Being a folk music DJ is not the surest path to fame and fortune especially on a community radio station. As one who has tried this path I can affirm its virtues and its limitations. Full disclosure requires that I mentioned that the position is unpaid and as far as I can tell the only fame involved is in my own mind and even that is fleeting. But as the saying goes it’s not about me. It is about the music and the message which is why my program is called Music They Don’t Want You to Hear, sort of the cod liver oil of folk music programs.

Radio DJs are a dying breed, being replaced by algorithms and robots. Once DJs were king makers, making songs into hits, artists into stars and creating a sound track for the times. Folk music DJs are faring better than most because folk music is a niche that algorithms largely ignore and because so many of us are volunteers, a nice way of saying we are not paid, so we fit nicely into the budgets of community and college radio stations.

The music DJ is simply a conduit, a little bridge between the listener and the artist. We are a bit like a server in a restaurant who brings you food from the chef sometimes after telling you more than you wanted to know about the food. DJs do like to share their knowledge. The relationship that the DJ has with each of those entities is not always smooth. Some listeners want to hear that same old song every week. With the advent of worldwide streaming some listeners complain about the timing of the show and the differences between the time zones as if I can do something about that. However, with listeners it’s mostly if they like the music they tune in and if they don’t, well they don’t.

The relationship between DJs and artists is more complicated. While it is often a mutual admiration society there are areas of tension and it is also sometimes a codependent relationship. Artists of course want you to play their music to get the exposure. Given that there is way too much music and too many artists to possibly play on my weekly show it requires making choices. Those choices can appear as judgments on the quality of the music even when the decision is based on fitting into the program format (e.g. I almost never play love songs) or time constraints. The DJ has to make a judgment, exercising their opinion, and for those artists and songs that I don’t play they are disappointed. I’m sure many artists disagree with the judgments that I make and the issue is probably exacerbated by the fact that I am not a musician and so may not be seen as someone with a proper credentials to judge. My focus has always been on the lyrics, the stories the songs tell, the history they impart. As a writer I feel on firmer ground making choices based on those elements and I think those are the essence of folk music.

The DJ plays sometimes conflicting roles as a stand-in for the audience and as an advocate for the artist for the songs that we think should be heard. When we Folk DJs are doing our jobs well listeners get exposed to great new music from both established and emerging artists, get history and context and occasionally are confronted with issues that are worthy of thought and reflection. No algorithms or robots involved.

Ron Cooke is the author of a book of short stories and poems entitled Obituaries and Other Lies (available at Amazon); writes a well-received blog (ASSV4U.com/blog); and hosts a weekly radio show called Music They Don’t Want You to Hear on KTAL-LP in Las Cruces, NM.  He is also a founding director of A Still Small Voice 4U, a not for profit supporting arts, culture and community that presents folk concerts, sponsors artists, festivals and community groups. Ron is an avid cyclist, racer, blogger, sculptor and ne’er-do-well.