Cultural Manifesto

Kyle spins music from Lotus performers, and talks with Lotus Fest's executive director Tamara Lowenthal. he is also joined by vocalist Nohelia Sosa of Nohe Y Sus Santos, one of the featured acts at this year's Lotus Fest.

In this episode Kyle speaks with Indianapolis drummer, bandleader, and beat maker Carrington Clinton - better known as Clint Breeze. His new album We Good builds on his past work mixing jazz and hip-hop with themes of social justice.

Joining host Kyle Long are Nicole O'Neal, Greg O'Neill, and Natasha O'Neill of the Indianapolis band Wife Patrol. We'll be listening to tracks off their new record Too Prickly for This World.

This week, Kyle Long continues his ongoing tribute to the country music pioneers of Indianapolis, featuring music by early Indianapolis country music radio stars like T. Texas Tyler, Bill Haley, and Wilma Lee Cooper; along with music from homegrown Indianapolis favorites like the Hoosier Hot Shots, Charlie Stewart, and Sonny Grubbs.

This week Kyle's guest is composer and vocalist Ryan Lott of Son Lux. The group's new album "Tomorrows I" is discussed.

During the 1950s Indianapolis was home to a thriving doo-wop music scene, particularly on Indiana Avenue where artists including The Four Sounds, The Counts, and The Monograms flourished. On this week's edition of Cultural Manifesto host Kyle Long shares a selection of Indianapolis doo-wop classics. He also speaks with several notable Indianapolis musicians who got their start singing doo-wop. Tra...

On this week's show host Kyle Long pays tribute to steel guitar masters of Indiana. During the mid-20th Century Indiana produced several important steel guitarists who made significant contributions to the instrument's development. Kyle plays music from Herb Remington, Bud Isaacs, Johnny Sibert, "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow, Buddy Emmons, and The Harlin Brothers, who are credited with inventing the pedal...

Joining Kyle this week is the Indianapolis-based hip-hop artist Retro. We hear his new single "Cripple Cool," an autobiographical track featuring rhymes laced with wit and humor, as Retro raps about living with cerebral palsy. Tracklist for this week's show: Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five - The Message Kool Moe Dee - I Go To Work Retro - Cripple Cool Midsouth - Why? Anderson .Paak - Lockdo...

This week on Cultural Manifesto host Kyle Long pays tribute to some of the pioneers of Indianapolis country music. During the mid-20th Century there were dozens of Indianapolis nightclubs, and record labels catering to the growing popularity of country music. While radio and television programs like the Indiana Hoedown, WIBC Jamboree, and Hoosier Barn Dance broadcast local and national country mus...

Indianapolis has been home to many extraordinary guitar players beyond Wes Montgomery. This week Kyle long features music from a few of those artists this week, including: Bill Jennings, Floyd Smith, Steven Weakley, Paul Weeden, Scrapper Blackwell, and others. Plus, author and historian David Williams discusses a 1962 appearance from Jimi Hendrix on Indiana Avenue. According to legend, Hendrix los...

This week, Kyle Long explores the history of Radio Free Naptown, an illegal pirate radio station that operated in Indianapolis from 1968 to 1972. He's joined by two of the station's founders, Don Worsham and Steve Everitt.

Kyle is joined this week this week by Indianapolis music legend Rondey Stepp. The two discuss Rodney's recent battle with COVID-19. Doctors at IU Health North referred to Stepp as the "miracle patient" after his dramatic recovery from the disease.

Kyle Long speaks with the Indianapolis musician and producer Grover Wilcher about his years performing with the R&B group World Entity, and his work recording and releasing early Indianapolis rap music from groups including Tibbs Street Posse and B.M.W.

On this episode of Cultural Manifesto week Kyle's guest is Juan Antonio Cuellar, the head digitizing engineer of the Strachwitz Frontera Collection, the largest archive of Mexican and Mexican-American music in existence. Juan has spent the last 18 years personally digitizing and archiving over 120,000 recordings in this collection, and he selected a few favorites to share on Cultural Manifesto.

This week's show features an interview with Taylor Hall, a nineteen-year-old musician/activist. Hall is a member of Black Women in Charge, the organization behind the Saturday, June 6, 2020 historic protest at the Indiana Statehouse. Hall performs a song written in tribute to George Floyd titled "I Can't Breathe."

This week, Kyle Long features Indiana music of peaceful protest, including an interview with Tyron Cooper, a professor with Indiana University's African American and African Diaspora Studies department.

The Indiana Avenue neighborhood is known for it's celebrated jazz history, but the Avenue was also a hotbed for early rock & roll and rhythm & blues music. On this week's show Kyle Long pays tribute to the rock & roll pioneers of Indiana Avenue.

Joining Kyle Long on the show this week is John Loflin. The two discuss John's journey in music, from growing up playing country music in Fountain Square in the 1950s, to joining the first reggae band in Indianapolis during the 1980s.

On this week's show Kyle's guest is Elayne Jones, a world renown percussionist and the first Black woman in the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Jones worked with some of the greatest orchestras and conductors of the 20th Century, including Leopold Stokowski and Duke Ellington.

Host Kyle Long talks with Father Amde of the Watts Prophets, their 1971 debut release is widely regarded as the first rap album.

20 years ago host Kyle Long bought a box of vintage reel-to-reel tapes at a garage sale. Among the recordings was a fantastic demo containing an unreleased album by an obscure Indiana funk band called The Fatelics. After years of searching for the band, on this week's show Kyle meets The Fatelics' guitarist Rodney Wood, and listens to the group's long lost demo recordings.

Host Kyle Long pays tribute to some of the legendary women of Indianapolis soul music, with interviews and music from: Lois Blaine, Aretta La Marre, The Pearls, The Indy's, The Sentimentals, Debbie Nelson, Mary Brown, and Niambi Steele of 24 Carat Black.

This week, Kyle takes a look at the NPR's Tiny Desk Contest. Small Studio Sessions producer Melissa Davis joins the show to discuss the evolution of the WFYI's music series and its connection to the Tiny Desk contest. Kyle also airs his chat 2017 Tiny Desk winners Tank and The Bangas, and shares his interview with this month's Small Studio artist Okara Imani.

This week Kyle's guests are Dena El Saffar and Tim Moore of Salaam, a Middle Eastern music ensemble based in Bloomington. Kyle shares tracks from their new album Mediterranean Nights.

On this week's show host Kyle Long looks back to the 1920s, '30s and '40s to examine how Indianapolis musicians dealt with the severe economic and social problems brought on by catastrophic events like the Great depression and World War II. Kyle focuses on the music of Leroy Carr, Scrapper Blackwell, Little Bill Gaither, and Emry Arthur.