Boston Globe and WBUR Feature Jayme Stone

"Stone dips into Lomax’s deep river of song for new project", by Jeremy D. Goodwin. 

The Boston Globe has published a feature article about Jayme Stone's Lomax Project (Jayme Stone (banjo) | Margaret Glaspy (voice) | Brittany Haas (fiddle) | Eli West (guitar, voice) | Joe Phillips (bass)) concert Wednesday, April 1, 8pm at Park Avenue Congregational Church, 50 Paul Revere Road, Arlington.

Read it here.

Jayme will be a guest on WBUR's Radio Boston Wednesday, April 1 at 3pm (Eastern). Tune in to WBUR at 90.9fm (or stream wbur.org).

Radio Boston

http://radioboston.wbur.org/

Weekdays 3:00 pm (eastern)

Hosts Anthony Brooks and Meghna Chakrabarti introduce us to newsmakers, big thinkers, artists and extraordinaries in the Hub of the universe. Live every weekday at 3.

Tickets 

On-line sales end 4/1 at 4:30pm.

Any remaining seats will be available at the door.
Details here.

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® 

The Boston Globe and its so-called "Winter Arts Guide" can't be bothered to cover jazz

In a Facebook post Jim Carroll, a writer for Arts Fuse, grouses about the Boston Globe's lack of jazz recommendations in its "Winter Arts Guide"

Jim Carrollabout an hour ago

Well, the Boston Globe and its so-called "Winter Arts Guide" can't be bothered to cover jazz, but you can always get a rich set of recommendations at the Arts Fuse:http://artsfuse.org/76252/coming-attractions-in-jazz-february-2013/Tell your friends!

Jazz Boston has been in communication with the Globe....
See https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151385976631122&set=pb.44919731121.-2207520000.1359916720&type=3&theater
& https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151385988566122&set=pb.44919731121.-2207520000.1359916720&type=3&theater

Options

JazzBoston

An invitation from the Globe to Boston's jazz community:
Our letter about the absence of jazz from the Globe’s review of 2012 in the arts will be published tomorrow (1/13) in the paper’s Sunday Arts section. This news came in an email from Rebecca Ostriker, the Globe’s Arts Editor, who offered an explanation (attention Steve Greenlee), affirmed the Globe’s commitment to covering jazz, & opened a door to communication about “any stories you feel merit special note.” Here’s Ostriker’s whole letter (reproduced with her permission):

“Thanks very much for your letter, which was forwarded to me by the editor who supervises Letters to the Editor for the Boston Globe. I submitted it last week for consideration to our editor who handles Arts letters, and I’m happy to inform you that we plan to publish it in this coming Sunday Arts section.

“We appreciate your interest in the Globe’s jazz coverage very much. As it happens, our Year in Arts section is a forum for staff critics to place a spotlight on individual themes, trends, and artists that most interest them, and it can never be comprehensive. But of course we remain committed to covering jazz as part of the vast array of arts offerings in the region. I’m cc-ing Assistant Arts Editor Michael Brodeur, who directly supervises our pop music coverage, including jazz; I do hope you’ll feel free to contact him with any stories you feel merit special note. And please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly, anytime –“

What recent stories of merit do you think the Globe overlooked?

But apparently the response is too little, too late. Read Jazz Boston member comments, including Mr. Carroll's at the same links as above.

I am not a Boston Globe subscriber thus cannot read the "Winter Arts Guide" on line, will have to get a hard copy, but I will give odds that the Globe's coverage of other forms of "the peoples' music" is minimal.

Globe puff piece produces interesting reader comments

Meg Griffin, walking one of her horses at Kittery Crossing Farm in Rowley. (Jim Wilson/Globe Staff)

A recent Boston Globe "puff piece" about WUMB's newest "on air personality" has produced some very interesting and I am sure unanticipated reader comments (read the PR backfired) about the station's programming, policies and management. I attribute the volume and intensity to pent-up feelings by the dispossessed former fans of the former folk station due to lack of the Globe's lack of coverage ...

The departures of Brian Quinn and, more recently, Barnes Newberry from WUMB certainly ARE newsworthy, but somehow got not a whisper of mention even on the stations' own web site, let alone in the local media. Not a word! That's simply amazing, since these are losses whose magnitude defies description by (or to) anyone with a real knowledge of folk music since the sixties.

...of WUMB's transformation into a AAA station.

In a nutshell, "WUMB: get back to quality folk music AND quality on-air FOLK."

Select reader comments (see article for all).

jayfin wrote:

One tires of these puff pieces. Why not some info about ratings, about how a team player broadcasts from her house not the studio, how about most people do not care about the DJ - it's the music that matters. I admit I do not listen, not a night time radio listener, but I did find the World Cafe a bit cloying and artificial. In any case, some advice -- interviews with DJs are as boring as interviews with musicians (something that always surprises me).

===============

ookpik wrote:

Meg Griffin is great at what she does, and a welcome substitution for "World Cafe."

That said, the old folk station WUMB is sadly missed. Likewise, WGBH's 2009 decision (taken apparently without consulting its audience, and followed by a display of contempt towards those of us who asked that WGBH reconsider) to abandon almost all of its own excellent folk and blues program is deplored. Together, these changes leave one of the strongest folk-music communities in the nation without a radio presence; we listen to Internet stations such as Folk Alley when we have access, and wonder how newcomers will ever have the opportunity to discover the music we love.

===============

Paine wrote:
There are two errors/misconceptions in the story and the subsequent comments.

1. "a local college station". WUMB is not a college station. True, the license is held by UMass Boston, but its staff consists of professionals on the UMass payroll. There is not one minute of student- or community-member produced or hosted programming, such as with the three other UMass stations, WUMA (Amherst), WUML (Lowell) and WUMD (Dartmouth). This past Sunday, WMUA's Celtic program, hosted by a member of the community who is not compensated for her work, was pre-empted by coverage of a softball game. When is the last time one heard UMass Boston sports or any other student program on WUMB?

2. “WUMB dropped "World Cafe" to make room for Ms. Griffin.” Not true, it moved the start time back from 7 to 10pm. "World Cafe" is still broadcast some 20 hours per week, a new or repeated show from 10-midnight, echoed immediately midnight-2am.

Re "In an era when commercial-laden, focus-grouped, talky, pre-formatted stations have driven any thoughtful (sic) listener to other music mediums" describes WUMB to a "T".
• commercial-laden – much of its daytime programming is in-house produced commercials for itself.
• Focus group – check – when management took WUMB from a folk station to AAA, it used focus groups.
• pre-formatted – check – what an “on-air personality” will say or do next is predictable.
Its format is as predictable and stale and like a AAA pop station, it features the same few trendy AAA pop artists ad nausium. It does not have DJ's, their own term is "on-air personalities". The "OAP's" have little or no freedom to produce their own programs, instead that is done by a music director who was hired for his AAA background; all songs and artists must be approved by station management. They do little more than voice-overs, often giving the same repeated trite facts about the repeated artists. What a waste of professional talent.

With regard to Arbitron ratings, if they were not so important to WUMB, why else would they subscribe and participate? WUMB subscribes to Arbitron and airs canned national syndicated programming and has a programming formula because its handlers at NPR tell it to do so.

WUMB's Arbitron numbers (1)

S-09 O-09 N-09 D-09 Holiday J-10 F-10 M-10
Est 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
% cume 59300 44300 33500 52300 54600 52900 41300 44600

These numbers are not exactly stellar, WUMB is ranked #41 out of 56 in the Boston market. Makes one think, if federal/state/university money were not propping up the station, how long could it afford to carry its professional staff?

Sources
1. http://www.radio-info.com/site/markets/grid/boston
2. http://www.stationratings.com/ratings.asp?market=13

==========

SWozniak wrote:

I've been finding WUMB a little too "uptempo" lately.

I never heard of Meg until she came to WUMB but I was an 'underground radio' listener in Detroit when people like Jerry Goodwin, later of WADN, played bands like The Amazing Blondel.

Honestly, after a listen or two, I find Meg a tad grating.

=========

manoakid wrote:

Wumb pretends to be a "public" radio but is operating under the dictatorship of one Ms. Pat Montieth. She pulls down a salary of well over 90,000 per year and stands at the helm of a sinking ship brow beating employees and volunteers alike. UMASS Boston seems to have a cloak of silence surrounding her behavior although over the years has collected countless complaints from her co-workers. Meg is an asset but I doubt that she will last very long....she is too good. Ms Montieth consistently demeans those that work for her....and if they don't like the abuse they can leave. Bear witness to the departure of Mr. Barnes Newberry who decided to leave with his dignity and not accept his banishment from live airwaves for two weeks because he dared to express displeasure on a decision Ms. Montieth had made concerning his show. His show was one of the most popular and financially sound spots on the station....and now is gone. Hopefully Meg can rise above Montieth's reign of terror and we can finally have some 'good radio' on the airwaves!

=============

Paine wrote:
Since Barnes' resignation has been brought up…

1. Is anyone aware of a Boston Globe article by Joan Anderman or other writer about Barnes' "resignation"? Or come to think of it, Brian Quinn's (former program director and 20 year vet) or Marilyn Rae Beyer's (former program director and 14 year vet)? Prove me wrong, show me the article. If it wishes to make amends and cites the sources, the Globe is welcome to any of the information contained in this series of articles - http://notlobmusic.blogspot.com/search/label/WUMB

2. Read the public facts about Barnes' "resignation" in a blog post titled "End of the Highway" dated 4/25/10 at http://notlobmusic.blogspot.com/2010/04/end-of-highway.html and mirrored in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthEastFolknRoots/message/9800

3. Read "Brian Quinn, WUMB program director, "laid off"", dated 11/12/09, and his own announcement dated 11/10/09 at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthEastFolknRoots/message/8608

Remember, this is the same Globe that buried the fact that WUMB laid off its weekend staff in an article about serving alcohol at Club Passim. Read
http://notlobmusic.blogspot.com/2009/03/confirmed-wumb-has-laid-off-its-weekend.html

…and glossed over the folk-to-“music mix” format change in a small mention in passing buried in an article in its “celebrity” section titled “Wahlberg and gang take over oyster house” dated 1/2/09 – http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2008/12/09/wahlberg_and_gang_take_over_oyster_house/

Do we see a pattern here? If you want happy news, read the Globe. If you want reality, dig and share it yourself.

===============

no-moore wrote:

Congratulations to Meg- perhaps the recent changes at the radio station will create enough force to impact the current mismanagement that would allow the loss of Barnes.
Meg's quote says it best... "To be remembered as a radio personality you need a singular vision, and you can’t be compromised.’’ Keep that thought Meg-never allow yourself to be compromised!

==============

unabashedleftist wrote:

I can tolerate Meg, though the chatter - from her and all the other "on-air personalities" (some of whom cannot even pronounce the names of the artists they're playing...) - is grating.

What I can't tolerate is the steady deterioration of WUMB. The loss of Brian Quinn ("laid off" after 20 years) and the programming takeover by the incompetent pop fanatic John Laurenti had me on the edge. With the loss of Barnes, I made my decision to stop donating to the station after a decade of doing so.

============

Olgasparky wrote:

I myself have doing a gradual to steady burn re: WUMB, and the wave of obvious change. More and more, just turning it right off, with the amount of chatter..but also the change in music. The times when it has seemed like there was just a reel to reel playing. Or hey, set your clock..THAT song is on again..hmm same time too! My donations have always been plugged to Highway 61, and Barnes Newberry. I can't believe that #1 Barnes would leave, unless totally provoked. #2 That management, Pat Montieth, would think is a good decision to let another of the true anchors, slip away from this WUMB Family. Although more and more it seems to be a total disfunctional family. With various cuts here and there, I wonder..did managment make any effort to take a cut in their salary? Many of us in listener land, are under huge economic cuts, yet believe in supporting what we enjoy and love..for me Hwy 61 AND Barnes the host. So although I cut the dollar amount, I still donated, to back up the full version of my Hwy 61..NOT the now..duluted version of this show, and others. Shame on WUMB for letting another great slip out the door!

=============

TBRodman wrote:
The "addition" to WUMB of a New York DJ who was most recently "a champion of the punk and new wave scene" to a station which purports to be "all about folk radio" is hardly a "plus" by my math. It is neither sensible nor newsworthy, except perhaps to illustate the egomaniacal and completely out of touch nature of the alleged "management" currently in place at WUMB. Such developments are an insult to seasoned WUMB listeners and (in my case, now former) regular financial supporters.

The departures of Brian Quinn and, more recently, Barnes Newberry from WUMB certainly ARE newsworthy, but somehow got not a whisper of mention even on the stations' own web site, let alone in the local media. Not a word! That's simply amazing, since these are losses whose magnitude defies description by (or to) anyone with a real knowledge of folk music since the sixties. The loss of all the knowledge of the culture, music, history, evolution and meaning of folk music went out right out the door with Brian Quinn and, more recently, Barnes Newberry. Meg Griffin and her punk background and horse hobby are somehow news, or cause for celebration? Sorry, but I don't think so...

Simply stated, WUMB manager Pat Monteith should either quit or be summarily fired. If the station continues to plummets any further downhill, the (clearly already waning) support for the station will dry up completely. The death knell won't be far behind. Say goodnight, Pat Monteith. What you know about folk music wouldn't fill a matchbook cover! Meanwhile, my checkboois CLOSED when it comes to further financial support for WUMB.

===============

EthansDad67 wrote:

Highway Sixty-one
Revisited is gone and
so is my support

Cole of Arlington

==============

Talisker wrote:

Well, WUMB’s made one move in the right direction by bringing Meg on. Her music offerings are a big improvement on what the station's come to. I do appreciate her banter, whether commentary or info-based. I hope they can keep Meg, but that’s to be seen.

Sorry to say that Meg can’t make up for the significant program deterioration and disappointing personnel changes at ‘UMB. In these economic times, why move away from what’s been so long appreciated and respected?

WUMB: get back to quality folk music AND quality on-air FOLK.

==============

pedrolr wrote:

Despite being a foreigner and to live in Europe, I discovered WUMB googling for "FOLK RADIO" back in 2005. Since then I addopted WUMB as my favourite radio station listening its internet stream. Due to WUMB, I spent 2 holidays in Northeast, music has such power, doesn't it? Since 2005 I'm a member of this station, to whom I donate every 6 months at Barnes' HW61R.

WUMB decided by their own to make a shift in their philosophy without even consult their members and supporters. I can't agree with their decision. WUMB is not anylonger a folk radio station rather a "patchwork" radio station. As my father taught me, "when a man loses his credit he hasn't anything else to lose". So here's how I picture WUMB. As far as I am concerned, WUMB lost its identity. I don't know why Barnes had to quit, but together with Dick Pleasants, he was the last man WORTHY at this radio station. I don't have much left over there... And quite frankly, my support is gone for good too...
Pedro Ribeiro, Lisbon, Portugal

.

Pat Montheith, WUMB General Manager. Note station logos with the words
"folk radio", an appelation dropped in 2008. Photo by Boston Globe
photographer Harry Brett.

"Wahlberg and gang take over oyster house" by Mark Shanahan & Paysha Rhone, Globe Staff / December 9, 2008 was the headline in the Boston Globe's celebritygossip column, the source of many in the area folk community learning of the demise of the Boston Folk festival. That kind of sums up the way the community was treated by Globe and former folk radio station WUMB.

2008 was a year of change for the Boston-area folk community. In addition to the loss of folk giants Bruce Phillips, Artie Traum and Odetta, we’ll remember 2008 as the year we lost five local mainstays.

“Folk Radio” WUMB replaced by “WUMB Music Mix”.

The Boston Globe’s dropping folk music coverage by Scott Alarik

The Boston Globe's dropping folk concert listings from its print editions.

The Boston Globe’s dropping of folk concert listings from its print
editions.

The Boston Folk Festival.

NEFolknRoots members have played their part by capturing and posting media coverage, providing their own original news coverate and stating their own opinions. With each of the five key topics, I have posted a summary of what the first message. To find other information use the group’s “archive” search feature.

Life goes on, we will adjust and adapt. But we are a community of talented people. We have resources. If you have alternatives to help fill the losses, please add here and/or in NEFolknRoots.

I’ll start.

“Folk Radio” WUMB replaced by “WUMB Music Mix”.

4234
WUMB's "big project with the CPB" meetings exclude hinterlanders ... reply to this
email or call Dan Sussman at 617-287-6910. We hope you will be able to attend
and help us make WUMB Radio a better service to the community. Thank you, Pat
Patricia Monteith General Manager, WUMB-FM www.wumb.org
notlobmusic
Jan 16, 2008
11:26 am

5250
John
Laurenti new music director at WUMB See article in today's Boston Globe at
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2008/07/26/with_laurenti_wumb_ai
ms_to_make_its_folk_more_accessible/
Allan Sherman
Jul 26, 2008
10:09 am

WUMB certainly was not the only radio station in the area playing folk music, what set it apart was that it played more hours per week than any other station, and veterans Marilyn Rae Beyer, Brian Quinn, Dave Palmeter, Dick Pleasants and former music/program director and sometimes host Brian Quinn were some of the area's longest serving and most knowledgeable hosts. Marilyn saw the change coming and left in August 2007. The remaining long-timers' roles were reduced from DJ's who produced/programmed their own shows to automaton "on-air personalities". After two or three decent folk songs are aired, I cringe each time I hear a veteran DJ forced to say something kind about a schmaltzy commercial-sounding klinker. (Case in point, 1/2/09 1pm, Phil Ochs' "There but for Fortune" followed by "Lovely Day"by China Forbes). After the shift from folk to AAA, station management brought in a music director from a AAA rock station and "on air personalities" who could not pronounce folk musicians' names (Eilen Jewell as "Ellen" and Mare Wakefield as "Mare"), and whose knowledge of the music was limited to reading liner notes.

NEFolknRoots offers the community two solutions:

The DATABASE lists the call letters, frequencies and websites of broadcast and internet-based folk stations around the world.

The CALENDAR lists Northeast USA broadcast and internet radio folk programs.

More listings, resources and ideas are welcome.

The Boston Globe’s dropping folk music coverage by Scott Alarik / reduction of folk news and concert reviews.

6359
Boston
Globe Drops Folk Music Writer Scott Alarik ... other acoustic music styles."
Source
5 Nov 2008 Boston Globe Drops Folk Music Writer
Scott Alarik Posted in News - Northeast U.S.
www.acousticmusicscene.com ...
notlobmusic
Jan 1, 2009
11:14 am

Soon after the New York Times Corporation purchased the Boston Globe, local staff began to be reduced and news of local events was replaced by national feeds. The Globe’s “coverage” of the demise of the Boston Folk Festival as on "oh, by the way" throwoff paragraph in a gossip column entitled "Wahlberg and gang take over oyster house?", rather than as a feature story in its arts and/or business sections was an embarrassment to itself and the folk community. Dropping Scott as a feature folk writer and turning his talent into occasional "top pick" pieces is the equivalent to turning one of its award-winning sports writers into the box score copy boy, ranking with WUMB turning its DJ/producers into “on-air personalities”.

What’s done is done, but what are the alternatives?

Scott continues to freelance and write in his own website. Maybe he (and other similarly positioned writers like Steve Morse and Dan Gerwitz, and WUMB’s former DJ’s, if allowed by management) will write blogs similar to Ron Olseko’s “Folk Music Notebook”. If there is quality folk concert coverage out there in other newspapers or blogs, please post links to NEFolknRoots.
See related coverage.


The Boston Globe dropping folk concert listings from its print editions.

5901
[NorthEastFolknRoots]
Re: WUMB calendar.... and more for 31 Oct. ... think we all get it by now,
WUMB's calendar is f-ed up. To me, a much bigger concern is the Boston Globe,
they have shrunk their Thursday calendar listings down to next-to-nothing. Yea,
they say they have more complete listings on their website ...
kc1ih
Nov 1, 2008
4:16 pm

From an email sent by the former print calendar editor, dated November 11, 2008:

Dear event submitter,

We are no longer printing event listings in The Boston Globe. Instead, we have expanded our listings on the Boston Globe's website, www.boston.com.
The newspaper's website is visited by more than 5 million individual readers each month.

You may submit your calendar event listings for free using our online tool at:
http://www.boston.com/addevent

Boston.com's Things To Do/Calendar section offers the following benefits to
your listings:
- It is searchable and can be located 24 hours per day, seven days a week
- The event will feature a map to its location, featuring places to eat in the area
- You have more space available to provide details about the event
- You may post photos related to the event
- You may include a link to the official event site
- If you are part of a venue, you may set up a section in the calendar to feature all events at your facility

Please note that each listing is subject to editing by our listings staff. Once submitted, it may take up to 72 hours for your listings to be edited, approved, and made available to the public. Events must be submitted using the online tool at www.boston.com/addevent. We will not accept submissions by postal mail, fax, e-mail press release, or telephone. We will not approve events that are advertising or marketing in nature, or are deemed inappropriate for our audience.

For additional questions about submitting your event online, please check out our Help page at http://calendar.boston.com/support/help. If you can't find the answer you need there, please contact our listings staff by e-mail at events@boston.com or call Joan Matelli at 617-929-8795.

We believe this new online tool will increase exposure to your event listings by helping you reach a larger online audience, and allow you to provide more information to your attendees.

Sincerely,
boston.com staff

So what is the folk community to do? The question was posed last week…

6332
Re: Thin concert pickings, 12-27 through 1/10? ... programmatic. The simplest would require a core of people who would each add from a couple to a several quality
music listings to the calendar of an existing website, then, through the folk
grapevine, spread the word. If you are interested in working together towards a
...
Dec 28, 2008
4:13 pm

…and we’re waiting for a few dedicated volunteers to step up.


The Boston Folk Festival.

Boston Folk Festival canceled Seen in today's Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2008/12/09/wahlberg_and_gang
_take_over_oyster_house/ Folk fest nixed Yet another...
as62pe
Dec 9, 2008
9:07 am

NEFolknRoots discussion of the causes for the demise of the Boston Folk Festival was extensive. Members expressed thoughts (I paraphrase) ranging from “it had a good run” to “the ICONS Festival, held the same weekend, presented more acts of interest to folk fans” to “it was mismanaged, the quality diminished over time and with WUMB’s change from folk to AAA its end was inevitable”.

Time will tell if the Boston Folk Festival will come back as a folk festival, or a pop festival, or not at all. In 2009, we can support the ICONS Festival or the Soule Farm festival, held the same weekend. There is even talk of a new indoor/outdoor festival in north-central Massachusetts, to be produced by a commercial music venue.

===============

http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2008/12/09/wahlberg_and_gang_take_over_oyster_house/

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Wahlberg and gang take over Oyster House

Above: ''Bunker Hill'' crew members outside the Union Oyster House. (Globe Staff Photo / George Rizer)

By Mark Shanahan & Paysha Rhone

Globe Staff / December 9, 2008

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It was barely 10 a.m., and Donnie Wahlberg was sitting at the bar drinking beer. The New Kid nuzzled a young redhead and then joined a few friends for a game of darts. Welcome to "Bunker Hill," the TNT pilot that began filming yesterday inside the historic Union Oyster House. Owner Joe Milano said the cast and crew pulled up ...