Welcome

The Bingo Show is going off into cyberspace.

For those who just stumbled upon this-- The Bingo Show is a radio show I do on WMFO Tufts University radio. It's a community station run by students and staffed by students and community members. You can listen at wmfo.org or through ITunes under Public Radio. And of course, if you are in the Boston area, you can always listen the old fashioned way by tuning your radio to 91.5 FM.

The Bingo Show has been on the air since February 2001. We are on currently every other Friday 6-8PM Eastern time. Come check us out.

The Bingo Show explores American music. What do we mean by American music? The Well, I have a pretty wide interpretation of that. But it's an interesting question, because I think it means many different things to many different people. Obviously, jazz, country, rockabilly, blues and rock and roll all qualify, as they were born and developed here. The many regionals flavors that we have come to know-- zydeco, Appalachia, Texas swing, bluegrass, delta blues have all become part of the American music lexicon.

These are the obvious guideposts. But, what of grunge, Motown, Tejano, surf, West coast rap, Southern rock and a list that seems to expand monthly. There's also styles that have come to be know by a particular city- Nashville, Detroit, New Orleans- New York City alone has been the birth of scenes as diverse as the Greenwich Village folk movement, Harlem jazz and the 70's CBGB punk scene. Composers like Gershwin, Stephen Foster, Steven Reich, John Cage and Charles Ives have also deeply impacted what we call American music. And it doesn't stop there. American music must include Canada and Central America and all the varied styles that immigrants bring with them to their new land.

So, as you can see, there's plenty to explore. Through the show and now, here on the blog, I will explore this cornucopia we call American Music. So welcome-- and please feel free to add your own definitions, so together we can come to understand this vast music scene a little better.