DAVID DYE & “WORLD CAFÉ” BECOME NASHVILLE CATS

In a nod to the growing influence of the Nashville new music scene, World Café and NPR Music are partnering to expand coverage from Music City and the Southern US. The new World Café Nashville will be providing expanded coverage including studio sessions, interviews and concert performances.

World Café Nashville, is being launched with two special events at City Winery in Nashville October 27th and 28th. On Thursday (10/27), a VIP reception for members of the music industry and media will precede a solo performance by acclaimed country singer-songwriter Eric Church. Then on Friday (10/28) there will be a celebration party featuring The Intoxicating Sounds of Steelism and Nashville's Femmes Fatales – Lera Lynn, Caitlin Rose, and Ruby Amanfu. Admission to both shows is free. Tickets to be distributed via World Cafe and WMOT.

World Cafe host David Dye said about the new Nashville partnership:

“This commitment to a deeper dive on World Cafe into the music of Nashville and places like Muscle Shoals, Memphis, Atlanta and New Orleans is central to our exploration of regional roots music, whether it be Americana, R&B, gospel, blues or rock. This will be musical discovery with a southern accent.”

Ann Powers

Ann Powers, a Nashville-based critic and correspondent for NPR Music is also contributing content to World Cafe Nashville.

THE RISING INFLUENCE OF WMOT

As we reported in early September [link] WMOT [link] gave up years of being “second fiddle” (pun intended) to Nashville Public Radio’s NPR News WPLN and Classical WFCL and became Roots Radio 89.5 FM. With the switch, WMOT became an important voice for Americana, bluegrass and roots music, not only in Nashville but around the globe. 

The influential Nashville music blog Talking Bluegrass Music [link] gushed with praise for WMOT:

Suddenly, there were musicians coming 'live at me from my computer--musicians whom I had grown to know and love since discovering bluegrass music in the early 1980s. How good is that! Oh yeah, very good!

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 VOICE OF THE MET OPERA, PETER ALLEN, DIES AT AGE 96

 

Photo courtesy of the New York Times

One of the world’s most influential on-air hosts, Peter Allen, died last week in New York.  Younger folks may not know the name but Allen changed the radio host’s role at live broadcast events. During the 29+ years (1975 – 2004) he was the voice of Metropolitan Opera, he perfected a conversional and inclusive delivery that still is heard on classical music radio today.

I had my own brief connection with Allen.  Back when I was a kid (keep in mind, I am older than dirt) I loved to visit my maternal grandparents, in part, because of the 1939 Zenith radio in their home. The Zenith was a huge tube-type radio that had an amazing ability to hear faraway AM stations. (The Zenith could also be used to heat the house!)

One Saturday afternoon, I happened upon Allen and Met Opera on WBBM, Chicago.  Allen was different from any announcer I had heard previously. He wasn’t just “announcing” the opera, he was doing play-by-play coverage of the entire event. I imagined that Allen was in a “control center” like the ones used for broadcasts of space flights.

In James Barron’s wonderful tribute to Allen in the New York Times [link] Barron described Allen’s on-air technique: 

Beginning in 1975, he delivered a kind of recitative, telling listeners what would happen as a given opera unfolded, and even what was happening before that, from the moment the lights went down to the moment the Met’s great gold curtain went up. “The bravos rise as he mounts the stand, smiling to the house, bowing to the house, now turning to conduct,” Mr. Allen said one Saturday in January 2000 as the Met’s artistic director at the time, James Levine, arrived for a performance of “Der Rosenkavalier.”

Allen was also a host on WQXR-FM back when it was a commercial classical station. Listen to Julie Burstein’s salute to Allen when he retired from the Met in 2004 on WNYC at [link].

MET OPERA BROADCASTS: 85 YEARS AND STILL COUNTING

Broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera began in 1931 and continue today on noncommercial classical stations. Now, MET performances are also streamed online and are broadcast on Sirius/XM.

Allen was the second broadcast host for Met Opera. The first host, Milton Cross, spent more than 40 years welcoming listeners with a more “pompous” announcing style that was more typical of announcers at the time.

Met Opera broadcasts are also notable in radio history because of their long-time sponsor Texaco. The oil company was the sole sponsor from 1940 until 2003. During much of the 63 years when Texaco was the sponsor Met Opera broadcasting were carried live on the NBC radio network.

TWO GREAT GIGS FOR UP-AND-COMING PUBLIC MEDIA PROS • JOIN A “PUBLIC RADIO 101” SEMINAR

I love to promote open jobs for people who are just getting started in the biz. Maybe you are at your first or second job and want advance your career at a respected station in a major market. Here are two jobs you might want to check out:

ASSISTANT PROGRAM DIRECTOR & PRODUCER

CLASSICAL KBAQ, PHOENIX

Twilight in the Valley of the Sun

Live and work in one of the fastest growing and most diverse markets in the nation while being part of the Classical music world. KBAQ, the classical music voice for Phoenix [link], is now looking for an Assistant Program Director and Producer.

The woman or man chosen for the job will host classical music programming, interact directly with listeners and assure KBAQ’s high quality production values. 

The assignment includes assisting with music choices, producing on-air content, doing interviews and scheduling announcers and board operators.

KBAQ is looking for someone who knows and loves classical music, is enthusiastic about reaching a general audience and has experience with on-air fundraising.

Livingston Associates is assisting KBAQ in this search. More info is at [link]. Applications are due this week.

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KUOW, SEATTLE IS LOOKING FOR A LOCAL NEWS PRODUCER

KUOW, one of the nation’s leading NPR News stations, has an outstanding opportunity for a Producer who will work on local news segments for KUOW’s daily news magazines.

The person chosen for this gig will track news, research topics and pitch segment ideas to the Managing Producer. Other tasks include pre-interviewing and booking guests, providing hosts with background research and
qriting host intros and interview questions.
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Note: The person doing this job will be a “first-responder” in breaking news situations that may require evening and weekend work. Duties also include interacting on social media platforms. This is a full-time job with generous benefits and work/life programs. Get more information at [link].

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WNIJ BUILDS COMMUNICATION SKILLS WITH “PUBLIC RADIO 101” SEMINAR

How does a university-licensed public radio station reach out to students and staff? The answer at NPR News station WNIJ, Rockford [link], is to share what they know about the process that creates news.

Northern Public Radio’s WNIJ just completed the inaugural WNIJ News “Public Radio 101” seminar.  Twelve participants spent several evening in September learning the basics about how news is covered, from finding a story, getting the facts, doing interviews and assembling the ready-to-air package.

“Public Radio 101” Seminar Participants

According to WNIJ Managing Editor Victor Yehling, the seminar was intended for students pursuing news and communication careers and staff members that want to know more about the news reporting process. It also provids a way for WNIJ to showcase itself within the university community.

Seminar topics included the ethics and values of public radio news, news story terminology and structure, using sound to enhance stories, vocal techniques and preparing “print” versions of audio stories for the station website. The tools for “Public Radio 101” are online at [link].   

“Public Radio 101” includes:

• Editing Audio With Audacity

The session provides tips about downloading and using Audacity audio software, recording techniques, multi-track editing and mixing.

• WNIJ News Professional Conduct Guidelines

Want to look, walk and talk like a news reporter? This session is for you. Learn how your appearance and style impacts people’s perception of you and your work.

• Creating A Vision For Your News Story

In the news biz, often the first “gatekeeper” you will face is in the newsroom. This session discusses understanding a story assignment, finding the “headline” in a story and knowing the human dimension, such as Who stands to win/lose in this story.

WNIJ’s next “Public Radio 101” seminar is being planned for January 2017.

ITEMS FROM PACIFICA’S ARCHIVES ARE APPEARING ON EBAY

Let’s say you are a fan of composer Elliot Carter (1908 – 2012), the Pulitzer Prize winning architect of atonal and complex music.  Then you might be interested in having the master reel-to-reel tape of Carter being interviewed in 1960 on KPFA, Berkeley.  Recently you could by it for $31.89 on e-bay.

As Pacifica's turds circle the bowl, it appears staff and/or volunteers may be going rogue and are cashing in on Pacifica's valuable booty. This is part of the latest chapter in Pacific’s painful slide into oblivion.

The primary concern to many archivists, scholars and collectors is the fate of Pacifica’s audio archives.  The collection includes an estimated 60,000 reel-to-reel tapes, vinyl records and transcription discs. According to several sources, less than 25% of the analog catalogue has been digitized.

It is alleged (but not independently confirmed) that several dozen KPFA master tapes were listed on ebay because Pacifica failed to pay the rent on a storage unit in Rosemead, California. The owner of the storage company allegedly sold some the tapes to pay the past-due rent.

This does sound plausible but it also could be that the tapes “walked out the backdoor” as so often happens when a venture is failing. Before the ship goes under, there is a temptation to “liberate” things that might be of value.

Listings for Pacifica's master tapes have been deleted from ebay. However, lots of other items from Pacifica’s history are currently for sale on ebay.

ENTER THE APPRAISERS

Meanwhile, Pacifica’s interim Executive Director Lydia Brazon told Pacifica’s Board of Directors on October 6^th that she hired an appraiser to tally the value of the assets of Pacifica’s LA station KPFK.  Brazon said similar appraisals are pending for other Pacifica properties.

Lydia Brazon

Brazon told the Board that the appraisals were necessary for the organization to obtain loans and grants. Of course, appraisals are also used for sale purposes and bankruptcy proceedings. Brazon tried to reassure the Board when she said:

 The point is, we must know the true value of our assets. Certainly NOT in order to sell them but rather to leverage them for credit lines, a mortgage or…to lease.

Pacifica’s hope appears to be that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) will put them back on the CPB dole. Brazon said $2.5 million of “…guaranteed funds from CPB” are due to Pacifica.  Before this can happen Pacifica must complete an audit of their FY 2014 finances. The reason the audit is not being completed is because apparently Pacifica hasn’t paid the auditors.

“DIRTY BUSINESS”AT KPFK

Blogger Chris Albertson [link] reports that "bathroom sabotage" has been occurring at KPFK, Los Angeles. Apparently disgruntled staff members are jamming the toilets with paper towels causing messy overflows.

Here is a memo KPFK’s GM Leslie Radford sent to the staff: