Each week on Cultural Manifesto, Kyle Long reveals stories and sounds from the creative frontlines of the past and present. Through music, archives and artist interviews, discover how creators shape meaning with sound, in Indianapolis and well beyond. Tune in each week to this WFYI Public Media show for discoveries that will delight your ears and expand your understanding of our shared world.
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40 Indiana guitar pioneers every Hoosier should know: South Bend, Indiana’s Willie Woods
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 • Duration 12:30
Listen to the latest installment in our ongoing series, “40 Indiana guitar pioneers every Hoosier should know.” The series explores the music and history of Indiana guitarists who made lasting contributions to American music — some world famous, others lesser known.
This time, we focus on South Bend guitarist Willie Woods, best known for his work with Jr. Walker & the All Stars. When their 1965 hit “Shotgun” climbed the charts, listeners heard the blazing saxophone of Junior Walker. But beneath that horn was Woods’ tight, percussive guitar.
Born in Louisiana in 1936, Woods moved to South Bend as a child, where he became active in the city’s R&B scene during the 1950s. Initially known as a singer, he joined a band formed by his longtime friend, drummer Billy “Stix” Nicks, and saxophonist Junior Walker. Determined to contribute more fully to the group’s sound, Woods taught himself guitar and soon became the band’s permanent guitarist.
The group, then known as the Jumping Jacks, performed throughout northern Indiana and southern Michigan before relocating to Battle Creek, Michigan. The band attracted the attention of singer, songwriter, and label executive Harvey Fuqua. In 1962, they made their first recordings and adopted the name Jr. Walker & the All Stars. Soon after, they signed with Motown Records, achieving international success with “Shotgun.”
Woods appeared on the group’s first two Motown albums, Shotgun and Soul Session. By the late 1960s, Woods left the All Stars and returned to the Midwest. In the early 1970s, he performed with the Battle Creek funk band The Apaches, writing their cult-classic 1972 single “Trying to Make Ends Meet.”
Willie Woods died of lung cancer in 1997 at age 60, two years after Junior Walker’s passing. Though he was rarely in the spotlight, Woods helped define the early sound of Jr. Walker & the All Stars. His rhythm guitar provided the foundation that allowed Walker’s saxophone to soar.
Composer and instrument builder Rob Funkhouser discusses Respiratory Cycle
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 • Duration 18:55
Listen to an interview with the Indianapolis-based composer, performer, and instrument builder Rob Funkhouser. His music explores ideas of place, memory, and pattern, often working in the spaces between established musical genres. He’s collaborated with ensembles including the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, So Percussion, and Forward Motion, and he currently serves as Education Manager at the Rhythm! Discovery Center. His latest album, “Respiratory Cycle”, features two immersive, long-form suites “Exhale” and “Inhale.” WFYI’s Kyle Long spoke with Rob Funkhouser about the project.
40 Indiana guitar pioneers every Hoosier should know: Gary, Indiana’s Donald Kinsey
Tuesday, February 24, 2026 • Duration 14:23
Hear the second edition of a new segment titled “40 Indiana guitar pioneers every Hoosier should know.” Over the next year, we’ll be sharing the music and history of Indiana guitarists who made notable contributions to music. Some of these musicians are world-famous; some you may not have heard of. This is not a ranked list, and it won’t be presented in any particular order. On this edition, learn about the Gary, Indiana guitarist Donald Kinsey, who played with artists including Bob Marley, Albert King, and Peter Tosh.
Donald Kinsey was born May 12, 1953, in Gary. He was one of three sons of Lester “Big Daddy” Kinsey, a respected Chicago blues guitarist, singer, and harmonica player who migrated from Mississippi to Gary in the mid-20th century.
Music was part of Donald’s life from an early age. He began playing guitar at five years old, learning chords from his father and performing in church and at local gigs. By his early teens, he had earned the nickname “B.B. King Jr.”
In 1972, Donald’s professional career took a major leap when he was recruited to play with Albert King, one of the most influential blues guitarists of all time. Kinsey toured extensively with King, appearing at major festivals including Wattstax and the Montreux Jazz Festival. He also recorded several albums with King, including I Wanna Get Funky and Blues at Sunrise. This was a formative period that helped Kinsey refine his technique and stage presence while reaching audiences beyond the Midwest club circuit.
In the mid-1970s, Kinsey left the Albert King band to join the psychedelic rock group White Lightnin’. The band’s self-titled debut album was released by Island Records in 1975.
Kinsey’s connection to Island Records would prove significant. The label was co-founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell in 1959, and Blackwell introduced Kinsey to a rising young star on the label: Bob Marley.
Kinsey’s career soon took an unexpected turn toward reggae. From 1975 to 1976 he toured with Bob Marley and the Wailers, appearing on Marley’s classic 1976 album Rastaman Vibration and numerous live recordings.
Kinsey also worked extensively with Peter Tosh, contributing to several landmark albums including Legalize It, Equal Rights, Bush Doctor, and Mama Africa. He also recorded with Burning Spear, playing guitar on the albums Dry & Heavy and Marcus’ Children.
Kinsey was with Marley during one of the most harrowing moments in reggae history—the attempted assassination of Marley in Kingston in December 1976, when gunmen opened fire at Marley’s home.
After Marley’s death in 1981, Kinsey recorded a tribute titled “Song for Bob.”
In 1984, Kinsey reunited with his brothers Ralph and Kenneth and their father Lester to form The Kinsey Report, a band blending electric blues, rock, and roots music. The group recorded a series of albums beginning with Edge of the City in 1987 and became known for its powerful live performances, earning critical acclaim on the blues circuit and touring across the United States and internationally.
Kinsey remained active into the 2020s, performing with both the Kinsey Report and the Wailers band.
Donald Kinsey died February 6, 2024, in Merrillville at age 70, just weeks after the death of his older brother Ralph.
Cesar Maldonado on the roots of Mariachi Herencia de México
Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Duration 23:05
Listen to a conversation with Cesar Maldonado, founder and artistic director of Mariachi Herencia de México. Based in Chicago, the ensemble grew out of the Mariachi Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to preserving and advancing mariachi music through youth education.
Founded in 2016, Mariachi Herencia de México has evolved from a student project into a dynamic ensemble of young virtuosos, blending deep respect for tradition with a vibrant, contemporary energy. Their 2017 debut album topped Latin music streaming charts and earned a Latin Grammy nomination — a remarkable achievement for a group born out of a community education program. Since then, they’ve released multiple acclaimed recordings, received a second Latin Grammy nomination, and toured extensively across North America, bringing mariachi music to major stages and inspiring a new generation of performers.
Mariachi Herencia de México performs in Indiana February 19 at the Indiana University Auditorium in Bloomington, and February 20 at the Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.
Wayne Newton on his early work in country music
Thursday, February 12, 2026 • Duration 22:34
Listen to an interview with “Mr. Las Vegas” Wayne Newton. With a career spanning more than seven decades, Wayne Newton is among the most enduring figures in American popular entertainment.
He’s best known for his 1963 hit “Danke Schoen,” and for a record-setting run of performances in Las Vegas. But Newton’s career began much earlier, in the 1950s, when he was still a child, singing country music alongside his brother, Jerry.
On February 14th, Wayne Newton brings his latest tour to Central Indiana, with a performance at the Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.
WFYI’s Kyle Long spoke with Wayne Newton about his early years in music, and his rise from radio and television to the Las Vegas Strip.
The Indiana pioneers of Puerto Rican music
Wednesday, February 11, 2026 • Duration 13:43
Bad Bunny’s performance at the Super Bowl last Sunday was the most-watched halftime show in history, placing Puerto Rican music squarely at the center of American pop culture.
For decades, Puerto Rican music has enjoyed widespread popularity here in the Hoosier State.
This week on Cultural Manifesto, we’ll celebrate the Puerto Rican music pioneers of Indiana, including Santos Candelaria, a Puerto Rican vocalist based in Gary, Indiana, during the 1970s and ’80s, and Dr. Mariano Morales, a violinist, pianist, and composer who led the Latin American Music Ensemble in Bloomington during the 1980s and ’90s. Morales worked with Puerto Rican music icons including Willie Colón, Marc Anthony, El Gran Combo, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Cheo Feliciano, and more.
Scholar and broadcaster Nia I’man Smith discusses Sonic Blacknuss Radio
Wednesday, February 4, 2026 • Duration 26:25
Nia I’man Smith is a scholar and radio host based in Bloomington, Indiana. She’s currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University Bloomington. Smith is also the creator and host of Sonic Blacknuss, a biweekly program on Bloomington’s community radio station, WFHB. The show offers a thoughtfully curated journey through Black music — from jazz and soul to R&B, funk, blues, bossa nova, and Afrobeat. Each episode is built around a central theme, tracing the deep connections between history, culture, and memory. Cultural Manifesto host Kyle Long recently spoke with Nia about her work as a scholar and radio DJ. She also brought along some music to share.
Discovering Sun Ra’s Indiana connections
Wednesday, February 4, 2026 • Duration 07:11
This month on American Masters, PBS will present “Sun Ra: Do The Impossible” — a new documentary celebrating the life and legacy of Sun Ra, one of the most visionary figures in jazz music. Sun Ra’s early work was shaped by Hoosiers, including trumpeter Art Hoyle, saxophonist/flutist James Spaulding, and recording engineer Bud Pressner.
Martin University founder Boniface Hardin fought for equality in classrooms and communities
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 • Duration 06:02
Last December, Martin University announced it would close, citing years of financial strain and declining enrollment. The closure brings to an end a legacy that began more than 50 years ago with Boniface Hardin.
Hardin arrived in Indianapolis in 1965 after being assigned as associate pastor at Holy Angels Catholic Church. He entered a city marked by racial inequality, police violence, and urban displacement. It was in this context that Hardin emerged as a prominent civil rights advocate.
In 1970, Hardin and Sister Jane Schilling founded the Martin Center in a house at 35th and College Avenue. That led to the founding of Martin Center College in 1977, created to serve adult learners, low-income and minority students, people with disabilities, and others historically excluded from higher education. In 1987, the school moved to a larger facility in the Brightwood neighborhood, and in 1990 the institution was renamed Martin University.
Martin reached a high point in 2001 with the opening of a new $10 million campus facility. Hardin retired as president of Martin University in 2007 after more than three decades of leadership. He died in 2012 at the age of 78.
Exploring Gil Scott-Heron’s work with the Princeton, Indiana producer Robert Hosea Williams
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 • Duration 13:38
Explore the work of the Princeton, Indiana producer and engineer Robert Hosea Williams (also known as R. José Williams) best known for his work with Gil Scott-Heron.
Williams was born in 1936 in Princeton, Indiana, the county seat of Gibson County in the state’s far southwestern corner. While his career would eventually take him far from southern Indiana, his family’s roots in the region ran deep.
His mother, Martha Alice Stewart, came from one of Gibson County’s long-established Black families. Her father, Hosea Henry Stewart, was born in Lyles Station, Indiana, one of the most significant Black settlements in the state.
Founded in the 1840s by free Black landowners, Lyles Station grew into a self-sustaining farming community with its own school, churches, businesses, and railroad access. For decades, it served as a center of Black life in the region.
Gibson County was home to several early Black settlements, formed by free Black families migrating from the South in the early 19th century. These communities emphasized land ownership, education, spiritual life, and mutual support—values passed down across generations, even as many rural settlements declined in the 20th century due to flooding, economic change, and migration into towns like Princeton.
Williams’ family left Princeton in the late 1940s, but the values of self-determination and cultural pride rooted in Gibson County found their way into Williams’ production work, reflected in the socially conscious music he produced for artists like Gil Scott-Heron and Father’s Children.
In the early 1970s, Williams established himself as a recording engineer and producer in the Washington, D.C. area, building a career that placed him at the center of the city’s vibrant but often overlooked soul and R&B scene. In D.C., Williams founded Red, Black and Green Productions, named after the Pan-African flag. Under that banner, he worked with many R&B and funk musicians clustered around the nation’s capital, including Father’s Children, The Summits, and Dyson’s Faces.
In 1973, Williams came to the attention of poet and singer-songwriter Gil Scott-Heron, who had been teaching at Federal City College in D.C. Scott-Heron had gained national prominence with his 1971 recording The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Along with his musical collaborator Brian Jackson, Scott-Heron secured Williams as producer and engineer for his classic 1974 release, Winter in America.
Join us for music featuring the engineer and producer Robert Hosea Williams.
