The Talking Stick: community radio edition
As you sip that first or second cup of French press java ... you might catch yourself scratching your head and wondering out loud, "exactly what is community radio and why in the world should I care?"
Let's talk about that today ... along with a look back to the days before corporate radio. I'll share my listening history with you and encourage you to share your own radio memories. It should be a fun ride.
Please do come along!
A bit of original music to get us rolling ...[video:https://youtu.be/Pq6en6zb1ME]
Combining archival audio and film with snapshots of the present, take a journey through significant historical coverage of political events that affected Melbourne, told from the voice of dissent, 3CR. Created by filmmaker Stephan Raabe as part of the 'Local Air' Community Radio Documentary Series produced by Open Channel.
Visit 3CR at http://www.3cr.org.au[video:https://vimeo.com/119414565]
Ursula Ruedenberg is the network manager of Pacifica Radio, a network of close to 200 community radio stations in North America. She also manages KHOI Radio in Ames, Iowa. Here, she gives a brief introduction to the meaning, history, and scope of this type of media.
[video:https://youtu.be/K5aYkXXoLIg]
The DJs and station managers at KPOO, KUSF in Exile, Mutiny Radio and Radio Valencia give us some insight into community radio in the Bay Area, how it works and the challenges they face.
[video:https://youtu.be/OcmElg5Y-uI?t=9]
Prisoners in an Appalachian super-max prison have found an unlikely ally: a radio show. While telecom companies charge higher-than-normal fees for prisoners to make and receive phone calls, WMMT—a local community radio station in Whitesburg, Kentucky—is broadcasting phone calls from loved ones over the air and into the prisons for free.
[video:https://youtu.be/2xG1u6Xn_ng]
Radio Pulso del Barrio, a bilingual community radio station, will be the only one of its kind in San Diego.
[video:https://youtu.be/NEKqiKI4TLA]
What good is community radio? Why bother? What difference could community radio make?
[video:https://youtu.be/-K1l9cg6bM8]
In stark contrast ... this is what "read from the same script" corporate media looks like
Enough with being serious.
Time to board the magic time machine for this week's trip into a more innocent past.
For as long as I can remember, well at least since bonding with Vin Scully around 1958, I have always loved radio. That affection has migrated over to high quality podcasts ... far away from soulless corporate radio ... and to wholegrain community radio wherever I can find it.
I am not old enough to remember listening to Orson Well's "War of the Worlds," broadcast as it happened. Yet I did grow up in isolated southeastern New Mexico, ninety-eight less than scenic road miles from where Roy Orbison grew up across the Texas state line in beautiful downtown wink, a long time before anyone imagined N.P.R. or satellite radio or even FM radio.
My hometown sat a long ways from anywhere, in the middle of what too many write off as insignificant flyover country. A splendid place to hide flying saucers.
There were two radio stations that teenagers like myself could pick up after sundown. So they became what everyone in my generation listened to. The personality of legendary Wolfman Jack came into our car radios thanks to an over powered signal (X.E.R.F. AM) booming toward us across the Rio Grande near Del Rio, Texas.
Otherwise this "coast to coast and border to border" signal became our go to station by default. With special thanks to whoever had the good sense to preserve some audio clips, enjoy.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRCgDZkopJQ&feature=youtu.be]
Half a lifetime later, and firmly back in the present, I find myself settled in a city that openly attempts to practice compassion. We host the Kentucky Derby and a festival of faiths and a community radio station that operates in the progressive tradition begun by Pacifica.
Perhaps you can find a PACIFICA network station near you.
Forward Radio is a grassroots, community-based, FM radio station operating as an educational arm of the Louisville chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) in pursuit of peace and social justice. Through training and collaboration, FORward Radio seeks to create a network of community partners to aid in building a more diverse and relevant model of media.
Forward Radio, WFMP-LP, is now broadcasting 24 hours a day on 106.5fm in Louisville. Coverage area.
Forward Radio’s studio and transmitter located in the Heyburn Building, 332 W Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202. Check out the program schedule.
Besides my Louisville station, I have two other progressive community stations that I often listen to, especially on weekends ... thanks to TuneIn and the internet.
First there is KPFA in Berkely, the very first community radio station and flagship station for Democracy Now. I especially recommend you sample Across The Great Divide {11:00 AM PACIFIC TIME: SUNDAYS}
"Music among friends; folk and acoustic music; singers and songwriters. Familiar and new songs from home and across the sea. Stories of Life, Struggle, and Humor. Hosted by Kevin Vance."
I also suggest you sample Kansas City community radio. They produce their own folk music shows on Sunday, along with blues and other sounds during the week ... mixed with "magazine" programs.
Every Saturday and Sunday morning the magic of internet streaming allows me to check in with another favorite that I got to know when I lived in Philly.
For over three decades, WXPN listeners have depended on "the quiet sounds of Sleepy Hollow" to ease them gently into their weekends. Hosted by Chuck Elliott , Keith Kelleher (Sunday 6-8am) and and Julian Booker (Sunday 8AM-11AM), Sleepy Hollow features a spectrum of artists - from Miles Davis, Tom Waits and Joni Mitchell to Chet Baker, Norah Jones and Nick Drake. Musically, Sleepy Hollow blends jazz, folk, instrumental, and contemporary acoustic music where mood and music combine to create a warm and relaxing weekend morning experience.
Last but certainly not least, I simply cannot leave out KBHR "K-Bear" (Cicely, Alaska)
[video:https://youtu.be/lM8a0uMihsI]
[video:https://youtu.be/TwsLynDJmt4]
Today's music clips come out of the recent Song of the Soul archives ... as heard on community radio. Each clip begins with the ship's theme song.
Tiny Tim Meets Mother Jones Meets Jean Redpath
Maria Dunn is a passionate and inspired storyteller and songwriter with a voice to charm us all. Born in Scotland but having lived almost all of her life near Edmonton, Alberta, Maria combines old world music and roots with Canadian life and people to produce beautiful, moving music.
Cody Diekhoff is Chicago Farmer, a consummate story-teller combined with heartfelt tunes & evocative voice. Coming of age when punk/grunge rock was the alternative thing, he got hooked on an alternative to the alternative by Hank Williams, leading to a kind of alt-country/folk/Americana style all his own.
Alt-country from Liverpool & Berlin
Gem Andrews is born & raised in Northeast England, around Liverpool, so it was a bit of a surprise to find that the beautiful music she makes owes much to Americana and Alt-country influences. All the more since she's spent the last few years in Berlin, Germany. Honesty, vulnerability, and twang come powerfully through Gem's music.
Folkgoddess of Mystic Acoustic Rock
Diane Patterson takes us on an odyssey of spirit-based music, close to the Earth. From moon lodge to addiction healing to holy rains to long roads, Diane sings evocatively of the power to change and be changed.
Idris Phillips has been making superb music with wonderful artists for close to 40 years, and finally he's released his first CD, Star By Moon, this one emphasizing his folk roots, but promising his jazz, blues, and other styles in future recordings. His guitar & keyboards are magic, and his lyrics triple-deep, in the listener's ear, in Idris' personal experience, & in the mystical truths they name.
Musical Alchemist & Lunchroom Royalty
Mindy Dillard is so many things, besides being an enchanting singer/songwriter. She's a Musical Alchemist, Body Image Activist, and sometimes she's Princess Fearless. And that's just a start. She created a one-woman folk rock opera called How to Survive a Poison Apple, combining mythological scholarship and soul-deep whimsy. She operates out of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Charlie Parr is a singer/songwriter dynamo, touring constantly & widely, sharing his down-home music of the American country blues genres. For a person who battles constantly with depression, his music is powerfully enlivening, played on either his 12-string or resonator guitars, or sometimes on his banjo. A life-long Minnesotan, Duluth is his occasional refuge from the road.
Sarah Morris is so much and so good, a sweet, kind voice of power in a woman with a spine of steel and a gift for words that make addressing Mansplaining a joy for all. With 4 CDs and her Toilet Tunes series, she's prolific, profound, and pro-fun.
The stick has passed out of my hands.
Now it's your turn.
Share a favorite station or podcast or special listening memory.
Can't wait to hear from you!
See you next Tuesday!
Comments
(No subject)
Few are guilty, but all are responsible.”
― Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets
bunch of good stuff there philly blue
My first underground radio experience was WABX out of Detroit late 60's. The non-commercial aspect of it was radical at the time. Would set the alarm on the Sony Cube, flip on the stereo and listen to Firesign Theater before school. Comedy was my crutch.
Now have a WWOZ stream programmed into the laptop. Some great jazz and blues shows there. Brings me back to good times in the Crescent City. Also a fan of WUMV out of Martha's Vineyard, a local listening spot. They do a retro show online, but it got absorbed by Accuradio. Still non-commercial so far.
Cheers!
WGN Chicago
They are probably considered corporate radio, at least now. However, when I was middle school/high school, we could pick them up at night all the way in Iowa. I used to listen to radio "movies," like the War of the Worlds broadcast, before I went to sleep.
Then I lived in the Chicago area from '89 - '92. Commuted into the city to teach and enjoyed the radio shows so much. WGN had some funny stuff, but also serious interesting interviews, etc. And the NPR station was very good as well.
Then moved to the Dallas area. YAAAHHHH UUUUGH YUCK! Terrible radio. All preachers and right-wing bullshit. Howard Stern was my only radio choice, and while he is pretty humorous, he often goes waaaay too far for me. Eventually went to listening to audio books on the way to work.
It would be nice to have such community radio choices here in rural Texas.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
WERU. Orland Maine
listen online, local is a big place.
bygorry
Thank you!
Have them playing right now . . .
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
I too listened to Wolfman Jack and Vin Scully and a lot of
Mexican music on both Mexican and US stations as well as regular US programming. FM was around, but receivers were pricey, even the Heathkits. I didn't even have my own am radio until High School, listening to other peoples or the family radio when the folks weren't around. In about 1960-62 somewhere, I went downtown to Goodwill and found an old cabinet set up AM-FM with turntable for $15. The latter was Telefunken and I think the rest was RCA. A few new tubes and such and it was "good as new", for '40s or '50s technology.
The FM included a lot of jazz stations, smooth listening stuff, some comedy/topical and maybe one station having one "folk revival" show. In '64, I moved to Berkeley to go to Cal and discovered Pacifica, but still listened to a lot of the other stuff because there were still some quasi independent FM stations playing album rock and other good stuff. Today, I've become mostly radio free, listening to my own personal Slacker station, so thanks for the reminder to tune in some Pacifica stations now and then and check them out.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
What a wonderful love letter to community radio!
Thank you so much, phillybluesfan!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_radio
I've mentioned elsewhere on this forum
that I think Amy Goodman has lost a step or two but I continue to listen to DemocracyNow! nearly every day on my local community station KXCI. We used to have an AM talk radio station here that was pretty good. I could listen to Thom Hartmann and Ed Schultz in the evenings. Then came the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and slowly but surely all the AM radio stations were bought up by Sinclair and the like. Now all AM talk is right-wing and I have to got to YouTube and RT for Thom and Ed. I hate the Clintons.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
I used to listen to NPR....
...and PBS news....but alas they were purchased by the Koch's.
One of my radio memories was "Radio Reader" where I first listened to audio books...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Radio_Reader
I'm lucky to have lived around musicians most of my life and learned to love live music and sessions...so radio music was mainly for the car. Now records are a different story...
Have a good day all...
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Feel Your Pain
Feel your pain. I once was a huge fan of National Public Radio. Built my mornings and afternoons around N.P.R. But they unexpectedly chose to engage in a systematic effort to destroy the quality of their product by chasing off real journalists. Two examples immediately leap to mind. Perhaps you can name others.
[video:https://youtu.be/N1-W7Td8VoE]
[video:https://youtu.be/zOogOJc9Lfw].
Rarely listen to NPR or PBS any more. Such a shame, a damn crying shame.
Few are guilty, but all are responsible.”
― Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets
Thanks for the shout out
for Pacifica. Only thing progressive remaining after the "Great Buyoff" of the 80s.
Got addicted to radio early on with Joe Pine, Steve Allen, Wolfman Jack, Dr. Demento, and every Dodger game. At 10 years old bought my first short wave and scanned the world for music til sun-up.
Sat. Radio came with my Nissan and I couldn't be happier. Sometimes just sit in my driveway and listen while car charges.
Current online fave is KOZT (The Coast) out of Mendocino County, Calif.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Thanks for this! WITH Ithaca
is my favorite local station, though it's NPR so lots of programming I avoid. Sorry but I can't share your enthusiasm for Democracy Now, which has gone down the Russiagate hole with the other sheep. There are so many interesting local musicians in this area, many small venues and bigger events, it reminds me of Austin 15 years ago. And WITH supports all the local artists.
My earliest radio memory is listening to the Grand Ole Opry as a kid in Huntington WV, then later those delicious nights listening to Dragnet, The Shadow, The Whistler, etc. My mother refused to have a TV in the house, though she would rent one(!) every four years to watch round the clock coverage of the Democratic and Republican conventions. Radio was always on, and in my house, still is. I have no TV, and comparing the fervid smokey black and white drama of those old conventions with the carefully scripted, boring, predictable pap of today's conventions I won't be going out of my way to get one.