WRIR 97.3FM Richmond

Global A Go-Go is a weekly two-hour world music radio program that I've been hosting since 2004. It's produced live in the studio and can be heard on both the FM radio band at 97.3 FM in Richmond, Virginia and as a webstream simulcast at wrir.org. It is rebroadcast on other radio stations, and it's available as a podcast as well.

I describe Global A Go-Go as "music from around the world in the universal language of groove." In short, you could call it a world music program that emphasizes the danceable over the folkloric. You'll hear plenty of newly released music on Global A Go-Go, but I also feature classic and historic recordings on virtually every program. I play music from all continents (OK, not Antarctica) -- if I tallied everything Africa would certainly come in #1 and South America would probably be #2. And I do play music from the USA when it fits the context.

"World music" is one of those terms that everybody uses but nobody claims to like; I guess I'm that group too. My favorite definition of world music is that it's "local music from somewhere else." That's a pretty good description of my show as well -- most of the artists I play aren't the least bit obscure, they're just popular somewhere other than Richmond, Virginia.

In addition to local music from somewhere else, I play quite a bit of what you might call "culturally hybrid" music -- music that draws on multiple, independent cultural traditions. Hybridity is a hot topic in academia, but my interest in it is anything but academic. I'm simply a lifelong fan of music, and to my ears the most interesting, exciting music in the world right now reflects the ever-decreasing distance between cultures in today's world.