{"id":3681,"date":"2012-06-04T06:28:38","date_gmt":"2012-06-04T10:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=3681"},"modified":"2012-07-22T22:51:53","modified_gmt":"2012-07-23T02:51:53","slug":"radio-australias-saturday-night-country-is-a-part-of-my-saturday-morning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/06\/radio-australias-saturday-night-country-is-a-part-of-my-saturday-morning\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Australia’s Saturday Night Country<\/i> is a part of my Saturday morning"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Felicity Urquhart, host of ABC's Saturday Night Country. (photo: ABC)<\/p><\/div>\n

Even though it’s well over\u00a09,800 miles (15,800 kilometers) and many time zones from where I live, I listen to Radio Australia’s\u00a0Shepparton broadcast site perhaps more than any other on the shortwave bands. For decades, it has beamed a broad and booming signal into North America on 9,580 kHz every morning. Well, I say “morning” here in the southeastern US, but in Australia, it’s their (or, for our Aussie readers, your<\/em>) evening.<\/p>\n

One show Radio Australia broadcasts that’s popular across the globe is ABC’s Saturday Night Country<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0Felicity Urquhart hosts the program, which showcases the best in Australian country and, indeed, country music worldwide. She knows her stuff, too–not only is she a talented host, but also an accomplished country music star<\/a> in her own right. (What’s more–see above–she’s got “a face for radio”–? Try television:\u00a0 she’s very photogenic.)<\/p>\n

\"\"What I love about Saturday Night Country is that there’s lots of music, but also excellent interviews as Felicity chats with well-known and upcoming stars. Since the Radio Australia shortwave signal out of Shepparton is always so strong coming into the US, the audio fidelity is often on par with local AM (MW) stations.<\/p>\n

I listen to the show many Saturday mornings, and I’m not even that big a fan of country music. And I’m not alone; several of you have written asking when I’d write a post about Saturday Night Country. For our readers, I’ve done one better:\u00a0 check two hours out the latest show for yourself in the recording of ABC below (or click here for the mp3<\/a>). The broadcast begins with a news segment at the top of the hour; if you like, fast-forward to 4:30 for the beginning of SNC:<\/p>\n