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From the Vaults of WOAS-FM
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Written by Ken Raisanen
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Sunday, 09 January 2011 21:49 |
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FTV – Welcome to LA
I hate ‘festival seating’ at concerts, especially at a four- hour- long show. With that said, I have to say I enjoyed every minute of the Black Crowes show at the Palladium in Los Angeles on December 11, 2010. At least one member of our West Coast Bureau is a major Black Crowes Fan and had picked up a couple of tickets for their last Los Angeles show. This was a significant Crowes event because it came just before their last shows at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium that were to segue into an extended hiatus. How could I pass on a Christmas visit with a concert thrown in?
Leaving the U.P, on a 14-degree Thursday with a malfunctioning car heater wasn’t too bad since the drive to the airport was snow-free. Getting loaded on to a plane that was colder than my car didn’t even diminish my enthusiasm. Friday and Sunday were spent chilling with Don Juan the cat (the newest member and ‘king’ of the West Coast Bureau) and a catch- up lunch with my old Sledgehammer band-mate Barry Seymour, whose voice is heard on some of our station promos thanks to his side job as a voice-over artist in Manhattan Beach, CA. Saturday was set aside as ‘music day’ as Todd and I set out for the Sunset Strip for another visit to the Amoeba Music store and the Palladium, which are only a couple of blocks apart.
The crafty WCB crew had lured me back to LA with a birthday gift certificate to Amoeba, which I have been itching to use it since September, so the concert trip made sense to me. I have written about Amoeba Records before, so I will only say it will take another 2 or 3 visits for me to do justice to this music superstore. I couldn’t help but notice that the store is located on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Ivar Street, the same location as the former RCA recording building. I only know this because Dave Pearlman, the pedal steel player from Trees (who performed in Ontonagon in October), told us some funny stories about working at that facility. (These will have grace a future installment of From The Vaults).
I forced myself to leave Amoeba with a mere $64 in new music, but that is only because Todd and I showed great restraint by re-shelving four or five items we had snagged on our first lap around the store. After dinner at a small café and a bit of time spent standing in line, we found ourselves in the recently renovated Palladium. This 4,000 seat venue had that 1920’s aura of an oval dance/roller rink floor with balconies on the side walls. I said seats, but I meant ‘capacity’, as there were no seats outside of the VIP balcony. We chose to lean against a low wall that separated the ramp that led from the lobby to the main floor, a location that placed us no farther from the stage than we would have been in the last row of seats in the Ontonagon Theater. It was a fairly high-traffic area, but this worked in our favor because we never had more than a couple of moments where we couldn’t see past the tall folks who stopped in front of us before moving on to a less busy part of the floor. The crowd seemed thin when the opening act, Truth and Salvage Co., played, but there were fully 4,000 people on hand by the time the Crowes hit the stage.
Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson discovered Truth and Salvage Co a few years ago so it was fitting that they opened the last Crowes show in L.A. . T&SCo sports two keyboard players, two guitar players, a bassist, and a drummer. Only the ‘stage left’ keyboard player and the bassist didn’t share in the vocal duties (and no, I am not on a first name basis with the band – yet). Naturally, their opening number was ‘Welcome to L.A.’ from their eponymous CD released in 2010, which was followed by a nice selection of tunes from the same CD. A couple of songs were noticeably faster than they were performed on the album, perhaps due to ‘hometown adrenalin rush’. The jamming numbers got loud and distorted near the end of the set, but that was more a function of the guys at the sound board not keeping their levels in check.
Truth & Salvage Co. is one of those not-so-typical L.A. bands. They are an assemblage of musicians from all over the map who met and joined together in L.A. Unlike many L.A. bands, they didn’t spend any amount of time acting like rock stars. What they did project can only be described as an easy, country charm.
A good example of their image comes during their song ‘Pure Mountain Angel’ which finds the singing keyboard player taking over lead vocals while the non-singing keyboard player carries the first 3/4ths of the song. The two guitar players and the drummer joined up at a single mic to add some sweet harmonies to this semi-serious mountain tale. The glint in their eyes showed they weren’t taking it too seriously, but the L.A. audience ate it up, corn and all.
With their set done, band and roadies took off their equipment to make way for the headliners. While I couldn’t understand paying $14 dollars for a single beverage, there were enough full glasses floating around to account for the gross national product of the entire U.P. In part 2, we will dissect both sets of the Black Crowes part of the show. In the meantime, keep your dial set on 88.5 and we will be sure to give you a good listen to Truth & Salvage Co. Welcome to LA., indeed!
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Written by Ken Raisanen
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Thursday, 06 January 2011 19:30 |
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FTV – PMMF back stage – part II
In our last outing, we explored some of the behind-the-scenes activities that keeps the music flowing smoothly at the Porcupine Mountains Music Festival. Now it is time to talk about the artists who crossed the Singing Hills stage on the opening Friday of PMMF #6.
First up were the father/daughter team of Dale and Rory Miller. This duo makes a great opening act because they play, sing, banter, and just plain have fun on stage. The songs are personal, and the musicianship they display is sharp. Dale commented that ‘it probably sounded better in our living room last night’ but I would have to disagree.
Dave Bouttte showed up next. I asked how he would like to be introduced, and he said ‘How about ‘Ann Arbor’s last song and dance man?’” He provided WOAS a copy of his ‘Piccolo Moon’ CD so we made sure he got a WOAS logo hat in return. Boutette is a story teller/song writer who kind of reminded me of the early story/songs of Arlo Guthrie. While performing a song written for his sister’s wedding (Love Won’t Go Away), he went into a little rap about getting the ‘okay, song boy, wrap it up’ look from the ceremony’s officiant, which made him think ‘keep looking like that and I will sing the other 17 verses, too’. I couldn’t help but think of Arlo’s ‘Motorcycle Song’ or even ‘Alice’s Restaurant’. Dave played the PMMF’s Busking Barn last year, so he made it a point to remind folks what a great asset it is for people to share music.
The first larger act (as in 5 people with more equipment) on stage was the Everett Smithson Band. Hailing from all over the place, ESB is a ‘good time rock-a-billy-zydeco’ band, which is a rather long way of saying ‘they rocked’. Everett made it a point to invite everyone out to their gig later that night in downtown Ontonagon during which he promised they would show the crowd ‘no mercy’. Bassist Bill Black comes from Menomonee Falls, WI. I noted his well-worn Ampeg bass cabinet, and he proceeded to tell me that he has had it on the road since 1972. The guitar player chimed in, ‘He has every Ampeg bass amp ever made in his basement – it’s true!” Suffice to say, they put on a great set and I made sure to get Everett and bassman Bill the last couple of promo hats I had in exchange for the three ESB CDs and the Ampeg stories they passed along. Expect to hear a lot of Evertt Smithson Band on WOAS-FM this winter.
Lansing’s Jen Sygit (rhymes with ‘dig it’) arrived next with guitarist Sam Corbin in tow. Jen writes good tunes and is a serviceable guitar player. What elevated her performance,hoever, was her strong, clear, and controlled voice. I was also impressed with Sam’s guitar style, as his clean and tasteful fills really supported each song with just the right touch.
Last up on Friday night on the upper stage was the South Carolina trio Dangermuffin (not to be confused with past PMMF act Dangergrass). I kept looking for the bass player during their sound check. I could almost hear a bass line, but they only had two guitars and drums on stage. I finally noticed the secret to their big, full sound: a massive JBL bass speaker miked directly from the bass drum. Dangermuffin were finishing a six-week western tour, but you couldn’t tell this from their spirited set. They rocked the stage and very few people headed down the hill for the Peace Hill stage headlining act until the band had finished. I can guarantee we will lay hands on their CDs to give them some airtime during this broadcast year.
My day was done, so I said good bye to the sound crew and headed down the hill to catch some of Buckwheat Zydeco’s headlining set. While they did start a tad late, it had more to do with the large crowd moving down from the Singing Hills stage that anything else. I came backstage just as Stanley Durel, Jr. was leaving the sound check. There were three of us standing there in our pumpkin shirts (volunteers wear bright orange to make them easy to find) and he took the time to shake our hands and say ‘thank you so much for being here’! I thought, “Here is a pro’s pro: three piece suit, crack band, and taking the time to thank the volunteers’. Thank you, Stanley!
After a couple of warm up songs with his son Sir Reginald sitting in on the organ (he normally plays rub board and does background vocals), Buckwheat came out and absolutely rocked the crowd. The sea of happy faces at the stage front and the chorus of voices doing the sing-alongs from up the hill put an exclamation point on the whole opening day of PMMF#6. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I’ll be at my post for PMMF #7. |
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Written by Ken Raisanen
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Thursday, 06 January 2011 18:41 |
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FROM THE VAULTS: PMMF BACK STAGE – PART 1
Friday, August 27, 2010 found me checking out the ski chalet on the way to the Singing Hills stage at this year’s Porcupine Mountains Music Festival. My recent volunteer stints have been spent emceeing the ‘upper stage’ on the festival’s opening day. I like to take a look around on my way there because I usually don’t get to come down to the Peace Hill stage until the end of my shift.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 15 August 2012 15:16 |
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Read more...
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Written by Ken Raisanen
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Wednesday, 07 April 2010 19:19 |
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A Brief History of WOAS-FM 88.5
Version 4.0
WOAS-FM went on the air on December 15, 1978 under the manager-ship of then Ontonagon Area Schools Librarian Thomas Graham Lee. Lee had a dream that Ontonagon (at that time, with no local radio station) should have a low power FM radio station. He began assembling equipment and help – too many names from too long ago to do justice to, but we would be remiss in not mentioning OASD Electronics teacher Larry Matioli and Jim Bradley, the cable guy.
During the formative years, the station relied on turn tables and reel to reel technology. Cables were strung throughout the building so remote broadcasting could be done from the cafetorium and gym. Margaret Muskatt succeeded Lee as manager for a number of years and the station equipment began to wear out (much of it was donated used to begin with). In the mid-1980’s, the Community Schools program took over the daily operations under the leadership of CS Director Mike Bennett. What followed was a decade of growth and income for the station and school district as Bennett secured many grants for programs and equipment. WOAS-FM was a school/community station from the beginning, but it was during Bennett's tenure as GM that the evening shift (manned by community volunteers) evolved and became the template that most resembles what is going on with the station to this day.
Like Ontonagon itself, the boom cycle soon bottomed out – Community Schools funding took major hits and the program eventually folded. Bennett became the Elementary School principal and eventually the HS principal in Bessemer. The station use declined until 1997 we were months away from having our license lapse. Science teachers Ken Raisanen and Chuck Zielinski made a pitch to the superintendent to take over station operations, renewed the license and began the daunting task of refurbishing the station’s infrastructure. Generous grants from OASD ($8,000), UPPCO ($1,000), the general public and volunteers, the studios were re-carpeted and all the electronics were replaced. The electronics and first web server were worked on by Jim Bradley, Al Harrison and Mark Szaroletta during this period.
Yours truly assumed the manager’s duties in 1997. Although our staff has been smaller than in previous years, we set the following goals for ourselves:
Ø Provide a radio DJ experience for students (day shift) and community members (evening shift)
Ø Take charge of audio services for programs and school facilities (like the re-working of the gym PA system done under Mark Szaroletta’s guidance). DJing Jr and Sr High dances has become the 'entry level in the biz' for some of our student DJs
Ø Be the ‘alternative radio source’ in Ontonagon (ie: not the country music source – by this time Ontonagon had WUPY Y101 filling that role). We have a 'format per day' on the evening shift - a concept commercial stations would have trouble selling.
Ø Put up a website with audio and video streams from the studio. (audio stream beta testing as of the fall of 2011)
Ø Help bring quality live music to Ontonagon from time to time. (see the From the Vaults articles for a good sampling)
Ø Recycling of cell phones, inkjet and laserjet carridges began as a community service project. We currently rank in the top 10% (in terms of units shipped) of the organizations that take part in this project sponsored by the FUNDING FACTORY. Besides the obvious 'going green' angle, this project has helped us speed up our purchase of a new computer to handle our weather station data and audio stream
Thank you to one and all for your support and kind words. We recently entered our fourth decade on the air and hope to be here into the future. We hope you will tag along with us at 88.5 FM or on the web at www.woas-fm.org. Drop us a line and let us hear what you think - if you are a former student or community volunteer, we would love to hear what you have been up to!
Ken Raisanen, Manager
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
906-884-4433 X 113
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 14 September 2011 19:35 |
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From the Vaults
