WAMU's Bluegrass Country

The Al Steiner Show

Al Steiner brings us three hours of great bluegrass, country and American roots music.

American Routes

Produced in New Orleans, American Routes explores the shared stylistic and cultural threads of our nation’s music — and how they are distinguished, including blues and jazz, gospel and soul, old-time country and rockabilly, Cajun and zydeco, Tejano and Latin, roots rock and pop, avant-garde and classical.

Americana Breakdown

Americana Breakdown offers music for people who like country music, and plenty for those who don’t. Based in Cleveland, OH, host Art Hanson plays a mix of bluegrass, country, country rock, and Americana.

Bluegrass Breakdown

Dave Higgs brings listeners an emotionally-charged, heart-rending, paint-peeling, splinter-kicking one-hour bluegrass show, featuring scintillating conversation and live music with some of the best in bluegrass live from Nashville, Tenn.

Bluegrass Gospel USA!

Produced and hosted by veteran radio personality Bill Miller out of Knoxville, TN, Bluegrass Gospel USA! is a music intensive show featuring the very best in bluegrass gospel music by the greatest acoustic artists of our time.

Bluegrass Master Class

Each week on this historical series, one of our expert hosts brings to light the talent, personalities, and music that make up the rich tradition of bluegrass. Learn more about your favorite song or just reminisce. And, don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz!

Bluegrass Review

Each week, host Phil Nusbaum presents current and historical bluegrass music, interviews, commentary, and the “Gems of Bluegrass” segment: dissecting a single musical concept.

Bluegrass Signal

Produced in the Bay Area of California, Peter Thompson brings you an hour-long themed show filled with classic as well as recent bluegrass releases, background information and lots of music from the “left coast.”

Bluegrass Unlimited Top 30 Countdown

Lee Michael Demsey plays the top 30 songs as reported to Bluegrass Unlimited for the upcoming month, in the familiar countdown format.

Capital Americana

An Americana program to highlight new acoustic American roots music hosted by Jen Hitt, with occasional live interviews and performances.

The Chris Teskey Show

Chris Teskey joined the Bluegrass Country broadcast team in September 2011 with more than 30 years of experience hosting bluegrass programs in Connecticut. In addition to being the station's senior producer, Chris also hosts The Chris Teskey Show which features a variety of bluegrass music, from traditional to progressive, and live interviews and performances with some of the biggest names in bluegrass music.

The Dick Spottswood Show

Concentrating on music from the 1920s through 1950s, but reaching back to the 1890s and the beginnings of recorded sound, each of Dick’s programs brings listeners a surprising collection of recordings - from cylinders to 78’s and LP’s - highlighting the many facets of folk culture in the United States.

Editor's Picks

Each week Bluegrass Country brings you exciting and diverse programs that highlight a particular artist or aspect of bluegrass and roots music.

The Erin Stamper Show

The Erin Stamper Show offers three hours of the best of the more traditional side of contemporary bluegrass. Erin will dig a little deeper into some of the albums topping the charts and throw a few old favorites into the mix.

etown

etown creates a constantly expanding “community on the air” by featuring diverse music and interviews with a wide variety of authors, poets, and policymakers. With etown’s inspiring “e-chievement” awards, listeners all over the country are reminded that individual efforts really do make a difference.

Foster's Corner

Bill Foster brings us three hours of great bluegrass music from the traditional to the modern — in the road, and on the edge. A familiar voice on WAMU 88.5 since the early 1980’s, Bill delves into his extensive collection of bluegrass music including LPs, tapes, and CDs each Monday.

The Free for All

The perfect cure for those mid-week doldrums! Join Echo as she spins 3 hours of contemporary and progressive bluegrass and Americana music, sure to get you tapping your foot and singing along. Grassify Your Life!

The Gary Henderson Show

In 1967 Gary Henderson helped to start the tradition of bluegrass on WAMU 88.5 as the producer of the show ‘Bluegrass Unlimited’. He’s still at it today, with his live Saturday and Monday shows spinning contemporary hits and ‘mossy old favorites.’

Home Town Special

Host Jay Bruder brings us music from the late 1940’s through to the early 1960s including everything from blues to bluegrass as well as r&b, vocal groups, country, rockabilly, gospel quartets and more; whatever it takes to trace songs, performers, and record companies backwards and forwards through this dynamic period in American musical history.

The Katy Daley Show

Katy Daley is in the studio live every weekday morning for three hours of bluegrass. With more than 25 years of radio experience behind her, Katy celebrates the music, interviews musicians, previews special programming, and presents features like “Music that Matters.”

The Lee Michael Demsey Show

Lee has hosted bluegrass programs on WAMU 88.5’s airwaves for over 25 years. He continues his tradition of spinning contemporary bluegrass for you, live in the studio, two hours each weekday. His three hour Saturday program focuses on the great singer/songwriters in bluegrass and acoustic music.

LIVE from IBMA

Each year we broadcast live from the International Bluegrass Music Association World of Bluegrass Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Tune in to hear interviews and live performances with the biggest names in bluegrass.

Lonesome Pine RFD

From WFDU in Teaneck, New Jersey, host Carol Beaugard offers a mix of contemporary and classic bluegrass along with historical notes on the music, industry notes, current concert information, interviews and ‘backstage stories’ about the artists.

Mountain Stage

Mountain Stage is a two-hour live performance radio program produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting featuring some of the world’s greatest artists in an intimate and relaxed atmosphere with a live-broadcast edge.

Music From Foggy Hollow

Every week, Mike Kear broadcasts three hours of jokes, music news, and bluegrass on Sydney’s Hawkesbury Radio and then packages it up and ships it to us.

Music Programming

The Old Home Place

Each Tuesday, mandolin player Lisa Kay Howard spins three hours of contemporary and traditional bluegrass, and gives listeners a peek into the local bluegrass scene.

Old Time Jam

Banjo player and old time enthusiast Rosemarie Nielsen highlights the genre that preceded bluegrass; old time. But this isn't just a historical show! Rosemarie will feature field recordings of old time jams and the oxymoronic new old time musicians.

Open Mic

Each week we "Open the Mic" for live concert audio. From crowd tapers to soundboard recording and even professionally produced shows like Mountain Stage, Open Mic looks beyond the recorded albums of bluegrass and Americana musicians and provides a sense of how they perform on stage.

Overnight

Each weeknight we air condensed encore presentations of some of your favorite live Bluegrass Country shows.

The Ray Davis Show

Ray brings you some of the best bluegrass around, from prison songs and “plum pitiful” tunes to the great train rides - and train wrecks - of bluegrass music.

RootsWorld Radio

Hosted by Cliff Furnald, RootsWorld Radio takes you on a tour across borders and genres, introducing you to music from far flung places and sometimes from right in your own backyard. Each week is a global tour, with no boundaries and no limits.

Stained Glass Bluegrass

Since 1974, listeners have been waking up on Sunday morning to gospel bluegrass on WAMU. We continue that tradition with four hours of the gospel favorites, old hymns, and spiritual bluegrass songs.

Thistle and Shamrock

Host Fiona Ritchie explores the evolving Celtic musical traditions of Europe and North America, from the ancient tradition of reels, jigs, and ballads to the pulse of new music: an exuberant blend of rhythms, voices and instruments.

Traditions with Mary Cliff

Mary Cliff presents blues, ballads, ethnic, and traditional music, plus plenty of concert announcements on her live three hour show.

The Well Below The Valley

Join Chris Teskey as he explores the music of the Celts, both traditional and contemporary. The Well below The Valley features music from Ireland, Scotland, Galicia, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall, and the Isle of Man, as well as music from the Celtic Diaspora in North America, England, and Australia.