What they're saying about the show....
From AllAboutCountry.com, December 1, 2002
By
Peter Macy
Last Year New York City's popular Y-107 dropped it's country
format....this was only one year after Long Island's Country 94.3 dropped the
format in favor of 80's Contemporary Music, and 7 years after the demise of
famed WYNY. Now bereft of country music, one local musician decided to do
something. Roadhouse Vic is the bass player in ROADHOUSE
a popular country band on Long Island (one of about twenty such groups)
and an attorney in his "day gig." Vic already had a long-standing
relationship with WGBB as host of a long running talk show "Labor-Lines
hosted by Vic Fusco" and in his alter-ego of Swing City Sam as host of one
hour music program called, what else....”SWING CITY” heard on Sundays from
3-4 pm. When country went south, Fusco went to his station manager and said:
"we need to play some country music!" Local events and dance venues
had no way to get the word out, local bands had no source of chart hits to chose
from, local dancers and fans had no country music to listen to. WGBB AM 1240 is
a community radio station, that prides itself on catering to those audiences
overlooked by major broadcasting companies, and here was a new constituency that
needed to be heard. So Swing City Sam changed his fedora for a 10 gallon white
hat (after all Roadhouse Vic is a "good guy") and "Country Music
in Exile” was born. Vic also enlisted the aid of the Triumph Radio Network and
its CEO, Claire Stevens, and brought Triumph's "Country Close-Up” to the
station. Close-Up hosted by top national country DJ's focuses on a different
country classic artist each week, devoting an entire hour to their lives and
music. Thus, WGBB now presents a two-hour country block every Sunday with a
healthy dose of country classics. This follows "Swing City" which has
always devoted a part of its program to Western Swing. (Fusco makes no bones
about Western Swing being his favorite type of music: "...it includes the
best of jazz, swing, and country with sweet melodies and great improvisation. I
love the sound of twin fiddles and steel guitar, and you get plenty of it in
western swing. Some of the greatest musicians in the world play western
swing." He is one of the few modern swing DJ's to mix in Western Swing.
"Swing dancers, like country dancers, lock into the groove...and they'll
take a good groove whether it’s from Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy or Asleep At The
Wheel...from Sinatra to Willie Nelson, if it swings...it swings." I wanted
the noveau-swing fans to learn about western swing, so maybe they’d also
develop a hankering for other forms of country music once they get used to the
sounds that cross over from western swing into country, particularly the steel
and the fiddle."
So with only an hour to play country music, and being a musician in a
"cover" band, one might assume that Roadhouse Vic would stick to the
top 40 hits, playing a few each week. No such thing. "First of all I could
not even get hold of the top 40 hits, still can't.... I am receiving releases
from only a few of the major companies. BMG's been great, and so I play their
hits. Some, I get from friends in the industry -
some from my own collection, which is extensive. You would think the
major companies would be eager to supply product to the only country radio show
in a listening area of some three million or so people." Nonetheless, from
the beginning of "Country Music in Exile" Fusco has focused on many
types of country music. The "top 40" of course, does comprise about
30% of what he plays. But he also makes room for local Long Island and tri-state
area groups, including his own "Roadhouse Band," as well as
independent label and private label artists. (He's even played "demos!”)
Right now, he is very hot on the work of Barbara Harley, frequent winner of
songwriter of the year from local CMA's. He says her "She's Got Mail"
will be a big breakout hit once the major labels take notice. He is also big on
Robin Deeter's work, particularly "Blue Monday." "Robin sings
some great Buster Doss songs that remind you of the type of music Patsy Cline
would be singing if she were around today, "Blue Monday" is destined
to be a modern classic."
Fusco has been accepting submission of independent label CD's and
auditions them in his car during his weekly commute to his law office. (He put
himself through law school by playing country and rock music in the early
seventies and then could never get it out of his system!)
In addition to Top 40, local and independent artists, Fusco plays country
classics, and album cuts and on the "hot-country" some extended dance
mixes remixed by Brian Britain, a young DJ who hosted the defunct Y-107's
Saturday Night Dance Party. "Country music is the sum total of many
influences,” he says. “We all have our preferences, and most of us tend to
like music in the style of the music we grew up with, but today's country is
fantastic too. I never tire of artists like Martina McBride, Shania, the Dixie
Chicks, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley and on and on. I know some
purists put them down, but I think there is room for all. Heck, I listen to all
kinds of music - swing, rock, oldies, classical, jazz, cool jazz, R & B. Why
would I limit the types of country music I listen to...or play on the radio. And
why would I not play independent artists? I'm an independent artist myself, and
remember all the times I tried to shoot for the stars. Wouldn't it have been
nice to get some DJ to at least listen to my work and give my records a spin....
even if only once. Today, I get many records that deserve to be played
frequently, and if I had the time on the air, I would. The show is only 5 months
old and we are still trying to build up a sponsorship base so we can keep it on
the air. However, I am amazed at the wonderful reception we have gotten locally.
We promote the show with the band, and with the other local bands by playing
their music on the radio. I am even more astounded by the terrific camaraderie
from all the real country DJ's and record producers and recording artists on all
those small independent labels. There is some great talent out there and some
great marketeers. I am hoping that my brand of country radio will catch on in
these parts, and maybe lead to more air time for country and ultimately for a
larger station to return to the format."
I couldn't help but wonder why the show is called "Country Music in
Exile." Fusco explained: "Well, this music was once heard on one of
New York's major frequencies (103.5), and the signal hit the entire tri-state
area. When 103.5 dropped country, Long Island's 94.3 picked it up, but it
broadcast to a much smaller area. Then Y-107 picked it up, quadcasting on 4
small stations on the 107.1 frequencies to blanket a significant part, of the
tri-state area, but not like 103.5 did. Now, instead of a full time FM country
station with professional jocks, all country music has - is me, on a 1000 watt
AM station. If that's not "Country Music in Exile" I don't know what
is!"
Rumors still abound that WNEW 102.7 will drop talk for some music format,
and country still keeps getting mentioned despite the local conventional wisdom
that “country can’t work in New York.”
Should that happen, “they’ll put me out of business” admits Fusco,
but it’s the result I had hoped to achieve. Right now there is just me and Rob
Burrows of WFDU in New Jersey staying the course. (Rob was my inspiration – he
proved you could do country a few hours a week, even if the format of the
station was not a full time country format).
I’d love to see WNEW go country, with the more esoteric shows like mine
and Rob’s given a few hours every Sunday. I’d love to do Sundays from 7 to
10 PM. That’s where the more eclectic type of music I play would really fit
in. “In case they ask we are
available,” he chuckles. Both
DJ’s promote incessantly, do it on a shoestring and have built up
significant audiences by maintaining close personal involvement in local country
music associations (New Jersey, New York Metro and Long Island.)
Listening to Roadhouse Vic, as I have since the show began, I can only
wonder "where has this guy been all these years?" But then I remember,
there isn't much room for creative types like Roadhouse Vic in corporate radio
today. So he plays in his band on weekends for fun, and practices law all week
for a living. He does his show on Sundays purely for the love of the music. As
for me, like hundreds - if not thousands - of other country fans here on Long
Island, I know that at least on Sundays, my kind of music is on the radio. Are
you listening WNEW?
_____________________________________________________
"Country
Music in Exile" can be heard every Sunday from 5-6 PM on Long Island's WGBB
1240 AM.. Major labels
and independent and private labels are invited to submit material for airplay to
Roadhouse Vic, PO Box 124, Woodbury, NY 11797-0124. E-Mail: Wewantcountry@aol.com.
Fax: 516 364-0666. Check out his band's website at www.NYNews.org/Roadhouse. He
is in the process of setting up a website for the radio show. Rob Burrows
“Classic Country” airs Tuesdays from 9 AM to 1 PM on WFDU 89.1. Paul Bain
plays country over WFDU on Thursdays from 9 AM to 1 PM, featuring local artists
from 11 AM to Noon.