Are there country-western nostalgia radio stations? How common are they
April 20, 2015 7:32 AM Subscribe
Rock and pop music have their nostalgia radio stations - your "golden oldies", classic rock, all 80's, etc., stations - and plenty of them. What about country western music? I'm sure such stations exist (and this is something I could easily check), since there are stations for pretty much everything, but I'm also curious to know how common they are. Also, are there different nostalgia categories for it, e.g. 50's and 60's, 80's and on, etc.?
I am not sure about over the air radio, but I listen to satellite radio and the music stations get pretty granular in terms of their niche. Every decade has a station. When my mother rode with me on a 4 hour ride she was amazed that she could listen to Jonathan Schwartz spin Frank Sinatra songs over and over 24/7. I enjoy Frank, but 4 hours of him being accompanied by my mother's singing can be a bit much, although I am sure she thinks the same thing about me and the Grateful Dead.
As for country, it is broken into 5 categories, Highway, Outlaw, Y2Kcountry, Roadhouse, and Prime. Here is a list of stations.
posted by AugustWest at 8:05 AM on April 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
As for country, it is broken into 5 categories, Highway, Outlaw, Y2Kcountry, Roadhouse, and Prime. Here is a list of stations.
posted by AugustWest at 8:05 AM on April 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
There is a great show broadcast out of Orlando (but I think it is widely syndicated) on Sunday mornings only, called "Sunday Morning Coming Down" - a reference to a country music golden oldie. The show covers classic country, and non-pop current country. It is a great weekly show, and not only plays the music you want, but has insightful info about it all..
posted by Flood at 8:12 AM on April 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Flood at 8:12 AM on April 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Try the podcast archives of Route 78 West: http://www.route78west.com/. They were a Boulder institution for quite some time and are now doing different shows.
posted by nickggully at 8:47 AM on April 20, 2015
posted by nickggully at 8:47 AM on April 20, 2015
In my experience, classic country stations are usually found in areas where country is very popular, but there's also a higher population density.
There's a lot of areas between cities where the only stations are country music and Christian programming, but there's usually not enough people to justify more than a couple stations total, so the country station will tend to be a catch-all, with a focus on the modern country-pop.
If country is popular in the region, and there's a slightly higher population, then there will be more than one country station, but usually that includes one that has more songs about drinking and having sex, and another that is more family friendly. You'll find more classic songs on the family friendly station, but the main focus will still be on newer songs.
I guess you'd find a dedicated classic country radio station in areas where there's a high demand for country, but also a high population density. I guess the South fits that criteria, but I haven't traveled down there much, so I could say. I've traveled all over the rest of the lower 48 by vehicle, and FWIW I've only come across classic country stations once or twice.
posted by sam_harms at 8:57 AM on April 20, 2015
There's a lot of areas between cities where the only stations are country music and Christian programming, but there's usually not enough people to justify more than a couple stations total, so the country station will tend to be a catch-all, with a focus on the modern country-pop.
If country is popular in the region, and there's a slightly higher population, then there will be more than one country station, but usually that includes one that has more songs about drinking and having sex, and another that is more family friendly. You'll find more classic songs on the family friendly station, but the main focus will still be on newer songs.
I guess you'd find a dedicated classic country radio station in areas where there's a high demand for country, but also a high population density. I guess the South fits that criteria, but I haven't traveled down there much, so I could say. I've traveled all over the rest of the lower 48 by vehicle, and FWIW I've only come across classic country stations once or twice.
posted by sam_harms at 8:57 AM on April 20, 2015
99.5 "big country" out of henryetta, ok is a classic country station.
posted by nadawi at 8:58 AM on April 20, 2015
posted by nadawi at 8:58 AM on April 20, 2015
Just one point of data, but classic country stations are common in Kansas. I've been very disturbed recently to notice that "classic" includes the late 80s though on both classic country and classic rock stations.
posted by Broken Ankle at 9:22 AM on April 20, 2015
posted by Broken Ankle at 9:22 AM on April 20, 2015
KTHT Country Legends 97.1 is a great station near Houston. I listen to it every time I have to drive down there to visit family.
posted by Grumpy old geek at 10:57 AM on April 20, 2015
posted by Grumpy old geek at 10:57 AM on April 20, 2015
In Denver we get "The Ranch," which is very low budget but plays a great variety of classic stuff from 40s-50s probably through the 90s. Their website seems to be down or nonexistent but here is the Wikipedia page.
posted by Clustercuss at 1:27 PM on April 20, 2015
posted by Clustercuss at 1:27 PM on April 20, 2015
If you drive down from St. Louis to Nashville, you will run into a very delightful classic country radio. WLLE 102.1 is one of the highlights of that drive.
Oddly enough, the only classic country stations you can find near Nashville are on the AM dial.
posted by teleri025 at 3:00 PM on April 20, 2015
Oddly enough, the only classic country stations you can find near Nashville are on the AM dial.
posted by teleri025 at 3:00 PM on April 20, 2015
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posted by JimBJ9 at 7:35 AM on April 20, 2015