WMOT Roots Radio 89.5 FM is marking the 10th anniversary of its switch to an Americana format with a month of celebrations culminating in the Official AMERICANAFEST Day Stage, September 16-18 at Eastside Bowl in Madison, Tennessee. The stage, produced with NPR Music, World Cafe and Nashville PBS, will feature 15 acts including Grace Potter, Ruthie Foster, Hiss Golden Messenger, Swamp Dogg, Sonny Landreth, Jay Buchanan, Steve Poltz, Fruition, Sister Sadie, Eli Paperboy Reed and Bella White.
The Nashville station, operated by Middle Tennessee State University, flipped to an all-Americana format on September 2, 2016, and says its online and app-based audience has since grown to roughly 1 million listeners. WMOT credits its early support for artists such as Billy Strings, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Sierra Ferrell, The War and Treaty and Allison Russell as part of its programming legacy, according to the announcement.
Anniversary events kicked off September 2 with performances at Brown’s Diner and Robert’s Western World in Nashville, alongside archival programming on-air. WMOT executive director Val Hoeppner and program director Jessie Scott both pointed to the station’s human-curated, listener-supported model as central to its identity, contrasting it with algorithm-driven streaming platforms. The station says it currently has about 2,400 members.
Based on a press release provided to Music Industry Weekly by Susan Hamilton, brooklynbasement.co.