WMOT – Roots Radio
WMOT, 89.5 FM & Streaming
Nashville, Tennessee
MTSU’s flagship public radio station founded in 1969, is dedicated to an all Americana music format. WMOT Roots Radio, provides the Nashville region with a powerful radio station (100,000 watts) dedicated to the music most deeply connected to Music City’s legacy: classic country music, bluegrass, singer/songwriter, folk, soul, R&B and old-school rock and roll.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band played their first gig in 1966 in Southern California as a jug band and by 1969 had become a cornerstone of the burgeoning country-rock community. Their career breakthrough came in 1970 with the release of the record Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy and the single “Mr. Bojangles,” a folksy Top 10 pop hit that remains a staple of their live show. During a tour stop in Nashville around that time, Earl Scruggs and his family came backstage to say hello. That introduction led to a friendship and some of the connections the band needed to record Will the Circle Be Unbroken. That three-disc album brought Nitty Gritty Dirt Band together with a number of country, folk, and bluegrass legends. Heroes like Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, Jimmy Martin, Merle Travis, and Doc Watson joined the scruffy, young band to record country music standards such as “I Saw the Light” and “Keep on the Sunnyside.” The acclaimed project is considered a landmark recording in American music.
Following an extended 50th anniversary tour, the ensemble grew to a six-piece in 2018 for the first time since their early jug band days. The group now includes Jeff Hanna (acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Jimmie Fadden (drums, harmonica), Bob Carpenter (keyboards), Jim Photoglo (bass, acoustic guitar), Ross Holmes (fiddle, mandolin), and Jaime Hanna (electric and acoustic guitar). All six members also sing, and when their voices merge, the harmonies add a powerful new component for the legendary band. And with the father-son pairing of Jeff and Jaime Hanna, the band carries on a country music tradition of blood harmony.
Donna the Buffalo
Donna the Buffalo offers everything you want in a roots band.
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Wikipedia
John Dunning
Location – Denver
John Dunning
is an American writer of non-fiction and detective fiction. He is known for his reference books on old-time radio and his series of mysteries featuring Denver bookseller and ex-policeman Cliff Janeway. Wikipedia
Michael Oberman
Michael Oberman
Author and Photographer
Michael Oberman’s photographs are on permanent display in U.S. National Parks including Steigerwald and Modoc and in museums including the Utah Museum of Natural History and the Ontario Science Centre (Toronto).
Six photos are on a five year tour of U.S. and Canadian museums in an exhibit called “Imaginate”…under the auspices of the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto (where the same six photos are on permanent display).
Before photography, he spent his life in the “music business.” Michael started as a music columnist for the Washington Star and a six year period interviewed more than 300 major recording artists…including David Bowie, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, James Brown…the list is too long for this page. He later worked for a record company and managed artists. Now he is back to his true love: Photography.
In 2019, Oberman was signed to a publishing contract for a book about his life in the music business. He spent eight months writing “Fast Forward, Play, and Rewind.” It will be out on October 15, 2020 in the U.S. and December 1 in Great Britain. (adapted from web site)
