Listener's Choice 2019 Americana Albums of the Year

Vote for your favorite Americana albums of 2019 now through December 17.

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2019 In Review: The Year's Essential and Outstanding Americana Albums

By Craig Havighurst • Dec 13, 2019

Unlike some year-end album lists, mine shies away from ranked order or making claims on “best” because I want it to feel more like the way a music fan thinks. What made an impact? What albums had stories that amplified the trends in roots music and that might be landmarks on your journey of discovery? What’s interesting about this year’s roundup though is that if you absolutely made me rank a top ten, it would be albums made almost entirely by women. What a year.

WMOT's Top 100 Album Spins for 2019

By Val Hoeppner • Dec 11, 2019

What a year 2019 has been! At WMOT, we have been busy finding cool new tunes from emerging and legendary artists to play for you in our eclectic mix of roots music. It is quite the moment here in Nashville, especially as it becomes the epicenter of the music business as the city grows. That makes it attractive for musicians to relocate to be part of the scene. Music City has become even more of a many splendored melting pot, with every imaginable genre represented.

Latin Light, Gospel Power And The Blues: 2019's New Roots Christmas Albums

By Craig Havighurst • Dec 6, 2019

Christmas albums present a chicken/egg conundrum. Do you spin them to get in the spirit or because you're already in it? I'm usually in the former category and with albums as good as this year's bounty, they had their intended effect. I put up some lights and turned up the stereo and in only a few minutes I was able to put closure on Thanksgiving and look forward to the coming weeks of light and mirth.

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Cooper offers budget fix that (temporarily) satisfies state officials

By Mike Osborne • Dec 13, 2019

  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (OSBORNE) -- Mayor John Cooper is offering up a $41 million fix for the city’s current out of balance budget, but Nashville’s long-term financial problems remain.

 

Cooper’s plan includes cuts to the city’s public housing fund. It also calls on Metro departments to further trim their budgets.

 

If the council approves, the fix will at least temporarily fore-stall threats by the state to take control of the city’s finances.

 

Tennessee exports have fallen 11 percent since April

By Mike Osborne • Dec 13, 2019
mtsu.edu/berc

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (OSBORNE) -- Tennessee exports are down for the second quarter in a row and will likely fall during the current quarter as well.

 

Middle Tennessee State University Economist Steven Livingston says 3Q exports fell a whopping $500 million, a six percent decline over the same quarter last year.

 

Livingston says every nearly every export category was off badly, including Tennessee’s signature whiskeys.

 

Fun family mid-state Christmas events for the weekend of December 14

By Mike Osborne • Dec 11, 2019
Nashvillefunforfamilies.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (OSBORNE) -- If you’re having trouble getting in the holiday spirit, WMOT and our friends at Nashvillefunforfamilies.com has some mid-state activity and event ideas that might help.

 

Bring the kids ages 4 to 11 to your local Lowe’s store this Saturday and build a holiday train together. The DIY workshops kick off at 9 a.m. See a store location near you for the details and registration.

WMOT Listener's Choice 2019

By Val Hoeppner • Dec 10, 2019

Vote for your favorite Americana and Roots albums released in 2019! Voting is open until December 17 at Noon when we will tally your votes and announce your favorite albums of the year.

New Vanderbilt Chancellor hails from Chicago

By • Dec 5, 2019
vanderbilt.edu

  Vanderbilt University has named renowned scholar Daniel Diermeier as its ninth chancellor.

The school in Nashville, Tennessee, said in a statement Wednesday that Diermeier will take over the position on July 1, 2020. He currently serves as provost at the University of Chicago.

Vanderbilt Board of Trust Chairman Bruce R. Evans says Diermeier has the vision, the leadership experience and the commitment to trans-institutional research and teaching that officials were seeking.

Blind Tennessee inmate faces execution for woman's killing

By • Dec 5, 2019
TDOC

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (OSBORNE)  --  Tennessee is set to put a blind prisoner to death in the electric chair for his conviction in the 1991 killing of his estranged girlfriend.

The planned execution Thursday evening of 53-year-old inmate Lee Hall would be only the second of a blind person since the U.S. reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.

Authorities say Hall killed Traci Crozier by setting her car ablaze while she was inside it and giving her fatal burns over most of her body.

A black Murfreesboro police officer accusses MPD of discrimination

By • Dec 4, 2019

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (Associated Press)  --  A Tennessee police officer has filed a federal lawsuit claiming he has been harassed by fellow officers and passed over for promotions because he's black.

Murfreesboro Officer Christopher Williams says in the lawsuit against the city and Chief Michael Bowen that the department has engaged in discriminatory policies to keep African Americans from being promoted. He says no black officer has been promoted since 2014.

2 of 4 teens who fled Nashville detention center captured

By Mike Osborne • Dec 4, 2019

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Police say two of the four teens who escaped a juvenile detention center in Tennessee have been captured.

The Metro Nashville Police Department tweeted late Tuesday that 16-year-old Decorrius Wright and 15-year-old Calvin Howse were apprehended by the Juvenile Crime Task Force and Gang Unit detectives outside a condo complex in Madison, just northeast of Nashville.

Juvenile Crime Task Force supervisor Lt. Blaine Whited says police are still searching for Morris Marsh and Brandon Caruthers, both 17.

Vehicle emissions testing to continue in Metro after state requirement ends

By Mike Osborne • Dec 2, 2019

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (OSBORNE) -- Tennessee vehicle emissions testing may end next year, or 2021 at the latest.

 

The federal government will likely grant Davidson, Hamilton, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson counties permission to opt out of testing.

 

A recent state air quality study reportedly concluded testing is no longer needed. But the Nashville Council has already voted to continue emissions tests through at least 2022.

 

A new report suggests Tennessee's rural public school students are not getting a fair shake

By Mike Osborne • Dec 2, 2019
ruraledu.org

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Tennessee is mentioned 13 times in a new report on the state of the nation’s rural schools, and that’s not good.

 

The Rural School and Community Trust study says Tennessee has just over 293,000 students attending rural schools. That's the country’s fifth largest rural student population.

 

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Cooper offers budget fix that (temporarily) satisfies state officials

By Mike Osborne • Dec 13, 2019

  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (OSBORNE) -- Mayor John Cooper is offering up a $41 million fix for the city’s current out of balance budget, but Nashville’s long-term financial problems remain.

 

Cooper’s plan includes cuts to the city’s public housing fund. It also calls on Metro departments to further trim their budgets.

 

If the council approves, the fix will at least temporarily fore-stall threats by the state to take control of the city’s finances.

 

Tennessee exports have fallen 11 percent since April

By Mike Osborne • Dec 13, 2019
mtsu.edu/berc

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (OSBORNE) -- Tennessee exports are down for the second quarter in a row and will likely fall during the current quarter as well.

 

Middle Tennessee State University Economist Steven Livingston says 3Q exports fell a whopping $500 million, a six percent decline over the same quarter last year.

 

Livingston says every nearly every export category was off badly, including Tennessee’s signature whiskeys.

 

Fun family mid-state Christmas events for the weekend of December 14

By Mike Osborne • Dec 11, 2019
Nashvillefunforfamilies.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (OSBORNE) -- If you’re having trouble getting in the holiday spirit, WMOT and our friends at Nashvillefunforfamilies.com has some mid-state activity and event ideas that might help.

 

Bring the kids ages 4 to 11 to your local Lowe’s store this Saturday and build a holiday train together. The DIY workshops kick off at 9 a.m. See a store location near you for the details and registration.

Latest from NPR

As Iowa Grows More Diverse, Democratic Candidates Are Taking Notice

By • 27 minutes ago

Julián Castro went to Des Moines this week and told Iowans they shouldn't vote first.

"I'm gonna tell the truth. It's time for the Democratic Party to change how we do our presidential nominating process," Castro said at a town hall dedicated to his belief that the party should shake up who has the first say of who should be president. Iowa holds its caucuses in less than two months.

Researchers Explore A Drug-Free Idea To Relieve Chronic Pain: Green Light

By Will Stone • 2 hours ago

Ann Jones tried everything short of surgery for her chronic migraines, which have plagued her since she was a child.

"They've actually gotten worse in my old age," says Jones, who is 70 years old and lives in Tucson, Ariz.

Jones would have as many as two dozen migraines a month.

Over the years, some treatments might work initially, but the effects would prove temporary. Other medications had such severe side effects she couldn't stay on them.

Laid-Off Workers In Indonesia Just Won A Battle For $4 Million In Severance Pay

By • 2 hours ago

In late November, a group of laid-off garment industry workers in Indonesia collected more than $4 million in severance pay owed to them by their employer.

It was a rare victory, won with the help of local labor unions, international advocacy groups and major retailers like Nike. But it may not happen again: The government there is moving forward with a controversial plan to roll back labor protections in the hope of attracting more foreign investment.