On June 4, 2016, a citywide community radio juggernaut was launched when WXNA, a nonprofit project five years in the works, went on the air. In the four years since, it’s been a constant wellspring of music in a kaleidoscopic array, curated by volunteers who care deeply about it and about sharing it with you. The pandemic has forced some changes in the way they do things — some shows are pre-recorded, DJs wear masks in the studio, it’s not safe to interview guests in person — but they’re still able to offer more than 90 unique shows each week. You’ll find long-running classics like Pete Wilson’s pre-rock R&B block Nashville Jumps (8-10 a.m. Fridays) and Laura Powers’ punk-and-power-pop program Needles + Pins (7-9 a.m. Wednesdays), alongside newer additions like DJ Star’s Reggae University (9-11 p.m. Wednesdays) and DJ LT’s musical and literary The Crack in Everything (1-2 p.m. Sundays). You get a close look at hip-hop and the sounds that gave birth to it via DJ Blackcircle’s The Root (noon-1 p.m. Mondays), a wide range of soul, jazz, R&B and rap via DJ Erica’s Soul of the City (4-6 p.m. Thursdays). That’s only the tip of the iceberg — from cool jazz to Filipino disco to deep psychedelia, from industrial dance music to fiddle tunes to contemporary art music, you can likely find it here. You can listen anytime on the web at wxnafm.org and pick the station up at 101.5 on your FM dial when you hop in the car. If you miss the show you want to hear, most broadcasts dating back to June 2017 (including episodes of shows no longer on the air) are available to stream from the station’s archive. Pro tip for a treasure hunt: Prior to the pandemic (and hopefully again soon), former Scene staffer Jonathan Marx, aka DJ J-Mar, frequently had conversations with artists and community leaders on his show Transmission(8-10 p.m. Mondays). Among many more, check out Marx’s talks with Jamaal Sheets and Katie Delmez about multimedia artist Terry Adkins, and D’Lisha Davis of 2 Ls on a Cloud about local rap and R&B. And if you missed the station’s spring pledge drive, you can make a donation via the website any time. STEPHEN TRAGESER
Listen to and Support Community Radio on WXNA-LPFM
