--Written by Melissa Milton

It’s a big, broad tent that WWOZ show host Cole Williams pitches every Tuesday from 11 am to 2 pm on the New Orleans Music Show. She welcomes all humanitarians, as she call us, to join her in exploring the city’s many musical traditions, and more.

"What can I, not being from New Orleans, but having the spirit, bring to the table? It’s been so nice to grow in my knowledge and my love and understanding of New Orleans and the music and the culture through that lens," she says. "It’s incredible, because it’s a rabbit hole!"

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Cole was an accomplished professional musician and community organizer by the time she arrived in New Orleans in 2015. After volunteering at the station and subbing as a show host, then-music director Scott Borne asked her to anchor the Tuesday program in 2017, and that was that. "I’m so proud, in a way that I’ve never been proud before, to be a part of the WWOZ family. That’s part of my foundation, my inspiration."

Regular listeners know that Cole’s show is bookended by Corey Henry up front, under the LiveWire, and Travis "Trumpet Black" Hill on the tail, with "Trumpets, Not Guns." In between, we’re treated to a closer walk with old school Crescent City musicians, an hour of new New Orleans sounds, and sets focusing on the often overlooked women of New Orleans’ musical heritage.

"Being a musician and a show host, I’m in this beautiful sweet spot. It’s a privilege, it’s a responsibility, it’s an honor. And it’s fun!" About her desire to support upcoming musicians, she says. "I know what it’s like to have something to say, to want to say it, and to not have a space. It’s so important to save space for other people. I’m happy to create a space for new musicians coming in."

Cole is also busy working to create space for the houseless to live here in New Orleans. In 2020, she formed The Greater New Orleans Citizens Relief Team, following a successful campaign that urged City Hall to provide emergency housing for the unhoused in empty hotels during the early days of the pandemic. More about that important ongoing work at www.gnocitizensreliefteam.org. Interested listeners will also enjoy her monthly podcast, "House The Houseless," produced in conjunction with Ropeadope Records.

"My influences are people that beat adversity, people that stand firm because they realize the power of the message in music: Bob Marley, Nina Simone, Harry Belafonte, Lauryn Hill, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Gil Scott-Heron. I’m also inspired by the people I work with."

Local OZilians can hear Cole perform personal favorites and new compositions on the first Friday of each month at her residency, The Living Room Sessions, at Buffa’s. "Buffa’s is a beautiful neighborhood bar where things are discovered, things are grown." Some of those songs nurtured at Buffa’s will appear on her upcoming album, "How We Care For Humanity," set to be released in August 2024.

"I want everyone who’s coming close to understand the spirit that’s around all of this: a holistic solution-oriented approach to everything. I want people to feel their inner humanitarian."