(cohosts Josh Norek and Ernesto Lechner)

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The Latin Alternative

Recognizing the increasing diversity of public radio’s audience as well as ever-growing interest in Latin music from a non-Latino audience, WEXT 97.7 (Albany, NY) has launched “The Latin Alternative” weekly radio program starting on July 4th and airing every Saturday night at 8PM EST / 5PM PST. The show will be the first program in the genre available for national syndication.

"The Latin Alternative" is co-hosted by two of the genre’s leading experts, Josh Norek (co-founder of the Latin Alternative Music Conference and frontman of Latino-Jewish rap group Hip Hop Hoodíos) and Ernesto Lechner (contributing writer for Rolling Stone, LA Times, & Chicago Tribune and author of the book ‘Rock en Español: The Latin Alternative Rock Explosion’). The program will focus on crossover-friendly Latin rock, electronic, funk and hip-hop artists.

“WEXT 97.7 prides itself on playing a wide range of music. As a Triple A station, we’ve embraced artists like Manu Chao, Juana Molina, Rodrigo y Gabriela and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs from the start,” says Chris Wienk, WEXT’s program director. “We recognize that Latinos are becoming an important part of the public radio audience, and we also know that non-Latin audiences love the Latin alternative genre. When we launched the station in 2007, we were surprised to discover that there were no syndicated Latin alternative public radio shows we could pick up to air. So we thought ‘why not create one ourselves?”

“There is something amazing about a radio station in Albany launching the nation’s first syndicated Latin-alternative radio show. In my childhood growing up in a small town outside of Albany, I couldn’t wait to leave the area and move to a bigger city that had a Latin alternative music scene,” says show co-host Josh Norek. “Ironically, now I live in Los Angeles and it’s an adventurous radio station in upstate New York that has taken the lead and launched the first syndicated show for the genre.”

‘The Latin Alternative’ will begin airing weekly on Saturday nights at 8pm EST / 5pm PST every Saturday night starting on July 4th. Highlights of the program include a weekly ‘Spotlight Artist’ and a ‘Homegrown’ segment focusing on U.S.-based Latin alternative acts. Among the initial Spotlight Artists will be Grammy-winning acts Manu Chao, Café Tacuba, Aterciopelados and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs.

For more information:

LISTEN LIVE (Saturdays at 8PM Eastern starting on July 4th) at: http://www.exit977.org/

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST - THE NATION'S FIRST LATIN ALTERNATIVE PODCAST - CLICK HERE

For syndication inquiries, please contact Josh Norek by email at , or by phone at 323.496.9662.