Sure, you may have listened to Vampire Weekend before they were cool, and you might know who Arcade Fire is, but what about Milton Brown? Bwog’s resident Southern Belle and WKCR programmer Amalia Scott has this to say about this weekend’s Western Swing Festival:

Our hallowed radio station WKCR wants to know if you’ve ever even heard of Milton Brown. Your answer is (probably) no. Not many people have, so this weekend WKCR is out to save you from your calamitously narrow knowledge of Western Swing.

Come Friday at 8am, the good people at WKCR will “strap on their dancing boots” and swing the day away, broadcasting from 89.9 FM. The Reign of Swing continues until midnight on Sunday. Amalia explains Western Swing is the jazzy subgenre of country music that swept dancefloors from the 1920s-50s, loosening up American dance moves and taking the more ballroom-bound dancers just one step closer to hipster wriggling. Popular in Southern Cali and Texas in the 1930s and 40s, “Western Swing,” combines jazz, country and western music. (Learn something new everyday!) According to the WKCR press release, musical pioneers like Milton Brown, Bob Willis and dozens of other bandleaders “helped steer country music in an entirely new direction, and had a profound influence on later styles of American music such as rockabilly and rock and roll.”

So loosen up, (when was the last time you listened to the radio anyway?), and swing your patootie round. Follow these guys!