Though you would never know it from listening to the corporate stations that dominate the airwaves, radio need not be a static soundtrack, a one-way street on which consumers are delivered content. In this second edition of The Shoestring Radio Review, Brian Zayatz and Sierra Dickey highlight local programs that could be the next balm to your Sunday scaries, the meeting place for your next date, or your own audio diary.
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Out There with Ruthy Woodring, Fridays 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Valley Free Radio, WXOJ-LP, 103.3 FM
The first time I heard Out There was when host Ruthy Woodring asked to record in the back of my car when I volunteered to drive people out to Boston for a rally around seven years ago. Airing on Valley Free Radio at 103.3 FM for nine years now, the show presents interviews with people around Northampton and beyond — wherever Woodring happens to encounter them. Woodring’s dedication to limiting their own car use provides ample opportunities for these encounters, on foot or bike paths, carpools and buses.
A typical episode might begin with a song, an introduction of the speaker the listener is about to hear (through which it’s usually possible to detect a smile on Woodring’s lips), and then one or more interviews which may include a generous helping of background noise. When I tune in, I get the sense that I’m listening to a master of the dying art of talking to strangers. Woodring follows the rule that any labor organizer knows by heart: talk 10% of the time and listen 90%. Interviewees frequently feel comfortable enough to get into difficult topics, which Woodring handles with expert gentleness. Woodring also shares stories of their own, which can feel decidedly Beat-flavored when set in far-flung bus stations or other liminal spaces.
Woodring told me via email that the idea for the show came from life-coaching sessions she traded for with a neighbor, in which she “brainstormed ways that I could stretch myself in life, highlight my friendly curiosity skillz and my community connections, and share my alternative lifestyle values.” The irony of the show is that it can give you the feeling of listening to a stranger on the bus from the comfort of your own car. But maybe over the years it has inspired a listener here or there to take the road less traveled, say hello to their neighbor, or just watch and listen to the world around them.
Back episodes of Out There are available on Woodring’s website, weatherbeard.com.
-BZ
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Tertulia with Raquel Obregón, Sundays at 8 p.m. on NEPM, 88.5 FM
Raquel Obregón’s Latin music show Tertulia on NEPM has softened many a drive on Interstate 91 when I’m caught wondering why I drive so much or why I’m so often alone. Obregón’s voice is soft, and her selections — ranging from the Caribbean to all of Latin America to Iberia — are eclectic and seasoned. She frequently has guests join her in the studio to talk about issues of interest to the Latinx community, and many shows are presented bilingually.
Tertulia means a gathering with literary or artistic overtones, and that is precisely what she delivers, even when she doesn’t have a guest and is spinning solo. The sounds of salsa, boleros, tango, and folk bring a greater sense of ease to the tail end of the weekend. Another way Tertulia softens the lonesomeness? Our region has benefitted from this program for longer than I’ve been alive: Tertulia the show has been on the radio in one form another for some four decades, with Obregón hosting for 20.
On a recent edition, Obregón began with punchy and danceable tracks from Puerto Rican trumpeter Jerry Gonzales and his Fort Apache Band off the album Rumbajazz, a mashing together of “rumba” which means both a party and many forms of secular music in Cuba, and jazz. These tracks both had violin flair on top of the percussion, which I hadn’t heard much in other Latin jazz. She then wound down to guitar plucking and crooning from musicians like Miryam Quiñones and Danny Rivera, before closing out on a distinctly Afro-Cuban moment with the song “Canto Para Ogún” (drums and cymbals for days) from Grupo Afrocuba de Matanzas.
The geographical range traversed every Sunday night is astounding and Obregón brings it all home effortlessly. I especially adore listening to her comment on how and why she chose a song and what these artists mean to her, sometimes reaching back to her childhood in Peru. Si a ti te gusta gozar, o si necesitas un poco de ayuda abrazando la vida, entonces let Obregón lend you a hand.
-SD
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Queer Yenta Radio Hour with DJ Bucky Downtown, alternating Saturdays 6:30 to 8 p.m. on WMUA, 91.1 FM.
If you’re like me, there are few shorter paths to your heart than an overlapping taste in music or an abiding love of radio. Naturally, then, I was thrilled to learn about Queer Yenta Radio Hour.
The show came from a simple premise: “dating apps suck.” That’s why on alternating Saturdays, DJ Bucky Downtown is helping local queers find love. For the first half hour of the show, listeners are treated to a curated set by the “catch of the week,” a guest DJ looking to mingle with interested radio listeners. Over the course of the following hour, Downtown introduces the guest, discusses their music choices, and helps create an auditory dating profile to rival anything that can be downloaded from the app store.
Listening to the show is surprisingly intimate. It gives the impression of being on a date and trying to interpret your new boo’s choice of music: are they trying to communicate playfulness, interest, cool, or maybe something deeply personal about themselves? Only time — or some exposition by the DJs — will tell. But when the music’s good, who cares? And, so far, the music has been danceable, unique, varied, and just plain enjoyable.
“It’s for fun, and it’s for matchmaking,” Downtown said of the show when asked if any dates had happened yet. (The answer, for the moment, is “no.”) But at a time when dating apps are conditioning us to keep all of our flirting under their overbearing auspices, Queer Yenta Radio Hour feels like a much needed attempt to bring queer courting, and its attendant vulnerability, back into the commons.
Back episodes of QYRH are streaming on Spotify. Follow the show on Instagram @queeryentaradio for the latest updates on new episodes and a link to the interest form for being a catch of the week!
-BZ
Sierra Dickey is a writer and educator. Find her on Twitter @dierrasickey.
Brian Zayatz is the managing editor of The Shoestring.
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