On Saturday, May 20 Tangents will celebrate the life of Chris Strachwitz who passed away May 5. He was 91. Strachwitz has been called a “human tape recorder”, “a one-man preservation society” and an “archaeologist of deep American music.”
He recorded and brought into the open the regional and backwoods vernacular music of the United States, Mexico, and beyond. Much of this music may have remained hidden if not for Strachwitz and the record label he founded, Arhoolie Records. Strachwitz left a legacy of thousands of essential recordings featuring blues, sacred steel, Cajun, zydeco, bluegrass, gospel, Norteño and Tejano (Tex-Mex), and beyond. These recordings brought out of the shadows luminaries such as Mississippi Fred McDowell, Lightnin' Hopkins, Big Mama Thornton, Joseph Spence, and Clifton Chenier.
Chris Strachwitz was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2000 he was a recipient of the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2016 he was honored with the Grammy Trustees Award in recognition of his outstanding recording contributions.
Four of Strachwitz’s closest friends will join host Dore Stein in studio for the show: Sandy Miranda, who helped create radio shows with Chris for 25 years, Davia Nelson of the Kitchen Sisters, Maureen Gosling, co-director of the Chris Strachwitz documentary, “This Ain’t No Mouse Music,” and John McCord, long time manager of Down Home Music.
Tune into Tangents on Saturday from 9 p.m.