Billy Block's Western Beat |
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CMT's newest weekly program is Billy Block's Western Beat, which features artists that you may not hear often, or at all on contemporary country radio these days. The show debuted on July 2nd at 11 pm ET, and repeated on July 3rd at 10pm ET. The same two timeslots will be used each week, with the following schedule:
Sunday, July 2 - Trisha Yearwood, Charlie Robison, and Lonesome Bob Not only does the show feature live performances by the artists, but they'll also be interviewed by Billy Block, or his wife, Jill, in between sets. The shows are taped at the Exit/In, and are the centerpiece of the Western Beat empire which includes a radio show, Internet website, magazine, and record label. Billy Block got his musical start in the Texas music scene back in the late '70's playing drums for local artists, Freddy Fender, Shake Russell, Billy Joe Shaver, and B.W. Stevenson. He moved to Los Angeles in 1985, and worked a variety of jobs for the next 10 years, including gigs in a house band at the famed Palomino Club as part of Ronnie Mack's Barn Dance. Block credits Mack's efforts in California as being one of the sparkplugs of the alternative country movement. In 1995 Block moved back to Nashville, where he began work at a Music Row magazine as director of sales and marketing. He didn't expect to get involved in the creative side of music, but soon was getting calls from musician friends to play. Block says, "I started the Roots Revival when I was still at Music Row, and it started to take up more and more of my time. Musicians were coming in and dropping off tapes. It started to become more my office for Western Beat Entertainment than for Music Row." Today, Block spends most of his time on Roots Revival, creating a must-hear radio show and showcase for emerging musicians. "We try to create an environment for the artist that's positive, by giving them the chance to be heard by a large demographic on a powerful radio station on a weekly basis," Block says. Block thinks that the success of the show is due in part to the fact that so many artists don't fit in the mold of what is played on country radio today; namely pop country. He says that the Western Beat is a place where everyone fits in, and is welcome.
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