Rebel Radio for Folkies
WoodSongs Promotes Acoustic Artists
Michael Johnathon's WoodSongs Old-Time
Radio Hour is one of those encouraging success stories, if
you are a fan of music in a surprising variety of forms. The
one-hour show is syndicated to 491 stations throughout the
world, reaching a weekly audience of 1,100,000 radio
listeners. There is also the global Internet outlet, support
from public television nationwide, full online archiving, plus
MP3 and MP4 podcasting of Radio Hour shows.
It is all the brainchild, and extraordinary
accomplishment, of working musician Michael Johnathon,
who describes it all this way (from the
WoodSongs website):
"I created the live audience, multi-media
event of WOODSONGS on the belief that
grassroots artists,
collectively, had an audience bigger than Garth Brooks and Bruce
Springsteen. Think of it - thousands of musicians, songwriters,
bands and folkies travel the earth searching for their audience,
making a living and selling their CD's. The only thing missing
was a global stage that would introduce these hard working
artists to the huge audience that was obviously supporting all
of them. Woodsongs exists on the principal that the audience
cares. The audience is interested. And the audience will always
respond to good art.
"Artists are chosen to appear on our stage are
selected because they are good. End of story. Fame, commercial
success or lack there-of, who you know, who you opened for,
whether you are on a label or are releasing your own CD, what
famous artist used the same mixing board you recorded your
latest CD on and who manages you means NOTHING."
"I say it often on the show and I mean it, "You
don't have to be Famous to be on WoodSongs . . . you have to be
Good!"
"Keep in mind that WoodSongs is NOT a concert.
Several hundred people are in our theatre to WATCH a radio show
get produced. The show is equally divided between two artists,
giving each artist three on-air song performances. Song lengths,
to be fair, need to be about 3 1/2 minutes long. WoodSongs is an
acoustic performance program mixed with conversation. BILLBOARD
MAGAZINE described the show as "A Prairie Home Companion meets
Conan O'Brien." If you are not familiar with our show, we
encourage you to visit our archives and listen to an on-line
broadcast before submitting."
"One more thing: We don't pay you anything.
I don't get a penny for this. Our chief
engineer Kevin Johnson, the 32 member WoodSongs Crew and the
cyber-dude who built this website aren't paid anything either. A
local hotel will put you up for free, local restaurants will
feed you and our show goes out free-of-charge to radio. You can
sell your CDs to the audience after the show and we will even
help you do that."
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Vallejo
"Pirate" Radio
OzCat Radio
Features Local Independent Artists
Vallejo, California - Folk
artists Misner & Smith, whose work is featured on this
site, were among the most recent Bay Area artists to be featured
on Vallejo's OzCat Radio.
"Ozcat
Radio is an all-volunteer nonprofit, non-commercial internet
radio station dedicated to promoting local and independent
artists as well as highlighting community events and non-profit
information. We are on the air 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
serving the greater Vallejo area. Now playing: great independent
and local music of all flavors. Plus interesting stories,
interviews with Bay Area artists, etc. Ozcat Radio programming
is eclectic and free-form. Warning: this is not your ordinary
radio station."
That is the description from the
station's web site (http://www.ozcatradio.com).
In true independent spirit, the station hopes to flourish with
the help of “underwriters”--local businesses and
individuals to provide tax-deductible contributions in return
for on-air and online acknowledgement. These contributions will
support day-to-day station operations, as well as funding for
studio and broadcasting equipment upgrades.
Founded in June 2006 by
singer-songwriter David Martin
and his wife Kathleen, OzCat
Entertainment is the umbrella organization under which OzCat
Radio operates. Housed at 1104 Georgia Street, the enterprise is
a support mechanism for independent artists who need all the
help they can get in getting the attention of the music
industry.
This spirit was born of David
Martin's own experience with media frustration. In 2004, his
"single 'Anyway' was the only independent hit on the R&R Top-40
indicator chart, quite a feat for a local artist. Even then, he
was turned away by every Bay Area radio station he approached.
'We don't break new music,' was the general response from
Program and Music Directors." (from the
OzCat
website.)
OzCat Entertainment provides a
performance space for private meetings, events, rehearsals, CD
release and cast parties, small banquets, and even video and
film shoots. The station's Emerald Room performance space offers
such amenities as a raised stage, PA System, mirrored rehearsal
wall, dressing room, kitchen, velvet privacy curtains, and
gallery wall space.
"Ozcat is a very real station-our
deejays don't pre-record their shows and our music is not
pre-programmed. We feel that live radio is about as real as it
gets." The station, which currently only broadcast to the
Vallejo downtown community, has made application for a
Full-power Non-Commercial FM License, which is no easy thing to
do. The FCC opened a window for special filing for one week back
in October, 2007 and OzCat was there with their app. That was
the first such opportunity afforded to radio entrepreneurs since
2000. The proposed 100 watt station would be at 89.5 FM, a clear
spot on the radio dial. Jeff Shaw and Todd Urick of Common
Frequency, "a 501(c)(3) nonprofit 'dedicated to providing
information about non-commercial radio broadcasting within the
United States to the public, with the aim of facilitating more
public involvement in non-commercial radio'" has been helping
OzCat's management with the application process.
Among the artists who have
performed live on OzCat is RARWRITER.com's own in-house
musicologist Douglas Strobel, who was instrumental in getting
Misner & Smith a spot on the show, and who is tireless in his
efforts to promote local music, particularly of the acoustic
variety, and of the station itself.
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