Interview~Wanda Fischer Celebrates 30 Years As Host of “The Hudson River Sampler” WAMC

An opportunity to interview one of Folk Radio’s most influential hosts today doesn’t come along often. So I’ll be honest, I was nervous when I sat down to call Wanda Fischer. For me Wanda is an icon, a woman who knows what she likes in music, life and even baseball! 

Wanda is the host and producer of 
“The Hudson River Sampler“,
the longest running music show inWAMC Northeast Public Radio‘s history. Her playlists are the works of the very best musicians in folk, bluegrass and blues. 

She’ll celebrate 30 wonderful, folky years on Saturday September 15 from 8-10pm.

“The Hudson River Sampler” has been on the air every Saturday since September 18, 1982. In keeping with tradition, the show will be live programming for the evening. Fischer still takes calls from her listeners, who with the magic of the internet, hear her show and call her from all over the world to make requests. Many of her callers are the children of parents who listened to her show years ago. Wanda enjoys being able to talk with listeners, some of which are shut-ins, and often her program is their life-line to the world of music.

Part of the nights festivities will be surprise live guests stopping by WAMC to share the evening’s celebration in memory and song. She also has tributes from musicians who’ve sent in live recordings and anniversary wishes. Wanda may even try to duplicate a set from her very first show, which has been carefully noted and saved in her collection of reference. 

Don’t miss the celebration. Be sure to tune in to 90.3 FM in Albany, NY area or stream it live at http://www.wamc.org/ Saturday September 15 from 8-10pm.

As her story unfolds, it becomes clear that Wanda was not only surrounded by folk music from an early age, but destined to become a folk maven, immersing herself in various music communities and nurturing the folk scene for many years.

Wanda was born in TN and began listening to folk music early on. Family friends were the Carter family, and often June, Joe and Janette joined them at family reunions. Says Wanda, “We didn’t know they were famous, they were just people who came to our family reunions. We figured out they were famous when June Carter married Johnny Cash.”

Fischer began singing at the age of 4 and promised her father she would one day record an album of her own. Although he passed on before she completed the album, her mother saw that promise kept when Wanda released “Singing Along With The Radio“ in 2003. “Congratulations on a lovely CD and for a beautiful performance of “Life.”–Tom Paxton (composer of “Life”)

Her family moved from TN to Boston when her father Giles Adams, having served in World War II couldn’t get work. During the 60′s her favorite haunts were the folk venues in Harvard Square, places like the Sword in the Stone, The Unicorn, and Club 47 (Club Passim). She attended the Newport Folk Festival, seeing musicians who would become legends like Arlo Guthrie, Mississippi John Hurt, Ian and Sylvia and more. As a folk fan and like many in the country at the time, Fischer also became an antiwar activist, sharing the songs of those she began to hear in her community. 

Wanda met her future husband Bill Fischer in 1966, through a friend who went to Boston College and insisted she come with her to the Coffeehouse at Boston College. There she met Bill who was volunteering at the coffeehouse, marrying several years later in 1973. This past August, they celebrated 39 years of marriage. Wanda is also a mother of two and grandmother of one. The priest who officiated for Wanda and Bill, also married their daughter on June 30 of this year.

Wanda received her English degree in 1975 from Northeastern University. Bill was in medical school and they moved to Worcester, MA. She officially began her career in radio in 1975 at WCUW-FM hosting “Folk Spot” in the days of vinyl.

Bill and Wanda moved to the Capital District of NY in 1979 and Bill began his residency. As she had in Boston, Wanda absorbed everything folk, going to concerts at Caffe Lena, Eighth Step, and hitting the Fox Hollow Festival. She went to weekly concerts of theThe Pick’n’ & Sing’n’ Gather’n’ Folk Music Club and became Alan Lomax‘s personal secretary.

Wanda was honored in 2005 with the Lena Spencer Awardpresented to her by The Pick’n’ & Sing’n’ Gather’n’ Folk Music Club, of NY, for her efforts in bringing folk music traditions to all. An inspiration to many, she has given of her time and talents throughout her life. She has done social justice work through music and also literacy training to help people register to vote in the mid-1960s. She formerly served on the board of directors of Habitat for Humanity of Schenectady County and 440 State Street/Arts District in Schenectady. She was also on the board of theEighth Step and helped raise funds for Eighth Step and Caffe Lena, as well as Old Songs and the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks. She has written op/ed pieces for the Sunday Gazette and been an active member of PSG including performer selection for GGG.

She also holds a ‘day job’ and currently serves as the top spokesperson for OMIG, a relatively new state agency devoted to policing the $53 billion Medicaid program. The agency looks for fraud, waste and abuse in the system.

Growing up in Boston, Wanda became a Red Sox fan. In 2007 there was a contest to become President of the Red Sox Nation, so she signed up and came up with ideas, developed a platform for her candiacy and became a finalist, but didn’t get elected. Last season she had an opportunity to spend 4 innings with Carl Beane PA announcer for the Red Sox. Her daughter is a teacher in the Boston area and is part of a MASS mentoring program. By giving a donation to the mentoring program you were put into a drawing and all the prizes were related to the Red Sox. Fischer won the opportunity to spend time with Carl and see what is done in the Public Address Announcer Booth. Wanda was amazed at the work Carl did, and Carl kept telling her “This is the best job in the world.”

In May of this year, Red Sox Announcer Carl Beane was killed in a car accident. The Red Sox needed to fill some big shoes, and decided to have a program called “The Guest in the Chair“. Wanda decided she wanted to do that and contacted the fellow who had been in charge of the President of Red Sox Nation contest. She got a call and they said we’ll contact you at the end of the season. But Wanda wasn’t about to wait until the end of the season, and emailed her full resume including her broadcast background and received a call just 2 days later while at her Dr’s office. “I took the call and they said they wanted me to come down for a game!” She made Carl Beane proud making only 1 mistake in her announcements.

“Being at Fenway Park, I was a little nervous to know that the famous baseball writers were just a few yards away in the press box, but, I went over the script, I followed what the producers said and we did it. They could call me anytime, I’d be more than happy to come back and substitute anytime!” 

Whose on Wanda’s Bucket-list? “The very first person whose album I ever bought was Tom Paxton‘s. And I’ll tell ya there is probably nothing that I would like better than to have Tom Paxton or Tom Rush sweep in and come to the studio with me. My show is Saturday nights and they are always working, that’s when musicians make money. These are the musicians that I stood in line to see when I was 16 years old at the old Club 47 in Boston, when it was sleeting and snowing, and we would be 3 people in front of the door and they would say, sorry but you’ll have to wait for the second show. People like Eric Andersen, I would love it if they would pick up the phone and say ‘do you think you could kinda squeeze me in sometime.’ I did a benefit with Kim and Reggie Harris and Magpie about a month and a half ago, and this guy shows up with a banjo and says “do you think you could squeeze me in to sing a couple of songs? It was Pete Seeger.”

♥♪♪♪HAPPY 3OTH ANNIVERSARY to Wanda and The Hudson River Sampler WAMC♥♪♪♪ 

“There is the Capitol, the Hudson, The Egg and Wanda Fischer. I’ll take Wanda every time.” Tom Paxton

” When we first moved to the Berkshires in 1982, we were new to the entire area and didn’t know anything about the cultural life here and in the Capital district. We just happened upon Wanda’s great folk music show, The Hudson River Sampler, on WAMC on Saturday nights and were overjoyed to find a kindred soul, who loved the music we loved, knew a lot about it, and played such wonderful songs every show! It was Wanda who introduced us to the music of Kate Wolf, Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, John McCutcheon and so many others, with whom we were barely familiar before hearing Wanda’s shows. We became friends, and then colleagues, as we got our own folk music/political radio show on our independent community radio station in Great Barrington, WBCR-lp. Wanda was and is a mentor and an inspiration to us as we moved further and further into the life of Folk DJs and the folk community. Thank you Wanda, and HAPPY 30th ANNIVERSARY!!”
Barbara and Graham Dean, hosts of “Common Sense Songs”, WBCR-lp, Great Barrington, MA, streaming live at www.berkshireradio.org

“Wanda is one of my radio heroes! I have spent countless hours listening to The Hudson River Sampler. My fondest memories of the show involve studying at my dining room table on a Saturday evening with the calming strains of Wanda’s voice and the music that she had chosen for that night! Happy 30th Anniversary Wanda! Much Love and Gratitude!”
Joltin Joe Pszonek, host of “Radio Nowhere” WMSC 90.3 Montclair, NJ streaming live at http://wmscradio.com/

“Wanda is the soul of folk music in the Northeast. I am consistently amazed at how she diligently and lovingly listens to every submission. She speaks fluent Singer/Songwriter, Traditional, Bluegrass, Celtic, and all the cross genre folks that find their way to her CD players. As a listener, I am always in awe of the diversity and gentility of her programming. As an artist that she has included on many playlists over the years, I am honored and grateful.” Bernice Lewis

“Wanda is one of the true champions of folk music. Her life both in music and the everyday has been dedicated to making the world a better place. 30 years of dedication to making sure folk music has a voice in a world of short attention spans and relentless commerciality. She is a tireless communicator and advocate for the singers and writers and all those who build community through song. And she’s a pretty good singer too. Kim and I love her and we know we are not alone.”
Kim and Reggie Harris ~

Although I was nervous initially speaking with Wanda, I soon realized what a wonderful, giving, nuturing soul she is. It was an honor to speak with Wanda, something I will treasure for many years to come. I know I speak for Trespass Music and our artists when I say 
“Happy 30th Anniversary! You are an inspiration to many, and we appreciate all that you have done for folk music, its artists, and the community!”

Connect with Wanda!
WAMC http://www.wamc.org/
TWITTER @wandawamc https://twitter.com/wandawamc
FACEBOOK ~ HUDSON RIVER SAMPLER https://www.facebook.com/HudsonRiverSamplerWamc