Musings from Mr. Solid

By John Lee

Like I promised last time, I’m going to lay on you some of the radio stations I listen to on the internet. I will give you the station name, the web link and a synopsis of shows and highlights. I won’t give links to shows that stations feature, you can get those from the station web site.

I’ve done a piece on WWOZ-FM 90.7 (http://www.wwoz.org), the granddaddy of community stations out of New Orleans. Lots of R&B, blues, Zyedeco, Cajun, and Jazz 24/7. It’s a treat!

WDCB-FM 90.9 (http://www.wdcb.org) is located in Glen Ellyn, Illinois on The College of DuPage campus. Laura Dufresne, the lovely wife of Mark Dufresne, singer and harmonica man of Roomful of Blues, went to school there! Lots of Jazz and numerous blues shows including the hard to find “Live from the Red Rooster”. They also carry American Routes and Beale Street Caravan. A very cool station. Glen Ellyn is a burb of Chicagoland.

KZUM-FM 89.3 (http://www.kzum.org) broadcasts out of Lincoln, Nebraska. This fine station has a blues show on every day of the week. I sometimes listen to American Routes on KZUM. Check it out!

KUMD-FM 103.3 (http://www.kumd.org) Duluth, Minnesota (Bob Dylan’s birthplace) has blues on Friday and Saturdays. They also carry great public radio shows like Mountain Stage, Beale Street Caravan, West Coast Live, American Routes, E-Town, and The World Café to name some. This is a cool station in The Great White North! I listen to Beale Street Caravan on KUMD.

KDHX-FM 88.1 (http://www.kdhx.org) St. Louis. An eclectic mix. Three blues shows on Sundays and a rockabilly show called Greasers Lunch Box are some of the highlights. KDHX- bringing cool sounds to Missouri.

KALW-FM 91.7 (http://www.kalw.org) in San Francisco is a news and information station, very much like KUOW here in Seattle. Monday nights on KALW are blue. 9:00 PM is Beale Street Caravan, 10:00 PM make room for Mark Naftalin’s Blues Power Hour, and from 11:00 PM to midnight the great showcase show, Portraits in Blue with Bob Porter. Bob Porter also works with Beale Street Caravan. All showtimes are Pacific time.

For an international flare, check out Blue Ears, The Bluesy Difference from Amsterdam, Holland. Blues and blues rock 24/7 (http://blueears.com).

This is a pretty good list I think. If anyone out there in radio land knows any cool stations out in cyber space please email me (seattleblues@comcast.net) and let me know, please!

Wishing you, good listening.

August Blues Birthdays

Robert Cray - August 1, 1953
Magic Slim - August 7, 1937
Joanna Connor - August 31, 1962
Louis Armstrong - August 4, 1901 (died - 1971)
Percy Mayfield - August 12, 1920 (died - 1984)
Son Seals - August 13, 1942 (died - 2004)
Luther Allison - August 17, 1939 (died -1997)
John Lee Hooker - August 22, (died - 2001)
Wynonie Harris - August 24, 1915 (died- 1969)

Electric bassist John "Mr. Solid" Lee was born in Alaska and has been active in the Seattle blues scene for about 30 years. He currently plays with the Crossroads Band. Photo by Mike Coyote.