The dust is finally settling after the recent Sirius/XM satellite radio merger, and it appears that nearly all of the familiar voices bluegrass fans have become accustomed to hearing on the two networks have made the cut in the revamped bluegrass programming.
As expected, the notion of maintaining separately programmed bluegrass channels was nixed, and starting yesterday (11/12), both Sirius 65 and XM 14 carry the new Bluegrass Junction feed.
XM’s Kyle Cantrell will continue to program the music, and host the feed during the weekday morning slot (7:00-11:00 a.m. ET). Marty Fitzpatrick, who will also serve as Music Manager (MD/PD), will host from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the week.
The former Sirius team of Chris Jones and Ned Luberecki are still on the job as well. Chris will follow Marty for the 3:00-7:00 p.m. weekday shift, and also host a noon to 6:00 p.m. show on Saturdays. Look for Ned on Saturday evening from 6:00 p.m. until midnight, and again on Sunday afternoon from noon to 6:00 p.m.
Feature programs from both networks will also be heard on a recurring schedule. All are one hour shows unless noted otherwise.
- Studio Special (live music and discussion, hosted by Kyle Cantrell): 8:00 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 9:00 p.m. Sundays and Mondays
- Track-By-Track (album review with the artist in studio): 11:00 a.m. Wednesdays and Sundays, and 9:00 p.m. Tuesdays
- Truegrass with Chris Jones (classic bluegrass): 3:00 p.m. Fridays and 6:00 p.m. Sundays
- Hand Picked with Del McCoury: 11:00 a.m. Saturdays and Mondays, and 9:00 p.m. Thursdays
- The Gospel Train: 8:00-11:00 a.m. Sundays and 9:00 p.m. to midnight Wednesdays
- Derailed with Ned Luberecki (newgrass): Saturdays 10:00 p.m. to midnight
- Wichita Rutherford’s Grand Old Time Machine: Fridays 9:00 p.m. and Saturdays at midnight (technically, Sundays at 12:00 a.m.)
It looks like Sirius’ Joey Black is the only former host who is missing from the new bluegrass lineup.
Cantrell will be doing double duty at Sirius-XM, serving also as the music programmer for The Roadhouse, their 24/7 classic country channel (Sirius 62/XM 10).
