Roots Rampage
Triangle Slim has hosted various roots music
radio shows In the Triangle for more than 20
years. He first subverted the local airwaves in
1981 with a show called “Bottom of the
Barrel” at the late, lamented WDBS with cohost David Weaver. Duke pulled the plug on
WDBS within a year, though to this day Slim
denies that Bottom of the Barrel had
anything to do with it. When David left town
a year later, Slim inherited his other show,
“The Orange County Special” on WXYC,
which he hosted for the next 15 years. In
1994, Slim also landed a world music show
on the fledgling N.C. Central station, WNCU,
and was moving inexorably forward with his
plan to dominate the entire left half of the
Triangle’s radio dial. Fate intervened,
however, and Slim moved to Houston in
1995, where he somehow convinced the
powers at Rice University to let him host a
world music show on 50,000-watt KTRU,
which he did until his departure from Texas
in 2001. It is no coincidence that Houston
became one of the nation’s most
cosmopolitan cities during that period.
Returning to North Carolina, Slim found
himself blacklisted by the area’s public radio
mafia, which insisted that traditional and
roots music shows should be boring and
lifeless. The creation of the area’s first
community radio station, WCOM, provided
Slim with the perfect outlet to share his
eclectic collection of recordings as well as his
unorthodox and somewhat twisted view of
the world, and Roots Rampage was born.
Roots Rampage plumbs the oft-hidden world
Show Time:
DJ / Host:
Tuesdays 7-10 pm
Bob Burtman
of non-commercial recorded music, spanning
the decades past, present and future to spin an
engaging and entertaining mix from across the
country and all corners of the globe. Smashing
genre boundaries at will, the show blends the
essential oils of the blues, soul, r&b, rockabilly,
country, bluegrass/old-time, world styles,
novelty tunes and traditional as well as
contemporary folk music into a frothy, throbby
mélange. Rare gems that elicit visceral
reactions and violent emotional swings are the
norm on the Rampage. Be prepared to take a
dip in the deep end as host Triangle Slim
challenges tired assumptions about the bland,
homogenized tastes of the modern radio
audience and offers a three-hour spelunk into
the unexplored and cavernous depths of the
musical universe. Occasional live performances
by local musicians, listener requests, ticket
giveaways and a spotlight on great music
coming to area venues supplement Slim’s
scintillating selections from his massive vault.