Daniel Villarreal & Panamá 77
Live on WDET 101.9-FM Detroit Public Radio
Friday, March 21
There’s a lot of privilege that comes with running a daily music show on public radio in Detroit.
The biggest gift is being able to play what I want, when I want. It’s a window into my personal taste, but it’s gotta be bigger than that. In theory, it should be the best of the best being released. New music discovery alongside classics to give ya some bearings and hopefully connect the dots to the emergent sounds that draw inspiration from back in the day.
On top of that is bringing in bands to perform live in our studios. This is increasingly rare in 2025 but, for decades, was a staple of public radio to bring front row seats through the radio to the public. Maybe you’ve heard of them, maybe you haven’t. Increasingly, you haven’t. Established bands don’t dedicate as much time to touring public radio stations ahead of their local date unless you’re a mega-content beast like NPR’s vaunted Tiny Desk concerts.
I was, however, able to get Daniel Villarreal to stop by our studios ahead of his Detroit date at a new-ish venue called Moondog Cafe.
His excellent 2022 album “Panamá 77” (the name of the album and the name of the band he performed with) was introduced to me by a friend in Chicago, which Villarreal calls home. He’s originally from Panama. The sound of Latin American folk music runs throughout this album and his work in general, mixed with deep grooves and abstract elements of jazz (hence why the Chicago label International Anthem has proudly put out his projects in recent years).
The band soared inside of our studios in Detroit, performing live for a radio audience that was likely being introduced to him for the first time.
That’s sort of a double-edged sword, isn’t it?
Everyone kept asking after they performed on air, “Are you going to the show tonight?”
That’s a tricky thing. I mean, I wanted to … but I just watched them perform live directly in front of me. I got to ask them questions in between songs and get to know the band. The coolest thing was sharing that with an invisible audience of listeners.
But it does strip away the magic of a crowd watching it together at a venue like Moondog Cafe. Of being able to share that communal experience of discovering live music together, of feeling it in your soul, of maybe meeting a new friend while you’re there.
Inside of a radio studio mic’d for a listening audience, it’s sterile – and it should be. So some of the thrill evaporates, even if the band sounds fantastic (thanks to our incredible producers and engineers at WDET).
But I’ll long for that feeling of discovering at night, in a crowded room, with others on the same journey as me.
And for anyone that feels like they got the full story via the radio, I’d recommend taking a second dip into the live show the next time you hear something like that on your local public radio station.
Click here to hear the audio of the performance on the website of WDET FM.
