Thanksgiving 2024 is a bit sadder this year, with the news that Alice Brock has passed away. What a cruel irony that the woman who inspired the Thanksgiving-themed Arlo Guthrie folk song “Alice’s Restaurant,” departed just a week before radio stations across the land would be broadcasting the story-song inspired by and named after her.
I feel so lucky to have been able to chat with Alice Brock back in 2020 on the Radio Survivor podcast, which we have presented again this year in her honor. This Alice Brock episode is recommended listening, especially in 2024, as it provides perspective on how Guthrie’s song came to be and why it has resonated with so many people.
Although I’ve been compiling lists of where to listen to “Alice’s Restaurant” on the radio pretty much every year since 2010, the lists are never complete and chances are that most folks will need to do their own sleuthing in order to ascertain where to tune in to hear the classic.
In lieu of a listening guide this year, I offer up tips on how to find out if your hometown station is playing “Alice’s Restaurant.”
How to find “Alice’s Restaurant” on the radio in 2024
- Consult the 2023 Radio Survivor “Alice’s Restaurant” listening guide to get a sense of stations likely to play the song in your area
- Check the social media accounts and websites of stations that tend to play “Alice’s Restaurant” for posts about air times (In past years, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have been helpful resources)
- If you are at a loss for station ideas, focus on commercial classic rock stations, public radio stations, and folk/country-oriented specialty shows on college and community radio stations
- To dig even deeper, look through previous Radio Survivor listening guides (which date back to 2010!) to get clues about the array of stations broadcasting the song annually
Have a wonderful 2024 Thanksgiving celebration!
