WUMB has an insane policy that serves absolutely nobody in the music community.
When an artist or venue or producer submits a calendar listing and...
1. ...if the artist or artists are on their play list, the event is posted to its "WUMB Music Calendar" known in other places in its website as "Folk Radio Calendar" or "Folk Music Calendar" (oops, I thought WUMB had abandoned all references to its being a folk radio station?).
or
2. ...if the artist or artists are not on their play list, the event is posted to its "Community Calendar".
else
3. if the bill is mixed (playlisted and non-playlisted artists), the event is edited to the playlisted artist's name, the non-playlisted artist's name is changed to "and more" (or, if multiple "and others") and the listing is posted to both calendars.
Is this insanity? Who does this policy serve?
To demonstrate the insanity and to honor the current "and more" artists, the next section is a copy and paste from the "WUMB Music Calendar", using key search word "more". Leading numbers have been added to tie the disrespected artists to their identities in the following section.
WUMB Music Calendar
Below, are listings for musicians performing in the greater Boston area, who you can hear on WUMB during our Monday through Friday, 6am-7pm music shows. A link to each venue is included to confirm show times, for additional artists, or for more information.
Note that this calendar does not contain listings for artists heard only during our Weekend shows, or on our nationally syndicated programs. You can find those and more listings here on our Community Calendar, which also includes listings for local arts and cultural events.
Folk Radio Calendarlistings for more
1. Antje Duvekot and more
Friday January 9, 2009
Amazing Things Arts Center
Framingham, MA
8:00 pm
508-405-2787
http://www.amazingthings.org2. Antje Duvekot and more
Wednesday January 14, 2009
Stone Soup Coffeehouse
Pawtucket RI
8:00 pm
401-457-7147
http://www.stonesoupcoffeehouse.com3. Anthony da Costa & more
Saturday January 24, 2009
Club Passim
Cambridge MA
4:00 pm
617-492-7679
http://www.clubpassim.com4. Rani Arbo & more
Friday January 30, 2009
Club Passim
Cambridge MA
8:00 pm
617-492-7679
http://www.clubpassim.com5. Catie Curtis and more
Saturday January 31, 2009
Stone Soup Coffeehouse
Pawtucket RI
8:00 pm
401-457-7147
http://www.stonesoupcoffeehouse.com6. 20th Anniversary Celebration featuring music of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie with Alastair Moock, Scott Alarik, Marc Simos, and more
Saturday February 7, 2009
Rose Garden Coffeehouse
Mansfield MA
7:30 pm
508-699-8122
http://www.rosegardenfolk.com7. Don White and more
Saturday February 7, 2009
Linden Tree Coffeehouse
Wakefield MA
8:00 pm
781-246-2836
http://www.LindenTreeCoffeehouse.org8. Christine Lavin and more
Saturday February 21, 2009
Peterborough Folk Music Society
Peterborough NH
8:00 pm
603-827-2905
http://pfmsconcerts.org/9. Garnet Rogers and more
Friday March 6, 2009
UnCommon Coffeehouse
Framingham MA
8:00 pm
508-872-3111
http://www.uncommoncoffeehouse.org10. David Mallett and more
Saturday March 21, 2009
The Third Fret Coffeehouse
Marstons Mills MA
7:00 pm
http://myspace.com hethirdfretcoffeehouse11. Chuck Hall and more
Saturday March 21, 2009
Rose Garden Coffeehouse
Mansfield MA
7:30 pm
508-699-8122
http://www.rosegardenfolk.com12. Annie & the Beekeepers and more
Saturday April 4, 2009
Linden Tree Coffeehouse
Wakefield MA
8:00 pm
781-246-2836
http://www.LindenTreeCoffeehouse.org13. Red Molly and more
Saturday April 18, 2009
New Moon Coffeehouse
Haverhill MA
8:00 pm
617-327-0542
http://newmooncoffeehouse.org
Who are the "and more"?
1. Chris O'Brien, WUMB's own 2006 artist of the year! Has Chris been removed from the playlist?
From his website: "On Monday WUMB in Boston named Chris O'Brien their New Artist of the Year. WUMB is one of the countries best known Folk music stations, so this is a huge honor. For more info check out their website at http://www.wumb.org."
From "artist of the year" to "chopped liver", quite an honor, indeed.
2. The Stone Soup's website does not list this concert. Huh?
3. Nicole Reynolds
4. Daisy Mayhem This is a case of the calendar editor not knowing the talent. "Daisy Mayhem" is the name of the band!
So, what's a daisy mayhem?
Wicked grooves, sublime lead singing, great harmonies, sparkling original songs, and a deep repertoire that spans 200 years of American music. Four people who share an irresistible chemistry on stage. An unusually gleeful string band that celebrates both tradition and improvisation and that stumps the categorizers. (Are they an agnostic gospel band? A homeopathic bluegrass band? Are they crazy?). Worth seeing...
5. Marc Douglas Berardo
6. Brian Kalinec
From the Rose Garden's concert listing: "Brian Kalinec was a finalist in the 2008 Rose Garden Performing Songwriter and was 2nd prize winner in the 2008 Woody Guthrie Songwriting Competition."7. Curt Bessette
From the Linden Tree's concert listing: "The benchmark of Curt Bessette's work has always been quality. His highly evolved fingerstyle guitar, his warm, effortless vocal approach, and his elegant songwriting are the product of years of development and personal discipline..." --The Portsmouth Herald8. Avi and Celia
Curt will be joined by Neal Zweig on lead guitar.
From the PFMS concert listing: "Schooled in tradition but not afraid to blur boundaries, soul-folk duet Avi & Celia are striking matches and catchin' wind. A raucous washboard, sliding steel guitar, and two resounding voices bond together to deliver gritty, original folk-based music. Simmering with hip-shaking, blue-tinged melodies, this powerhouse duo, coming out of Vermont, write songs with youthful honesty. Their new CD, Let it Rise, was released in September."9. No opening artist is listed at the Uncommon's website.
10. Larry Zarella
11. Joe Crookston
12. Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters
13. Dean Stevens
=====================================================
This practice has gone on as long as WUMB has operated its dual calendars. It was conveyed to a nationwide house concert producers' discussion group. Here are two of many responses:
"...WUMB should at least offer an explanation. Folk music, in my opinion, has never been about the big stars and household names; it's about the music, the community and the messages within the music. I have attended a lot of concerts and shows for the sole purpose of hearing not the headliner, but artists in the "and more" category...."
"This has got to be the nuttiest (or maybe most elitist) policy I've ever heard of. It makes no sense at all to edit a listing to remove an artist who is not played on the station. After all, who gets hurt when they leave the "other" name on there? All that happens is that a not-so-well-known artist gets a little exposure they might not otherwise have received. Certainly neither the station, any listener, any artist, or anyone who attends the listed concert would be hurt by leaving that "other" name on there. So what exactly is the point of that editing? Seems like the station ought to trust their "elite" artists not to play with someone who's not worth listening to, don't you think? I can't imagine that any artist would want to damage their reputation by playing sharing a bill with someone they don't appreciate, and a lot of well-known artists are generous enough to actually WANT to lend publicity to someone who's good but not quite so well known."
So, what can WUMB's motivation possibly be?
End the censorship, WUMB, honor the musicians and venues, list artists as submitted!
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