WUMB to Deep Six the Grateful Dead Hour

From David Gans, "The Grateful Dead Hour" producer' Facebook page:
"WUMB is planning to drop The Grateful Dead Hour after January 12. Please ask them to reconsider - and to move the show back to a more accessible time, too!"

The Grateful Dead, Kresge Plaza, MIT, Cambridge, MA May 6, 1970

The notice is accompanied by a letter from Jay Moburg, NPR affiliate WUMB's music and program director. From Cloudsurfing.gdhour.com

Hi David

I’m sorry to let you know that as of 1/12 we’re not going to be airing The Grateful Dead Hour. We need to streamline our programming for now.I’m sorry, if you have any questions feel free to shoot me an email.

Best,

Jay Moberg

WUMB Music and Program Director

David ends the cloudsurfing post with an appeal to Boston-area deadheads, "If you’d like the station to keep carrying the Grateful Dead Hour, please let them know ASAP! Send email to wumb@umb.edu"

The programming change has yet to appear on either the WUMB website nor on the "WUMB Radio Network" blog, which was last updated on May 30, 2012.

This decision to drop The Grateful Dead Hour certainly comes as no surprise. 
Reason 1. If memory serves, about 2-3 years ago the program was moved from midnight Friday to 4am Sunday, an hour only the heartiest of arts types are awake.
Reason 2. For the past 5 years or so, since WUMB drank the federal kool-aid by accepting Corporation for Public Broadcasting dollars and becoming a National Public Radio outlet (one of four in Boston, the others being WGBH, WBUR and WCRB), WUMB programming has become more and more mainstream pop AAA,. Judging by its Monday through Friday programming and its member concerts, the Grateful Dead Hour and WUMB are strange bedfellows. 

It will be interesteing to see how this plays out, what WUMB replaces the Greatful Dead Hour with. My money is on some NPR syndicated milquetoast program, such as World Cafe.
And if WUMB is cost cutting (due to its extensive network of transmitters and translators (covering from southern Maine and New Hampshire to the Quabbin Reservoir to the Cape and Islands) and high administrative salaries (according to state records, Interim Station Manager and Underwriting Patty Domeniconi will make $95,804.70 in 2013)?), what's next?

With all due respect to the Boston Globe's learned music critics Martín Caballero, Jon Garelick, Luke O’Neil, Matt Parish, and James Reed, are their selections...

....really the

"Best local albums of 2013"? 

Read the article here.
I see pop, I see hip hop, I see rock, (did I say I see pop?), but to paraphrase Clara Pella, "where's the Celtic / bluegrass / singer-songwriter / folk / jazz / classical", or any other music forms that have large followings in the greater Boston area?

Misters Martín Caballero, Jon Garelick, Luke O’Neil, Matt Parish, and James Reed completely missed it, folks. Here, in no particular order, are several local and extremely worthy Celtic, bluegrass and stringband albums that were released to much national acclaim in 2013 .

NOTLOB'S LOCAL CELTIC ARTIST ALBUM RECOMMENDATIONS:


Fellswater - "Thursday Night"

These are shapeshifters of the first order and yet they are truly always Fellswater, unshakeable in their identity. And seldom has such depth on either side of the pond emerged in strictly instrumental work.
Thursday Night refers to Fellswater's weekly get togethers to produce this sound as natural as it is skilled, and wonderful to hear.
Art Ketchen, Celtic Beat magazine

Fellswater's latest release is full of tight tunes and lush melodies that are sure to get your toes tapping!
If not, you should check your pulse!
Tim Larkin, Celtic Stew, 89.3 WUMD

Celtic music fans rejoice for there is no sophomore slump here!
A march-strathspey-reel-hornpipe medley on the penultimate track has the band at peak operating capacity, featuring dead-on pipes-whistle-fiddle unison for “Devil in the Kitchen” and Ketudat’s flourishes behind Phelps and Sarah MacConduibh on “Heat from the Furnace,” building to a solid finish.
Sean Smith, Boston Irish Reporter

Joey Abarta "Swimming Against the Falls"

Joey Abarta has spent the last ten years of his life touring North America, Europe, and Asia, teaching and performing music on the uilleann pipes. A Los Angeles native, he first received instruction on the pipes from Dubliner Pat D’Arcy, a founding member of the Southern California Uilleann Pipers Club.

His musical skills were further honed on several visits to Ireland, a year-long stint working in Japan, and continuing relationships with master pipers. In August of 2009, Joey’s accomplished playing won him an All-Ireland championship, placing second worldwide at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.

Currently based in Boston, Joey divides his attention between performance, teaching, and recording. In addition to performing solo, he tours with Mick Moloney and the group The Green Fields of America. While at home, he organizes the meetings of the Boston Pipers Club, teaches for Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann's Boston Music School, and organizes various traditional music concerts and events in the region.

The Revels - The Road to Compostela: A Galician Christmas Revels

A new CD featuring the music from this year's Christmas Revels at Sanders Theater, Cambridge.Our musical journey in "The Road to Compostela" meanders through Spain, with a significant dip into Catalonia, but primarily it explores Galicia, home of the shrine at Compostela. Here we encounter stirring procssionals and swirling dances played on the gaita galega, the indigenous Galician bagpipe. We are transported to the 13th century by a devotional song to the Virgin Mary and a longing plea for a lover to return from the sea. An a capella chorus raises a Renaissance motet high into the arches of the cathedral. A lively band, anchored by guitar and harp and animated by tambourine and castanets, pulls us into boisterous village festivities. The fresh sound of children's voices can be heard in Christmas lullabies and carols. The rugged and generous spirit of the Galician people comes to life through traditional Nativity songs and rituals. The Road to Compostela: A Galician Christmas RevelsA new CD featuring the music from this year's Christmas Revels at Sanders Theater, Cambridge.Our musical journey in "The Road to Compostela" meanders through Spain, with a significant dip into Catalonia, but primarily it explores Galicia, home of the shrine at Compostela. Here we encounter stirring procssionals and swirling dances played on the gaita galega, the indigenous Galician bagpipe. We are transported to the 13th century by a devotional song to the Virgin Mary and a longing plea for a lover to return from the sea. An a capella chorus raises a Renaissance motet high into the arches of the cathedral. A lively band, anchored by guitar and harp and animated by tambourine and castanets, pulls us into boisterous village festivities. The fresh sound of children's voices can be heard in Christmas lullabies and carols. The rugged and generous spirit of the Galician people comes to life through traditional Nativity songs and rituals. A new CD featuring the music from this year's Christmas Revels at Sanders Theater, Cambridge.Our musical journey in "The Road to Compostela" meanders through Spain, with a significant dip into Catalonia, but primarily it explores Galicia, home of the shrine at Compostela. Here we encounter stirring procssionals and swirling dances played on the gaita galega, the indigenous Galician bagpipe. We are transported to the 13th century by a devotional song to the Virgin Mary and a longing plea for a lover to return from the sea. An a capella chorus raises a Renaissance motet high into the arches of the cathedral. A lively band, anchored by guitar and harp and animated by tambourine and castanets, pulls us into boisterous village festivities. The fresh sound of children's voices can be heard in Christmas lullabies and carols. The rugged and generous spirit of the Galician people comes to life through traditional Nativity songs and rituals. Our musical journey in "The Road to Compostela" meanders through Spain, with a significant dip into Catalonia, but primarily it explores Galicia, home of the shrine at Compostela. Here we encounter stirring procssionals and swirling dances played on the gaita galega, the indigenous Galician bagpipe. We are transported to the 13th century by a devotional song to the Virgin Mary and a longing plea for a lover to return from the sea. An a capella chorus raises a Renaissance motet high into the arches of the cathedral. A lively band, anchored by guitar and harp and animated by tambourine and castanets, pulls us into boisterous village festivities. The fresh sound of children's voices can be heard in Christmas lullabies and carols. The rugged and generous spirit of the Galician people comes to life through traditional Nativity songs and rituals. 

NOTLOB'S LOCAL BLUEGRASS AND STRING BAND ARTIST RECOMMENDATIONS:

The Deadly Gentlemen - Roll Me, Tumble Me!
Rounder Records
Rounder Records Has Released Our New CD: Roll Me, Tumble Me! American Songwriter Hosts Music Video Premiere!
Posted on July 11, 2013 by Doctor Liszt
BOSTON — Thanks to everyone who came out to our CD release shows in NYC and Boston! The crowds were really inspiring, and it was great to see so many of our talented and wonderful friends.

The big day has come at last: Roll Me, Tumble Me is out on Rounder Records! You can find it at all the big retail outlets.

Our new music video for “Bored Of the Raging” has premiered on American Songwriter. Watch it in all its anarchic glory!You can also find it on YouTube.

Rounder is also offering a free song download of “Bored Of the Raging” for a limited time!








Della Mae - This World Oft Can Be
Rounder Records

On May 28, Boston-based quintet Della Mae will release their debut for Rounder, This World Oft Can Be.  The album, which was produced by Bryan Sutton and mixed by Paul Q. Kolderie (Radiohead, Hole, Dinosaur Jr.)  shows that like the Avett Brothers, Lumineers, and Punch Brothers, these five multitalented young women are respectful of American musical tradition, but not restricted by it, combining centuries’ worth of musical influences with an emotionally tough, undeniably modern songwriting sensibility.This World Oft Can Be’s 12 songs—including such engaging originals as “Empire,” “Paper Prince” “Maybeline” and the feisty title track—showcase the fivesome’s world-class instrumental abilities, lilting harmonies and subtly commanding lead vocals.  Although the musicians’ sublime skills have already won them numerous individual honors, the album’s focus is squarely on the band’s emotionally potent songs and spirited, effortlessly expressive performances.“The identity that we’ve developed as a band is a melting pot of our different personalities and backgrounds,” asserts founder Kimber Ludiker. After having the idea at a summer festival, Kimber hand picked musicians from all over the country: singer Celia Woodsmith comes from a blues/rock background, guitarist Courtney Hartman studied at Berklee College of Music, bassist Shelby Means played with various bands in Nashville, and mandolin player Jenni Lyn Gardner was schooled in traditional bluegrass. Della Mae’s members hail from all over the United States, and the five women each bring impressive musical resumes amassed in their previous ventures.Della Mae recorded This World Oft Can Be at Cash Cabin Studio, Johnny Cash’s former recording base, in Hendersonville, Tennessee. In addition to absorbing the studio’s inspirational vibes, Courtney Hartman played June Carter Cash’s vintage 1933 Gibson L5 Round Hole guitar on “Some Roads Lead On,” while Ludiker had the honor of borrowing John Hartford’s custom carved fiddle on “Letter From Down The Road.”In addition to playing festivals and clubs throughout the United States, Della Mae recently expanded the scale of its touring efforts after participating in the U.S. State Department’s American Music Abroad program.  Selected as cultural ambassadors, the band spent 43 days traveling in Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, where they collaborated with local musicians, taught educational programs for children, and played concerts for local audiences.“It’s been a life-changing experience for us, individually and as a band,” Ludiker says of the tour. “A cool thing about playing music in Central Asian countries is in the lack of distinction their audience places between musical genres.  We found that if music is played with feeling, all people connected to it. They find themselves smiling and relating without even understanding the language.”Indeed, Della Mae demonstrates how effectively music builds bridges and transcends artificially constructed borders, whether they’re national or genre-based.


Sarah Jarosz - Build Me Up From Bones
Sugar Hill Records

A recent graduate from the prestigious New England Conservatory, she will release her third album, Build Me Up From Bones, for Sugar Hill Records on September 24th. Over the past four years, Jarosz, who musically fits comfortably where contemporary folk, Americana and roots music intersect, has covered a remarkable amount of ground thus far. She has toured the United States extensively, as well as Canada and the UK, taped Austin City Limits and the BBC Series The Transatlantic Sessions and appeared on A Prairie Home Companion. Her two previous records (Song Up In Her Headand Follow Me Down) received high praise from outlets includingRolling Stone, New York Times, USA Today, Paste, Mojo, Acoustic Guitar and American Songwriter, and she has received multiple Grammy and Americana Music Association nominations.

Aoife O'Donovan - Fossils
Yeproc Records

Long the face of Boston-based alt-bluegrass outfit Crooked Still, Aoife O'Donovan – also a member of female folk trio Sometymes Why – is finally striking out on her own. The tender-voiced 30-year-old, who in recent years has collaborated with members of the Punch Brothers and world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and has written songs for Alison Krauss, will issue her long-awaited solo debut Fossils June 11th. Recorded over three weeks in Portland with producer Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, Neko Case), Fossils is a must-listen blend of bluegrass, folk and back-porch Americana, highlighted by the wistful "Red & White & Blue & Gold."

Rolling Stone

These albums certainly are on Scott Alarik's radar! We miss you, Scott!

By the way Mr. Martín Caballero, Jon Garelick, Luke O’Neil, Matt Parish, and James Reed, the last three albums have been nominated for GRAMMIES® 

notoB Parlour Concerts presents....4TET

notoB Parlour Concerts presents....

Wednesday, February 12 house concert

4TET Brittany, Cleek, Jordan and Nic share an interest in the championing of traditional music repertoire, new music composition, and the use of performance in both maintaining and critiquing the conventions surrounding folk music. They follow the work of mentors such as Bruce Molsky, Brendan Mulvihill and Eileen Carson-Schatz, in tandem with careful study of historical sources and inspirations outside of traditional music, and continue the legacy and lineage of traditional music. They're on a quest to probe the expressive and creative potential of fiddle tunes, traditional song, and vernacular dance. Click here for more information

Holiday Greetings from notloB Parlour Concerts

Holiday Greetings!

For the Winter Season, notloB Parlour Concerts returns to its roots, presenting fine musicians in an intimate listening room environment. Is there a better way to not only enjoy the caliber of musicians we present but also support them (100% of your donations go directly to the artists)? Yes there is! Share the gift of music, bring a friend who may never have experienced a house concert.

All presentations are at a private residence in Watertown, where patrons watch the performances wearing slippers and share deserts with the artists and fellow patrons during intermission.

Email notlobreservations@gmail.com to learn how you can share this wonderful music with family and friends.

The Season:

Wednesday, 2/12/14 - 4TET (Jordan Tice, Brittany Haas, Cleek Schrey and Nic Gareiss)

Brittany, Cleek, Jordan and Nic share an interest in the championing of traditional music repertoire, new music composition, and the use of performance in both maintaining and critiquing the conventions surrounding folk music. They follow the work of mentors such as Bruce Molsky, Brendan Mulvihill and Eileen Carson-Schatz, in tandem with careful study of historical sources and inspirations outside of traditional music, and continue the legacy and lineage of traditional music. They're on a quest to probe the expressive and creative potential of fiddle tunes, traditional song, and vernacular dance.
This will be Brittany's fourth notloB concert appearance!

Doors 6:30, concert 7:00
Suggested minimum donation $15 students; all others minimum $20.

Please share the Facebook event URL
Click here for more information

Friday, 2/28/14 - Evie Ladin & Keith Terry

Energetic and electrifying clawhammer banjo, bass, percussive dance, storytelling songs old and new, with nuanced, emotive vocals. An intimate, robust evening of acoustic music and dance, a skilled hybrid of American folk arts. 

Doors 7:30, concert 8:00
Suggested minimum donation $15 students; all others minimum $20.

Please share the Facebook event URL https://www.facebook.com/events/1402560446654495/
Click here for more information

Monday, 3/31/14 - 10 String Symphony 

10 String Symphony is an arena for mesmerizing acoustic innovation.  Although difficult to categorize, their music is instantly recognizable as a blend of two distinct but equally vivacious musical voices, encompassing “aggressive, almost discordant, celtic and dare I say punky string-chording experimentations” (The Bluegrass Situation).  Vocally, Rachel Baiman and Christian Sedelmyer lock in seamlessly, and their vocal duets often take center stage despite the fact that they are self-described fiddle players.

and Tattletale Saints

Tattletale Saints are a New Zealand based duo described as a “masterful blend of Americana fused with jazz, soul and pop” and made up of Cy Winstanley voice/guitar/harmonica and Vanessa McGowan voice/double bass.

Doors 6:30, concert 7:00
Suggested minimum donation $15 students; all others minimum $20.

Please share the Facebook event URL https://www.facebook.com/events/605119039553499/
Click here for more information

Friday, 4/19/14 - The Molly Tuttle Trio 

featuring John Mailander and Brittany Karlson

Molly Tuttle, John Mailander and Brittany Karlson create an honest and soulful mix of original and traditional music. They have a deep respect for the past, while also looking toward the future of acoustic music. This tight-knit trio formed after meeting at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. With a unique blend of provocative songwriting, tasteful arrangements and instrumental virtuosity, they are more than the sum of their parts.

This will be Molly and John's third notloB concert appearance!

Doors 7:30, concert 8:00
Suggested minimum donation $15 students; all others minimum $20.

Please share the Facebook event URL https://www.facebook.com/events/185869068281214/
Click here for more information 

Please "like" notloB's Facebook page.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND WELCOME YULE!

Once in a while we play a clunker, a look back at WUMB's 2013 clunkers, or your tax dollars at work at UMass Boston

"Once in a while we play a clunker."

Dick Pleasants, WUMB, 9/4/09

Today we offer a compilation of the most worst "clunkers" WUMB, "Boston's NPR music affiliate", had in "heavy rotation" in 2013.

Instead of offering a freeform format like the other 99% of Boston-area colleges' and universties' radio stations, UMass Boston runs its station as a National Public Radio affiliate with a professional, paid (as in state employee) staff. Its operating policy excludes the participation of UMass Boston students or members of the Columbia Point neighborhood in host/producer or staff rolls. 

WUMB's student-excluding policy is the outlier of radio stations licensed to the three other UMass (Amherst, Lowell,and Dartmouth) and six Massachusetts state universities (Salem, Framingham, Bridgewater, Worcester, Fitchburg, MCLA and Westfield), let alone those licensed to the other five New England states' universities, all of which are run as student organizations and staffed and managed by their respective students. 

Operating policies aside, WUMB's format is AAA pop, a style initiated by former general manager Pat Monteith when WUMB became a NPR affiliate and carried on by her successor, Patty Domeniconi. As is customary for other public radio stations, there is no governing body, such as an elected board of directors. Instead the station management reports to the office of the Vice-Chancellor of Enrollment, Kathleen Teehan, who has a unique take on why a state university should exclude students from on-air, production and management roles:

And unlike freeform independent college and community radio stations, the "on-air personalities" (as WUMB management calls their DJ's) have no control of the pre-programmed music played during their voice tracked shows, it being selected to fit the AAA format by music director Jay Moburg, affectionately known around the stations as "junior.".

The following videos and commentary are a retrospective of the worst "clunkers" from WUMB's AAA heavy rotation playlist, re-posted here courtesy of Towards Independent College / Community Radio WUMB.

Unlike in Vermont, the sap at UMass Boston flows year 'round.

1. "Life's Warm Sheets" by Mark Olson and Gary Louris"You know that really annoying ditty "Life's Warm Sheets" by Mark Olson and Gary Louris that WUMB Radio Network plays incessantly? Listen to Bobby Charles' "Small Town Talk" from 1972. We're not saying so, but you tell us if Olson and Louris ripped off the melody."



PASS THE GERITOL!
2. Elton John and Leon Russell "If It Wasn't For Bad"
"Keep the pop coming, WUMB Radio Network, we're sure the UMass Boston students can relate to the songs of commercial artists their grand parents were listening to when they were college students, like Elton John/Leon Russell's "If It Wasn't for Bad" (aired 9/4, 4:25pm)." 

"In an early 2012 interview with the Los Angeles Times -http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/01/entertainment/la-ca-conversation-20120101 - Elton John stated “there’s no way I’m going to get on the radio at 60 years of age unless I’m doing a duet with Gaga or I was on “All of the Lights,” which was a Kanye West record that managed to get on the radio. As Elton John, my days on pop radio are over, and I know that and I accept it and I’m not unhappy about it. It’s a different time of my life now, and it gives me the freedom to do whatever kind of music I want to do. And it may end up being pop, but I don’t know. There’s no pressure for me to go out there and say, I’ve got to have a top 40 hit because it’s not going to happen.


Apparently the word did not reach the management team at pop NPR affiliate Wumb Boston, which has been playing the 60's pop icon's "Country Comfort" ad nauseam. 
Music UMass Boston students want to hear?
We think not."

"An ocean's garbled vomit on the shore?"
3. The Decemberists w/LA Phil - Los Angeles, "I'm Yours"

"The studio recording WUMB played at 7:20 was bad, this live version worse. WUMB is sweet on the Decemberists, but this guy cannot sing a note. Take a voice lesson! Use autotune! Hire a voice-over person! Do something! UGH"

Discordant disharmony
4. The Neilds "First Aid Kit"
"With sappy lyrics, heavy production including synthesized strings and glockenspiel and channeling the "harmony" "qualities" of the Nields, today's klunker is First Aid Kit (SE) OFFICIAL's "Blue" 
Published on Jun 19, 2012 by jagadambarecords
Music video by First Aid Kit performing their new single "Blue". This is the third single taken from First Aid Kit's latest release, The Lion's Roar, available on Wichita Recordings."
Music video by First Aid Kit performing their new single "Blue". This is the third single taken from First Aid Kit's latest release, The Lion's Roar, available on Wichita Recordings."

"But enough of words, actions speak louder than. Action now. Observe all." -Alex5. The Lumineers - Ho Hey
"Today's klunker, The Lumineers - Ho Hey. Let's be non-conformists, we'll all dress alike like Clockwork Orange droogs, jump around lipsynking and in general make fools of ourselves."



Another irritating WUMB habit is playing third-rate cover versions of 60's soft rock hits by talentless hipster bands.
6. The Wandering, "Mr. Spaceman"
"More "neo-hippie" pop, "The Wandering" cover the Byrd's "Mr. Spaceman." Played 8/15 at 4pm.
Is there something wrong with the original, Mr. Moburg?"



Don't send out the St. Barnards, it would be merciful if they would perish in the blizzard.
7. The Vespers, "Footprints In The Snow"
Switched on WUMB Radio Network at 11:11am only to be subjected to the amateurish headbanging painful noise The Vespers' call "Footprints In The Snow." We're becoming convinced that the WUMB playlist selection is based on racing to the music bottom to find the worst new music available.
 



Help us count how many times "She's Mine".

8. Brett Dennen - She's Mine
""Even though it is a bit over-possessive, I like it". Dave Palmater, 1/11 2:30pm. Dave gets paid to play and say flattering things about cute popsters who hold groups such as "Hanson" in reverence. CLUNKER!!!!!!"
"Once in a while we play a clunker?" We pride ourselves in our heavy rotation clunkers would be more apt.

Dawzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
9. Dawes - How Far We've Come
""Some people call that the 'west coast sound', I don't know what that means, so I'll call it "Dawes"." -Dave Palmater. Good for you for not succumbing to the hype! Sorry you are forced to play pop, your talents are seriously wasted."

Hey, hey, we're the Monkees!
10. The Monkees - "What Am I Doin' Hangin' 'Round"
"We've been busy these past few Saturdays, unable to monitor the clunkers. Does Albert O really believe this song is celebrates the counter-culture of the 60's, the foundation and premise of HW61R? Played this morning at 11:00 am."

Since many UMass Boston is unaware that WUMB exists, "Most of the students asked didn't even know what WUMB radio was", "WUMB, A Brief History and Comparison to its Sister Radio Stations", The Mass Media, 9/1/13, who are these clunkers targeted to? Keep the pop coming, WUMB Radio Network, if you are not serving the community, you're serving yourself.

Sir Elton John