitzer travelled to Detroit in order to explore firsthand the many threads of American music that converge there.
I’d never heard American Routes before, but I found myself putting aside my plans in order to give full attention to the radio. Most people know Detroit is the home of Motown Records, and Spitzer did a bang-up job of visiting Motown sites and sounds. Where he went soon after was the unexpected and ear-opening bit. Apparently, so many Southerners headed north to work at auto plants in the 20th century that Ypsilanti, Michigan gained a new nickname: Ypsitucky. Not only did Spitzer dig up some fine Southern sounds in the Midwest, he even recorded live bluegrass sets at the Wayne County Raccoon Hunters Club, an outpost of Southernness with more twang than you’d ever expect to find in such chilly climes.
When Spitzer aired the Valley’s own Yusef Lateef talking about working assembly lines, spun the speaker-splitting tones of the MC5, and within minutes aired Aretha Franklin’s pastor talking about how the church was always in her voice, I realized my Sunday night plans were about to undergo a permanent overhaul. Spitzer has an ear for what U2’s Bono once called “soul” music—music united not by conventions of genre, but by unfiltered expression of what is heartfelt and emotionally authentic.
I don’t know if the addition of such an excellent and informed Americana show really bolsters FCR’s classical and jazz street cred, but American Routes is such a singular fulfillment of the medium’s potential that I hope it sticks around as a permanent addition to the WFCR lineup.
