Skip to content

Radio

City Pages’ Oral History of 89.3 The Current

A few weeks ago I was out watching football with some buddies. I was talking about my new car and how I was disappointed it didn’t have Radio Data System built in, which shows you the song name and title when listening to the radio. “Who still listens to the radio?!” he said. I replied, “I listen to The Current! We have one of the best public radio stations in the country!” A week or so later, he forwarded me the Arbitron ratings locally to debunk my statement.

As The Current celebrates its ninth birthday, City Pages has published an Oral History of The Current. Featuring former and current employees of Minnesota Public Radio and the station, they talk about the founding of the station; the highs of getting it off the ground; the lows of the rating crash a few years later and bringing in a consultant; and the success they’ve had with both the station, supporting new artists and especially their support of the local music scene. It’s a fantastic read and gives you a rare behind the scenes look at running a radio station.

And to my friend who wanted to argue with me about having one of the best radio stations in the country, the opening paragraphs back me up:

This week, 89.3 the Current celebrates the start of its 10th year, having become the model for cutting-edge radio throughout the country. Not bad for a station built from the ground up in six weeks.

Before the Current hit the airwaves in January 2005, local FM radio was a dead zone, and 89.3 was home to string orchestras. Flash forward to today, and the Current has revitalized the local music scene and been named the country’s best non-commercial radio station by industry peers for four years running.

Happy 9th birthday, 89.3!

Another Reason Why I Love The Current

I vividly remember the day Rev105 changed formats. My wife and I were leaving work and climbed into the car in the carpool lot. Turning on the car, Van Halen was playing. I was surprised, but I’ve always been a Van Halen fan, and dug that they were playing it. Rev105 was the most eclectic radio station I’ve ever listened to, and while I was surprised to hear Van Halen, it wasn’t out of the norm from some of the things they played. And then another hard rock song came on, and another – and they announced the new call letters, X105. And just like that, my favorite radio station was dead.

The latest Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were announced a week and a half ago. To celebrate, 89.3 The Current played a number of the inductees, including:

  • Hall and Oates
  • Linda Rondstadt
  • Cat Stevens
  • Peter Gabriel

Mary Lucia was driving to work when they played the above artists and missed Barb Abney’s introduction to the set list. Her reaction was hilarious, along with the voicemail she left to Jill Riley, co-host of the morning show on The Current:

I FREAKED out! Not another format change! This isn’t happening again! I was convinced we had flipped formats overnight and this was my way of finding out I no longer had a job at the Current.

I know this sounds overly dramatic, but friends, this has happened to me before in my radio career: One day I have a job, and the next day we are playing Scorpions and Nazareth. BOOM! “Thanks for all of your hard work, now who needs a box to pack up your [stuff]?”

Hit the link to read her reaction, listen to the voicemail and the Twitter reactions by people around the Twin Cities.

Kudos to The Current for sharing this – it brought a smile to my face.

Happy 8th Birthday 89.3 The Current!

sdc10186.jpg

It feels like yesterday that Minnesota Public Radio announced they would be launching their own indie rock station with a focus on local music. 89.3 The Current hired a number well known of on-air personalities who had worked in the Twin Cities for years, with experience at Rev105, RadioK and more, which just added to the excitement. Giddy with anticipation, I donated to MPR, becoming a founding member even before the station had launched. (Getting a free vinyl record to celebrate from The Current was just a bonus – who knew that I would get back into vinyl just a few years later and would make this the first record I would listen to after I bought a turntable).

And here we are eight years later already! For the last few years The Current throws a big birthday bash at the legendary First Avenue. I had to pass up tickets to the second night show on Saturday (twice) and as I followed the event on Twitter, I had to kick myself. In addition to an awesome line-up of Now, Now, Dave Pirner (of Soul Asylum), and Cloud Cult, the special surprise guest was the YN Rich Kids, the summer’s hottest local sensation.

You haven’t heard of them? A good friend of mine hadn’t either as I texted him at the show.

Hot Takis and Cheetos

If you missed it over the summer, this video went viral in the Twin Cities in a big way. Time Magazine even named it the #7 best music video of 2012 and The Current gave it some radio coverage, too.

I knew I should have bought tickets when I had the chance! Well, there is always next year…

Happy Birthday 89.3! Keep on rockin’!

[http://www.youtube.com/embed/7YLy4j8EZIk]

  • in Radio
  • 1 min read

I Heard it on the Radio

[https://rd.io/i/QAAKK1ydOg]

I didn’t grow up in Minneapolis and missed out on the iconic radio station, WLOL. Jon Hunt reminisces about what made radio, and WLOL, great growing up for him as a kid.

I share Mr. Hunt’s enthusiasm for radio. I remember as a kid in the 80s having my boombox reading for the nightly top 10 with my finger poised over the record button so I could get a new song onto a mixtape. Later, in the 90s, living in Minneapolis, I re-discovered my love of radio listening to Rev105, which I wrote about almost 10 years ago.

I feel lucky that we have 89.3 The Current, but Mr. Hunt as right – even they don’t take the chances radio took back in the day.

Happy Birthday Current!

Today marks the one year anniversary of 89.3, The Current, a Minnesota Public Radio station.

By far the best radio station to hit the Twin Cities in a long time, The Current offers an eclectic playlist you’d be pressed to find anywhere else, other than KCRW or KEXP. With a focus on Minnesota local music, and DJ’s who get to play their own songs of their choosing, where else can you hear music from Elvis to Aimee Mann to Thunderbirds Are Now!

Check out their real time playlist – it’s as diverse as it comes. You can even listen online if you choose.

I’ve volunteered for a couple different things for 89.3, and the first event I went to was a volunteer meet & greet. Towards the end of the session, and their current Vice President at the time summed it up best. I don’t remember the exact quote, but it went something like this: “We want The Current to be the radio station that helps connect music for our listeners, so they hear the evolution of music through the years, from Muddy Waters to G. Love.” Not only do they play artists you don’t hear on mainstream radio, but they introduce new artists like the Hold Steady, and help connect the dots and teach you about music.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune ran an article this past Sunday on the front page of the Lifestyle section about The Current. The article was only about 50% good – they took a number of shots at The Current in the back half of the article, but it gives you a good overview of the last year for 89.3.

Here’s to many more years listening to a great radio station!

Star Tribune on The Current

Two Minneapolis Star Tribune writers have a back and forth discussionon what they like and don’t like about 89.3, The Current.

It’s an above average article, and while I agree with most of it, there are parts I disagree with, though it does give you a good feeling for the station as a whole.

JB: What I want from a radio station is a DJ I could talk music with. On the Current, I could definitely talk music with Mary Lucia and Bill DeVille — my two favorites. I loved the other day when Mary said, “I’m still loving this, and I’ll slap anyone who says otherwise. Here’s the Redwalls.” And I could talk with Mark Wheat and Jill Riley, who I think is really improving. But for Thorn [DJ Skroch], I think our conversation would have to be via e-mail.

CR: Ultimately, I don’t care what their personalities are; I care about what they play. Bill DeVille definitely gets my vote in that department. I did a road trip on July 4th and didn’t once put in a CD thanks to him. He played sets such as Boomtown Rats with Betty Serveert with Gram Parsons with one of those especially weird new White Stripes songs.

Volunteering at MPR

About two weeks ago I received an email from Minnesota Public Radio that their annual winter fund raising drive was coming up, and a link to fill out a volunteer form to help answer phones during the pledge drive.

I had already pledged money to MPR to support 89.3, The Current, before the station even launched, in support of what they were doing. (See my other posts on The Current.)

So I decided what the heck, and filled out a volunteer form for the second day of the pledge drive, which was last Friday. Chose an early shift (5:45 a.m. to 9 am – ick) so I could get there, and still get some time in the office. I woke up about 45 minutes earlier than normal, and hopped in the car to St. Paul, an area of town I rarely go to. Security guard lets me in, I go up to the 4th floor, and I’ve missed about 2 minutes of the 10 minute orientation on the script, filling out the pledge form, etc.

It’s 6 a.m., and the phones are slow. In the room they had set up with the phone bank, they had about 30-40 phones in mini-cubicles for those filling out the pledge forms by hand, and about a dozen PCs for those that wanted to enter the pledge information on-line instead of filling out a sheet of paper (guess which one I picked). On two of the 4 walls, they had projectors set up. One showed the different promotional giveaways for different pledge amounts, by station. The other showed phone bank statistics, including number of volunteers on the phone, number of volunteers available to take a call, pledges taken, amount pledged and the goal.

Phone calls were slow coming in, but picked up around 7:45. Turns out that the heaviest times for call-ins are during the top of the hour (when the DJ’s are making the strongest pitch) and during corporate matching times, which 7:30 to 8 was one of. I’m guessing I answered maybe 20 calls, but I was floored at the number of calls for 89.3. Now most of them were calling to support The Morning Show with Dale Connelly and Jim Ed Poole, and guessing from the voices, ages ranged all over.

I love 89.3, but I’m not into the Morning Show, yet. It’s almost too eclectic for me, and I’m not necessarily into all of the genres played, but I respect them for bringing all kinds of music to the radio. I’m ecstatic about the amount of support they received during the pledge drive though.

Overall, it was easy work, met some interesting people, and gave back to something I believe in. Giving money is one thing, but I’m glad I made the time investment. My wife has pledged to the news station on and off over the years, and when I mentioned I was going to volunteer, she mentioned it was something she always wished she had done. I was glad to do my part, as little as it was.

89.3 The Current

I’m consistently impressed with 89.3, KMCP, The Current. The music keeps getting better and better. I had some money left in my MusicNow account, so I took Mary Lucia’s advice and picked up Ted Leo & The Pharmacist’s Shake the Sheets. I had looked for it at Best Buy, but they had had only 2 of their older albums. I also picked up Tegan & Sara, a Canadian folk duo (sisters, I think) that have opened up for Sarah McLachlan a few times.

Both discs were their newest releases from late in 2004, and both kick ass. Ted Leo reminds me of a fast driven Tim Mahoney, with a similar vocal style, but very different musically. Tegan & Sara are impressive in their own way, with poppy, fast alternative.

About 2 weeks ago The Current started giving away bumper stickers one or two nights a week. Unfortunately, the volunteers were always in downtown St Paul or Minneapolis, or Uptown, and I live in the boonies in the suburbs. I was pleasantly suprised to get a letter from The Current yesterday with a thank you for donating, and one bumper sticker and 2 window clings, and a promise that my welcome kit would come in a month, and my vinyl record in a few more. Time to get a car wash, peel off my Kerry sticker, and replace it with something better.

Current Bumper Sticker

KCMP – Better than I expected

My corporate firewall / proxy server defeated me at work today. I was unable to stream the Windows Media stream for 89.3, KCMP The Current. So tomorrow, I shall go old school, and bring an old radio / small boombox. Take that corporate IT managers!

The Current publishes their playlist for the last 6 hours, here’s a sample (in reverse order) of what I heard on the way home from work today:

The Jayhawks – I’d Run Away

Shivaree – I Close My Eyes

Iron & Wine – Teeth In The Grass

Pinetop Perkins – Meanest Woman

The Black Keys – Girl Is On My Mind

A.C. Newman – Miracle Drug

R.E.M. – Driver 8

T Rex – Mambo Sun

Fountains of Wayne – Radiation Vibe

They had a Beach Boys song in there too, that there website doesn’t list for whatever reason.

Looking through today’s playlist is absolutely amazing – Ani DiFranco (32 Flavors!), Dylan, Soul Coughing, a bunch of REM, Luna, deep cuts from Liz Phair, Luna, Muddy Waters and Sonic Youth. I could go on. This is everything I expected and more. I can’t communicate how happy and excited I am.

This is music. This is radio. This is freedom.

KCMP Launches Today!

I’ve been meaning to blog this all weekend, but I got distracted.

MPR has re-launched their website, replacing just the blog, including bios of the on-air talent, a feedback form, a FAQ, and donation information.

Speaking of donating, in the age of XM, Sirius, and Napster, when you can pay $10-$15 month for hundreds of stations, why donate? Because 89.3 is public radio, a community service, and is unlike and other radio station out there. Where DJ’s control the playlists, not big media (yes, even XM has a significant Clear Channel stake), and 89.3 will also have a heavy local focus for Minnesota artists. I did my part, and put my money where my mouth is.

They will be streaming live, including Windows Media Player (more ick), and aacPlus, a fairly new MPEG-4 audio stream that supposedly has excellent quality at low bandwidth. The open source VLC project has a player available for Windows, Mac, and Linux that will stream aacPlus. I’ll be installing that this morning!.

Give it a try, and listen in.