28-05-2025
Jason Hamric, founder of Substrate Radio who celebrated Birmingham art scene, dies
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Jason Hamric, a multi-hyphenate creative who ran Substrate Radio for over a decade and was a fierce champion of Birmingham's music and art scene for even longer, has died. He was 53.
Jackie Lo, Hamric's wife and fellow radio host at Substrate, confirmed the news on social media Wednesday afternoon.
Hamric started Substrate Radio in 2013, where he hosted the show 'Meeting People is Easy.' In addition to his time at the station, Hamric also worked as a cinematographer, an audio engineer and musician. One of his early bands was Three Finger Cowboy, which he played with in the early 2000s around Birmingham.
Substrate Radio, a 24-7 internet radio station, operates out of Saturn in the Avondale neighborhood, with part of its studio on full display in front of the concert hall.
'I really missed the 'college radio style' format where you could kind of play whatever you want without being told what to play,' Hamric told This is Alabama in 2024. 'I just felt like we had a little hole, in America in general, for under-the-radar style music.'
Over the years, Substrate Radio gave free rein to local DJs to curate their own playlists and to play the music they wanted, which could veer from indie rock, hip hop, international music and even discussion shows on film and books.
'Birmingham is a small town and the radio community is even smaller,' Birmingham NPR affiliate WBHM wrote on its Facebook page. 'We are saddened to learn about the unexpected passing of our friend Jason Hamric.'
In the wake of Hamric's death, many people across Birmingham's radio and art community have paid tribute to him and offered their condolences to his friends and family.
'Substrate Radio's Jason Hamric is gone. This is so sad,' local DJ Jim Battan, better known as 'Coyote J. Calhoun' wrote. 'Condolences to his family and to our city.'
'There are some people you meet that when you call them they help make things easier and better for everyone. Jason Hamric was one of those people,' said Shaheed Taweed, one-half of the Birmingham hip hop group Shaheed and DJ Supreme. 'We and I appreciate every thing he has done for us and others. Condolences to his family and we pray that The Creator makes this process easy for his loves ones and friends to deal with.'
Born and raised in Birmingham, Jason Hamric graduated from Jefferson Christian Academy School and spent the majority of his adult life in the city.
No cause of death has been revealed.
This is a developing story.
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