Texas Country on Radio Free Texas

With the advent of iTunes and MySpace, music on the internet exploded, which led to podcasting and internet radio station. The Beaumont Enterprise reports that thirty million Americans have listened to internet radio within the past week. I don’t listen to a lot of radio, period, but when I do listen to internet radio, one of my favorites is RadioFreeTexas.org. The station plays Texas country artists.

“Radio Free Texas gives the middle finger to the mainstream,” said listener and professional musician Mandy Marie Luke, the lead singer for the “hillbilly” band Mandy Marie and the Cool Hand Lukes of Indianapolis, Ind. “It isn’t about money. It isn’t about who you know. It’s about writing good songs.”
Some listeners, skeptical of those FM country stations, have dubbed Nashville - the “country music capital of the world” - Cashville.

Luke, 26, found Radio Free Texas while searching online for new music, she said in an e-mail.

“Finding new music is literally my favorite thing in the world,” she said. “I think there are so many great songwriters and musicians out there that aren’t getting airplay anywhere else. I really go out of my way to find new music because I very well could be finding my new favorite band.”

Plus, Radio Free Texas plays what listeners want to hear.

Listeners request songs that go into a queue and are played in the order they were received. When the queue is empty, which usually happens about 3 a.m., the site automatically plays songs the listeners have given high ratings on a 1-to-5 scale, Miller said.

I’ve discovered a lot of really good music listening to their station. You can find out a lot more about Radio Free Texas by reading the rest of the article.