Keep the Circle Turning (TOTR 292)

Chuck Berry - I’m a Rocker

Chuck Berry - Have Mercy Judge

Marc Benno - Speak Your Mind

Stephen Stills - Isn’t It About Time

Leon Russell - Stranger in a Strange Land

Spirit - Dream Within A Dream

Love - Dream

Lee Michaels - Can I Get A Witness

Lee Michaels - Hold On To Freedom

Lee Michaels - What Now America

Lee Michaels - Keep the Circle Turning

Country Joe & the Fish - Death Sound Blues

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Fresh Air

Moby Grape - It’s A Beautiful Day Today

The Electric Flag - Going Down Slow

It’s A Beautiful Day- Essence of Now

The Sons of Champlain - Things Are Gettin’ Better

Stoneground - Great Changes Since I’ve Been Born

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers - Laurel Canyon Home

The Byrds - Change Is Now

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Mystery Train

Jefferson Airplane - Crown of Creation

Grateful Dead - New Speedway Boogie

Chuck Berry - I Still Got The Blues

The Staple Singers - Samson & Delilah

Little Richard - Dancing in the Street

Listen To The River (TOTR 291)

(Photo of Calfkiller River & Waterfall (c) Chuck Sutherland.)

Johnny Cash - Big River

Doc Watson - Deep River Blues

Mason Jennings - How Deep Is That River

Kevin Morby - Harlem River

Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues

The Tallest Man On Earth - Rivers

The Head and The Heart - Rivers and Roads

Run River North - Run River Run

The Collection - You Taste Like Wine

The Collection - Birds

The Collection - The Listener

The Oh Hellos - Bitter Water

Caamp - Down the River

Cereus Bright - River Run

The Black Atlantic - I Shall Cross This River

Fleet Foxes - Drops In The River

Nick Drake - River Man

Railroad Earth - Mighty River

Warren Haynes - River’s Gonna Rise

Van Morrison - Every Time I See A River

Sublime - Rivers of Babylon

My Morning Jacket - Like A River

Leon Bridges - River

Bruce Springsteen - The River

Trip Through Your Wires (TOTR 290)

The Impressions - People Get Ready

John Lennon - Stand By Me

The Beatles - Help

U2 - Helter Skelter

U2 - Maggie’s Farm

Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower

The Doors - Riders On The Storm

The Dubliners - Springhill Mining Disaster

Hot Buttered Rum - Where the Streets Have No Name

The Persuasions - I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

Scala & Kolacny Brothers - With or Without You

Absinthe - Bullet the Blue Sky

Earl Pickens & Family - Running to Stand Still

J Scott Bergman - Red Hill Mining Town

U2 - In God’s Country

Jamestowne - Trip Through Your Wires

Whitewater Ramble - One Tree Hill

U2 - Exit

Susan Aglukark - Mothers of the Disappeared

U2 - The Electric Co.

U2 - 40

U2 - Sweetest Thing

The Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

U2 - All I Want Is You

'Teacher on the Radio' turns 10 by Hannah Barger

by Hannah Barger, reprinted by permission of the author;
originally appeared in the Tennessee Tech Oracle

Since 2007, Professor Andrew Smith has been a fixture of Tennessee Tech's airwaves (and downloads) with his weekly Teacher on the Radio series. As the show, which draws its name from the Brooklyn indie band TV on the Radio, nears its tenth anniversary, I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Professor Smith in TTU's recording studio (adjacent to the scenic Oracle office) to discuss the show's past, present and future. 

Let me start by saying I'm probably biased. Professor Smith is honestly one of the coolest and most genuine people I know, and I'm not just saying that because I liked his Bible as Literature class. That put me at ease, so with my less than stellar interviewing skills, I started from the beginning, asking Smith about the early days of his DJ career. 
Radio comes as naturally to Smith as teaching does. From the early days as a "high school celebrity," who got free tickets to local shows in Michigan, Smith has always felt at home in a recording studio. So it seems fitting that in 2007, he began his radio tenure here at Tech. 

Smith's playlists are themed, and when I sat down with him on the night of the twentieth, the theme was "Bless this mess," and the musical selection was, fittingly, full of songs about hope and revolution. Artists like Green Day, Chance the Rapper, and Depeche Mode were featured, filling the airwaves with voices of dissent. Smith suggests that college radio is subversive by nature, and I have to agree with him. No one turns on their local university station to hear about how cool it is to listen unquestioningly to authority and do your homework (though I guess he would advise you to do the latter). It's noteworthy that not every artist on the lists are artists Smith is personally very familiar with- he chooses music that fits in with his theme, be it love, blessings, rebellion, or religion. This fact is one thing I love about his series' style- Smith makes the show accessible to everyone and sidesteps the "if it's not a white guy with a guitar it sucks" elitism that some rock n roll-loving DJs are inclined to. 

At the risk of sounding all "let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya,"  I'll say now that music is undeniably something that brings people together. It articulates the things we feel but can't really express on our own. It MAKES us feel. That is why, in my opinion, people like professor Smith are so important. In a world that seems incredibly uncertain, listening to one of your favorite teachers playing great music as though it was his calling in life and speaking words of wisdom can make you believe that the world isn't such a bad place. 


The world is changing, for better or for worse. But at Tennessee Tech, the Teacher on the Radio is here to stay.