Rita Houston
A nationally recognized tastemaker with a broad knowledge of and passion for music, Rita Houston shapes the musical direction of WFUV's acclaimed City Folk® format. With the help of staff, Houston selects the songs that become part of City Folk®, establishes theme days and creates popular features like "New Release Monday" and "Guilty Pleasures Day." Well-known for her rapport with artists, she books the on-air interviews, hosting a number of them herself. Houston also serves as executive producer of the nationally distributed City Folk Live concert series, and produces annual benefit CDs of performances from WFUV's Studio A.
After years as a popular City Folk® midday host, Houston shifted her on-air presence to create The Whole Wide World with Rita Houston, a dance-based program showcasing her wide-ranging taste in music. The show airs Friday nights from 8 to 11 p.m. ET, and often features live sessions with artists from around the globe, and broadcasting from locations as exotic as Louisville, KY, and Austin, TX.
Houston is a two-time Radio & Records (R&R) Music Director of the Year and a three-time designate of Gavin's Music Director of the Year, and she has also been awarded the Deems Taylor Award for Broadcast Excellence. In 2001, Houston enjoyed acclaim as part of the WFUV team as its was named Album Network 2001 Major Market Adult Rock Station of the Year, Gavin's Station of the Year, and the 2001, 2002 and 2003 FMQB Progressive Noncommercial Radio Station of the Year.
Houston came to WFUV in 1994 from Westchester's WXPS, where she hosted Starlight Express, a show close in style to City Folk®. After anchoring the midday there for six years, she left the station to join WFUV. A Westchester native, Houston recently moved from the East Village to Nyack, N.Y., to plant basil and perfect her fireplace skills.
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It's been a banner year for musical side projects. Technology has made recording and distributing albums easier than ever, and several big names took advantage in 2010. WFUV's Rita Houston picks her favorites.
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The legendary 81-year-old singer from Havana stopped by WFUV's Studio-A in New York City on her way to a performance at Carnegie Hall. Listen to her transfixing studio session here.
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Brains, beauty and beats collide in the music of Nigerian-born newcomer Nneka. A small woman with an afro bigger than most, the singer was warm and engaging from the start of one of her first U.S. radio appearances.
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It's a little hard to believe that a 37-year-old whose first public appearance came on Sesame Street when he was 4 finally released his debut album in 2009. Armed with well-crafted songs and strong melodies, Harper Simon brought his acoustic guitar to WFUV for a session.
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Florence Welch is a fashionable, artistic character with a big voice and beauty and charm to burn. In a session from WFUV, Welch gives an acoustic performance of her otherwise lush songs and talks about the movie The Little Mermaid.
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While American hitmakers like Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift climbed the British charts in 2009, here in the U.S., we saw a serious influx of great music from the U.K. You wouldn't necessarily call these bands chart-toppers, either here or there, but they do add up to something resembling a British Invasion. -
Train possesses a singing voice from another era, but her speaking voice is surprisingly youthful and down-to-earth — a compelling combination, to be sure. Hear the singer-songwriter in a session from WFUV.
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Youngs is an electrifying young performer whose songs evoke everything from '80s pop to a few Ennio Morricone-style Spaghetti Western guitar licks. Hear her and her band play a smart, funny and quirky session from WFUV.
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Now that the MP3 is king, vinyl has become something of an underground revolution. More and more artists have begun to insist on releasing their new albums on vinyl, and music fans who jettisoned their collections in favor of "clear, perfect digital sound CDs" are raiding garage sales and rediscovering analog music all over again. Here are 10 releases from 2008 that are worth the extra effort of vinyl.
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For WFUV's Rita Houston, 2007 was about great new CDs and great live shows — most of which were by the same artists. Her list includes albums by Amy Winehouse, Iron and Wine, Dan Wilson, Brandi Carlile, Wilco, Stars and more.
