WMPG Dance Cruise presents an
electronic beats Dance Cruise on the Casco Bay
with
Corbin, Atomik,Popgirl23, Tim D, PSYDWAYS, Secret Weekend, and JONNY!
A PowerUP! benefit show
Saturday, September 11th from 12 - 3pm
tickets available online at www.wmpg.org or at any Bullmoose location.
Tickets $20
Do you have any old records and CDs that are taking up space? We need them. We are in need of records and CDs for this Fall's sale. Here is a great way to help out your friends at WMPG! - Donate your records and CDs to WMPG for the sale. If you have records, CDs or old turntables taking up space and you don't know what to do with we will take them. The sales from the event go to help WMPG obtain equipment and offset other fees.
Call (207) 780-4424 or e-mail the stationmanager@wmpg.org. Our crack team of drivers will quickly arrive at your house to clean away all those old records that are taking up space! We will then give you a receipt which can be used for a tax deduction! Thanks again for to everyone who already donated the records and CDs!
We also hope to see you Saturday November 6th at the sale!
WMPG is pleased to report that we have begun the process of web-based electronic playlisting. We're using a service called Spinitron to make our volunteer hosts' playlists available to you and your fellow listeners online, often in real time. Not all our shows are on-line yet, but more are being posted every day, and the whole schedule will be up soon. If you're interested in taking advantage of WMPG's new on-line playlists, go to Spinitron.com or click on the playlist button on our home page. Just another way we're striving to improve our service to you as Greater Portland Community Radio from USM.
Susannah Gora is the former Associate Editor of Premiere magazine, where she covered film and the entertainment industry. She has also written about movies for publications such as Variety and Elle and has appeared as an entertainment commentator on networks such as NBC, CBS, MTV and VH1.
Ron and Susannah spoke mainly about John Hughes, the actors he worked with, the impact his popular 80s films have had before and after his death in 2009 and the great music that John introduced to so many people.
For more information about Susannah Gora and her book, go to susannahgora.com and bratpackbook.com.
For the 35-minute interview between Ron and Susannah, click here.
WMPG Station Manager Jim Rand accepts the trophy from Ed King of the West End News!
On Saturday July 31st the weather was glorious, the food superb and the turnout great as the Annual Independent Media Softball Tournament happened at Deering Oaks Park in Portland. This year it was Radio Vs. Print. The final score, Radio 15 and Print 8. Radio had players from WMPG, CTN and WSCA from Portsmouth NH. The Print team was made up of players from the West End News and The Falmouth Forcasater. The weather cooperated with a perfect Maine summer day. Thanks goes out to all the supporters who came out and cheered us on. The trophy will reside on the WMPG mantel for at least another year!
For one night only, the Humble Farmer came to Portland to do a benefit show for WMPG's Power Up! signal improvement project. For more than 30 years Robert Skoglund, better known as the humble Farmer, has been entertaining audiences with his trademark dry sophisticated social commentary.
WMPG is proud to air his hour-long radio show each week (Tuesdays 2 to 3pm). The humble Farmer made an evening of it at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland, Maine.
For more information, call WMPG Program Director Dave Bunker at (207) 780-4598 or e-mail him by clicking here.
We are pleased to announce that station producers won both first and third place in the Public Affairs category of the 2009 Maine Association of Broadcasters' (MAB) Annual News and Creative Awards. First place went to long-time WMPG collaborator and independent producer Rob Rosenthal for his documentary Malaga Island: A Story Best Left Untold. Third place went to volunteer Alison Hinson and her sound-mixer/producer and volunteer Michael Manning for an episode of her Wednesday night financial advice show, Money Talks.
MAB gives these awards each year to member stations to honor the best of Maine broadcasting. The judging is done by broadcast associations from other states.
WMPG is pleased and proud to announce a significant new collaboration with our local public media partners, Community Television Network Channel 5. CTN produces a weekly news and public affairs roundup called Community Update, and starting Monday, April 5th, Community Update begins airing weekly on WMPG.
Community Update includes timely reports by volunteer reporters, studio interviews with local luminaries, and a weekly rundown of what's going on in Portland's non-profit sector. CTN Channel 5's Community Update will air Monday afternoons from 1 to 1:30, right after Democracy Now, on WMPG, Greater Portland Community Radio from USM.
The program Counterspin, which Community Update will be replacing, will continue to be available on line at the website of the organization in New York which produces it : www.fair.org.
We are proud to report that WMPG's own Blunt Youth Radio program was featured on the WCSH 207 program.
The Blunt Youth Radio Project produces a weekly call-in talk show that airs Monday nights from 7:30-8:30 on WMPG, Greater Portland Community Radio. High school age youth from the Portland area, both free and incarcerated, staff the show. Blunt Members are trained in all areas of radio production: interviewing, hosting, reporting, editing, and engineering. The show has won several Gold and Silver Reel Awards from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and a number of First Place Radio News Awards from the Maine Association of Broadcasters.
WMPG presented it's homegrown radio word game show, "Watch Your Language!" for the third performance in front of a live audience.
On Saturday, June 12th from 4-6PM at the Portland Public Library in the Rines Auditorium, WMPG presented two half-hour episodes of "Watch Your Language!" for later rebroadcast on both radio and television at WMPG radio 90.9 and 104.1. "Watch Your Language!" is a game show celebrating the complexity, beauty and downright weirdness of the English language, written and played by local wordsmiths, wits and raconteurs.
The show was hosted by Suzanne Murphy of WMPG's public affairs program, Big Talk, written by Kate O'Halloran of Big Talk and Joanne Fedorocko, and played by Margaret Cleveland, MaryBeth Davidson, Alan Brewer, Caroline Tedeske and Marcia Goldenberg.
"Watch Your Language!" is Greater Portland's only locally written and produced radio word game show. It follows in the tradition of NPR's "My Word" and "Says You", which are no longer aired in Maine. WMPG is committed to nurturing and presenting local voices and talent of all kinds. "Watch Your Language!" is a uniquely entertaining and stimulating program, created and performed completely by local talent.
And if you would like to find out about "Watch Your Language!", call WMPG Program Director Dave Bunker at (207) 780-4598 or e-mail him by clicking here.
On Monday May 10th Bluegrass fans from all over southern Maine converged on the The St. Lawrence Arts & Community Center, located at 76 Congress Street Portland. The reason was that it was time for the 8th annual WMPG Bluegrass Spectacular
Hosted by bluegrass legend Al Hawkes, the Bluegrass Spectacular featured The Jerks of Grass, The Stowaways and The Grassholes for this triple-bill benefit show. As a special treat there were a number of students from 317 Main St. Community Music Center in Yarmouth who played a few songs between sets showing everyone that bluegrass music is alive and well.
Proceeds from the Bluegrass Spectacular benefited WMPG, Greater Portland's Community Radio station, which is powered by volunteers, and funded in large part by listener donations and support from the local business community. WMPG broadcasts from studios located at the University of Southern Maine, Portland campus. The St. Lawrence Arts center is the supporting sponsor of the Bluegrass Spectacular, which is produced and presented annually by WMPG volunteers.
WMPG holds first Benefit Fashion Show AUCTION
The Sixth annual WMPG Benefit Fashion Show happened on Saturday April 17th at The Space Gallery and the place was packed! The weather was a little wet but that didn't stop anyone. There was even more exciting all-original clothing, jewelry and accessories designed by local artists than ever before. To make the whole event even more fun we added an extra special feature with an on-line auction.
The auction has ended and we want to thank all the designers and businesses and bidders that donated to WMPG. All the proceeds went to the WMPG "Power UP!" campaign!
The show was produced and directed by a former runway pro and WMPG Volunteer, Paul Drinan. All proceeds from the event went to WMPG. A huge thanks goes out to Paul Drinan for making this event happen and supporting WMPG in such a HUGE way!
If you have any interest in participating in the next show or want any information on the event contact the show's producer, Paul Drinan FMI on participating in the event contact wmpgfashion@gmail.com
Fred Greenhalgh(on left) also recently won an Ogle Award
We're happy to report that WMPG volunteer Fred Greenhalgh and his production company FinalRune was featured in the Wall Street Journal on February 25, 2010.
The article, entitled "Return With Us to the Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear - Via the Internet," heavily focused on his signature field recording style and director Fred Greenhalgh's passion for reviving audio drama in an age of the iPod.
The 13th Annual Homelessness Marathon aired on WMPG this year from the streets of Detroit. This annual live 14-hour broadcast seeks to keep the vital issue of homelessness in the public consciousness...it is not a fundraiser, but a chance for advocates for the homelessness and the homeless themselves to tell their story. It has always been a vital, compelling broadcast. for more information visit
http://www.homelessnessmarathon.org/
For the first time in the 15 year history of the WMPG Mardi Gras Cajun Cooking Contest, we had a tie for first place. We couldn't believe it ourselves. After counting the 375 ballots twice, there it was, Bayou
Kitchen and Silly's had exactly the same number of first place votes. So there you have it. The new reigning 2010 WMPG Kings of Cajun Cooking are Silly's (2009 & 2010 winners) and Bayou Kitchen (2007, 2008 & 2010 winners!). Look for the new trophys proudly displayed soon at each restaurant.
For those of you who didn't know, WMPG has hosted this late-winter party for 15 years as a way to celebrate Mardi Gras with our volunteers, listeners and the greater Portland Community. We broadcast Mardi Gras and Carnival music (from all over the world) that day, from the site of the celebration, USM's Woodbury Campus Center. Local restaurants prepare their best Cajun fare for this event! All of our listeners and supporters (including the USM student body) are invited to attend, sample area chefs' New Orleans style cooking, and vote for their favorite. There is no admission fee, but a suggested donation of three dollars was appreciated. This year's party drew more than five hundred revelers
Shelley and Claire of Silly's Restaurant receive the 15th annual Cajun Cookin' Challenge trophy from Dale Robin Goodman, WMPG Development Director. Silly's is the Cajun Cookin' Champ for the second year in a row, tying with Bayou Kitchen in 2010. Look for the 16th annual Fat Tuesday celebration and Cajun Cookin' Challenge on March 8, 2011.
On Friday February 12th at the Empire Dine and Dance we we continued the Mardi Gras spirit with a benefit dance party for the WMPG Power Up! campaign.
Portland's Sylvain and the Cajun Aces presented a Portland-style take on classic Cajun material with full blast crazy Cajun mayhem. Sylvain was flanked by Portland music scene veteran Haakon "The Hawk" Kallweit on fiddle, local drumkit murderer Jason Stewart on skins and the multi-talented Pip Walter on bass. Sylvain and his group delivered raw Cajun music, bridging the divide between North and South that kept the two parallel Acadian French cultures apart since the great deportation of 1755. In their new configuration, the "Aces" celebrated a name change to "The Acadian Maniacs" with a night of unstoppable stomping Cajun dance music.
On December 17, 2008, USM Community Radio Station WMPG was awarded a construction permit by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to relocate its main 90.9 FM transmitter and antenna from Gorham to Blackstrap Hill in Westbrook and increase power from 1.11 kW to 4.5 kW. The power increase and antenna relocation will dramatically increase the number of potential listeners in the station's signal range, from 35,000 to 185,000. To complete this project WMPG will immediately begin a major capital campaign. The total costs for the project (including costs already incurred in the application process) will be more than $200,000 and will include replacing the current transmitter and all associated transmission equipment. The FCC has given WMPG three years to finish the upgrade; the station intends to complete it within two.
People wishing to support the community radio WMPG power upgrade in advance should call (207) 780-4424 or send donations to WMPG Power Upgrade, 96 Falmouth St., Box 9300, Portland, ME 04104-9300 or online at WMPG.org.
Your old car -- think it's not worth much? Well it may be gold to WMPG! If your car has an engine and is towable... and you have the title, call 1-888-WMPG-AUTO to see if your old wheels may be eligible for a tax deductible donation to WMPG.
You make the call... and we take care of the rest!
front row-Kelly McDevitt,Carey Corrow, Sarah Radovich, Charlene Smith.
back row: Jason Engler, Charlie Widdis, Christine Bullard, Stephanie Pennell, Jason Kenyon
Nine USM media studies students have been taking a university class at WMPG
called Audio Production 1. The students are learning the art of radio and
have learned how to produce music and interview programs. To get their work
out into the community they created a pod cast called "The Buzz" that
features nine daily installments of their recent public affairs interviews.
USM's media studies 220 audio production class podcast.
Nine interviews discussing topics concerning the greater Portland community.
Each show is 15 minutes and was produced by the class.
The "The Buzz" podcasts can be found at:
Podcast Link
On Halloween, FinalRune Productions teamed up with WMPG and members from the Mad Horse Theater Company for a live spooktravanganza. The 2-hr live radio event featured original work from writers Fred Greenhalgh, Mark LaFlamme, Kevin Anderson, and Roger Gregg.
Stories Include:
Presented was:
The Ghost Behind the Black Door by Roger Gregg
A couple from the city moves to a mansion in the countryside only to find that things are not all as they expect... a spoof on the classic horror meme.
Leaving You is Hell by Fred Greenhalgh - A dark retelling of the myth of Orpheus inspired by the classic jazz tune "St James Infirmary." A man in New Orleans is doomed to keep falling in love with the same woman and seducing her to her death.
Bone Lake by Mark LaFlamme - The ice fishing's going well on Bone Lake, until a man comes from the winter's night looking for a very strange catch.
Third Shift by Kevin Anderson - A company will sell you very efficient workers at a bargain price. Just don't send the living to check out their work.
On Thursday October 8th we presented the seventh edition of WMPG's Radio Open Mic. It was in front of a live audience, at the University of Southern Maine Portland Woodbury Campus Center Amphitheater and broadcast live on WMPG
To participate performers just showed up at the USM Portland Woodbruy Campus Center Ampitheater and boy did they. We had more than twenty performers that day. If you missed the show - no worries - we recorded it and is linked below. Enjoy and thanks to everyone who made it a success.
Fred shows off his new Ogle with Master of Ceremonies, Jerry Stearns
Fred Greenhalgh, volunteer producer of the program Radio Drama Revival on WMPG, has won the Gold Ogle Award, an international audio drama award for Best Fantasy Audio Drama. He won it for "Waiting for a Window," a surreal tale of Norman, a sailor who finds himself stranded on a strange tropical island where no one ever seems to leave.
The half-hour drama was produced by Greenhalgh's Portland-based FinalRune Productions. It was recorded entirely on location in the Portland area -- at marinas, marshes, the beach, and an abandoned mill space in Biddeford. It debuted on WMPG, and features a talented local cast including Ed Patterson, Bill Dufris, and Philip Hobby.
Greenhalgh had the opportunity to personally receive the award in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the CONvergence festival.
The "Ogle" is named for Charles Ogle, who played the first Frankenstein's creation in Edison's silent 1910 film of the famous science fiction horror novel. The award celebrates the best fantasy/audio production of the year.
Greenhalgh's program can be heard each week on WMPG, Thursdsay afternoons from 1 to 1:30pm.
Suzanne Walcott with Eden Brent, Suzanne and Myron with the Legendary Bobby Rush, Suzanne (Mon ESB), Myron (Weds ESB) and Dave (Tues ESB) at the North Atlantic Blues Festival July 09
Living the Blues!
Recently, the hosts of WMPG's Evenin' Sun Blues block, which airs 5 to 7 pm Monday through Saturday, attended the North Atlantic Blues Festival. Thanks to The Blues Doctor for sharing these photos with us. Blues my foot! These folks do not look as though they have the blues!!
The USM Free Press is the University of Southern Maine's campus newspaper. They recently published a feature on WMPG. Give it a read and see what else is happening on the USM campus!
Click here to read WMPG feature,
USM President Selma Botman - Photo Courtesy of USM Free Press
On Thursday Decenber 4th, USM President Selma Botman was interviewed on WMPG's longtime public affairs program Big Talk. Selma discussed her plans for USM and how she is dealing with the current financial crisis facing it. Big Talk host and longtime USM employee Claire Holman conducted the interview.
"There are a remarkable number of photographs of the Malaga Island community. Newspapers published several dozen photos over the years sometimes in a kind of newspaper photo-spread unusual for the time period. Photos were also taken for postcards. This postcard image was titled "The Deuce of Spades." In the picture is probably Annie Parker holding Pearl Tripp. Some contend this picture was posed purposefully in an animal pen. Photo Courtesy Maine Historic Preservation."
In 1912, the state of Maine evicted about forty-five people from Malaga Island off the coast of Phippsburg. The island residents were poor, black, white, and mixed race. The eviction is typically viewed as a shameful moment in the state's history. WMPG-FM, in collaboration with the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, announces the premier of Malaga Island: A Story Best Left Untold, a radio and photo documentary recounting this infamous event and its impact on several generations of descendents.
Malaga Island: A Story Best Left Untold includes an hour-long radio program plus a gallery show featuring photographs, audio, and a panel discussion. The radio documentary aired on WMPG, February 26th. A gallery opening will took place at Salt.
"This is one of those stories where people say 'That happened in Maine?!' or 'The state did what?!' Then they say 'Tell me more,'" said Rob Rosenthal, radio producer for Malaga Island: A Story Best Left Untold....
Music Reviews by WMPG DJ's THE CURE 4:13 Dream Suretone/Geffen Records; 2008
By Ron Raymond
WMPG Music Director
How does a 32-year-old alt-rock/goth band get the fans
excited about a new album months in advance of the album’s release
date? Well, to prepare for the 13th album by 80s alt-rock/goth heroes
The Cure, 4:13 Dream, the 4-man band led by Robert Smith, released singles
on the 13th of each month leading up to the album’s initial release
date of September 13th. Each of these singles had non-album B-sides, which
have always been a Cure staple. However, the album got pushed back to
October 13th and was ultimately released on October 28th. After a remix
EP was released on September 13th to tide fans over, the album arrived
and is the first album since 1989’s Disintegration that, for the
most part, sounds like The Cure we used to know.
4:13 Dream opens up like several Cure albums past –
with a long track. In this case, it’s the song “Underneath
The Stars.” The song echoes back to Disintegration, by far the band’s
biggest album to date. First single “The Only One” also echoes
back of Cure days past, to songs like 1985’s “In Between Days,”
1987’s “Just Like Heaven” and 1992’s “High.”
It’s refreshing considering how awful 2004’s self-titled album
was. There was maybe one good song on the whole thing. It’s nice
to see Robert Smith and Co. going back to basics.
The album does, I feel, take a couple of missteps in
the songs “The Real Snow White” and former single “Freakshow.”
These songs sound like the more recent Cure offerings and they don’t
feel like they belong in any album. They just seem out of sorts compared
to all of the other great cuts. Other highlights on 4:13 Dream include
the sweet but short “Sirensong”; one of the singles and my
favorite song on the album, “The Perfect Boy”; the simple
but lovely “This, Here And Now, With You”; and, “Sleep
When I’m Dead,” which sounded to me at first like an older
Cure song – and now I know why. Upon further reading, “Sleep
When I’m Dead” is actually a song that was originally written
for the 1985 album The Head On The Door.
Do I think like The Cure are headed back in the right
direction? Yeah, I do. 4:13 Dream is the first studio album that reunites
original member Porl Thompson with the band since 1992’s Wish. And,
strangely enough, in Spain, where the Cure have never had much success,
the first three singles off the album have all gone to #1, with “The
Perfect Boy” reaching #2. This album makes me look forward to their
next effort, so I can applaud that one as well, because I believe the
Dream is real – that The Cure can (and will) still make some truly
good music.
WMPG has a new news training project, and as our reporter trainees finish their training they are producing feature reports on a wide variety of subjects. Each piece airs several times on our air, and is also posted on the web. To visit WMPG's general news page, click here.
On a related note, WMPG's 2008 Election Project has begun. Our volunteer reporters will bring you wide-ranging truly local coverage through election day and beyond. The reports will air as we have them in regular slots in our air schedule: 8:30am and 5pm Monday through Friday. On the days we have no fresh reports, none will air, but if you make a habit of tuning in at those times you'll hear all of our coverage. And, all the reports will be posted on line as well, along with episodes of our established public affairs shows which include election coverage.
To go to the WMPG Election Project 2008 page click here.
And if you would like to find out about becoming a citizen reporter yourself, call WMPG Program Director Dave Bunker at (207) 780-4598 or e-mail him by clicking here.
Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen playing Tamborine Man on WMPG
WMPG's Thursday morning "alt country" program the Kitchen Party had two of the originators visit us on 8/7/08! Frequent musical collaborators Chris Hillman who has played with the likes of The Byrds, Flying Burito Brothers, Manassas, Souther Hillman Furay, Desert Rose Band and Herb Pedersen who has played with David Grisman's Smokey Grass Boys, The Dilliards, Manassas, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine, Jackson Brown, John Denver, Desert Rose Band and more stopped by for a long interview and to play a few songs including Tamborine Man and If I could Win Your Love. They were in town promoting a show at One Longfellow Square. Everyone was thrilled to have such musical legends honor us with a visit and songs!
WMPG's Friday morning global music show, Shaken and Stirred, hosted by DJ Adira welcomed two members of Okbari to the studio on August 1. Amos Libby on the oud, and Eric LaPerna on percussion filled the station with the sounds of the Middle East. Find out more about them at www.okbari.org
Eric LaPerna
Okbari
Amos Libby and Eric LaPerna perform Armenian and Anatolian folk music, classical Middle Eastern music and traditional folk and contemporary songs from the Greek, Arabic and Balkan traditons. Okbari also presents multi-instrumental original music inspired by the musical systems of the Middle East and India. They perform on the oud, clarinet, duduk, bouzouki, doumbek, riqq, tabla, ney, mridangam, and several other instruments from around the world. Okbari was formed in 1995 and has independently released four albums: 'Among the Believers', 'By the Banks of the Red River', the self-titled 'Okbari', and, most recently, 2007's 'Armenian and Anatolian Folk Music.'
Okbari also appears as a traditional Armenian and Turkish dance quartet featuring former Bardezbanian ensemble violinist Michael Gallant and noted guitarist Michah Blue Smaldone. Okbari has a long partnership with Maine's most beloved belly dancer, Jamileh. Okbari are from Portland, Maine and has performed throughout the Northeast. To further their studies, Okbari traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, where they shared the stage with the Kemani Serkan Roma Ensemble at Ikinci Bahar in the famed Cicek Pasaji as well as with the Oudi Hasan Roumeli Kef Ensemble at Roumeli Meyhane.
On the second floor at 49 Dartmouth Street, on the corner of Forest, there is a bright, welcoming room busy with quiet activity. When you arrive, a friendly sign urges you to remove your street shoes, and as you enter, you can see what private and group instruction in the practice of Pilates looks like.
Pilates is a system for strength and fitness that was developed by Joseph Pilates in the 1920s and 30s, and focuses on breath control and muscle control as basic skills for core strength and wellness.
Nancy Etnier is the owner of Portland Pilates, and is the brains and energy behind its programming. During a recent visit to the WMPG studios, Nancy sat down with us, and reflected on the history and philosophy of her Portland Pilates studio.
Volunteer Roberto Mendoza hosts Eagle, Quetzal, Condor Monday mornings from
10:30am to noon each week on WMPG. He describes it as a show of news,
music, and commentary from an indigenous perspective which covers the
Western hemisphere. With this show Roberto seeks to generate renewed
interest in indigenous values and to promote dialog between descendents of
all the different ethnic groups which, at various times, have come to this
part of the world. On Friday, June 27th, 2008, Roberto had a conversation
with WMPG Program Director Dave Bunker about these topics and more besides.
Next time you bring back bottles and cans you can help support your favorite local community radio station...And you don't even have to get dirty! CLYNK, a new local redemption program, will let you turn in a bag of bottles and/or cans at any participating Hannaford and will credit it to WMPG. There are special bags, which you can pick up here at WMPG, that have a barcode. Want us to mail you a few of them - no problem! Shoot us an e-mail to WMPG Station Manager. When you fill them up and drop them off the barcode will credit your (5 and 15 cent) returns to us! It's that easy.
Participating Hannaford stores include: Biddeford, Brunswick, Buxton, Falmouth, Lakes Region (Windham), Portland (Forest Ave), Saco, Sanford, Scarborough (CLYNK's flagship location), South Portland (Mill Creek), Topsham, Westbrook, Yarmouth, and York.
A big thanks to Jan, host of Local Motives, who had some quick thinking when she learned about the program and added us in!
On Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 the USM Lab Jazz Ensemble, directed by Larry
Williams, and the USM Jazz Ensemble, led by Dr. Doug Owens, raised the roof
of the Hannaford Lecture Hall in the Abromson Community Education Center on
the USM Portland campus with a swingin' set apiece. WMPG was there,
broadcasting live. We also recorded both halves of the concert, which can
be downloaded here:
On Friday April 18th Malik Rahim and Robert King Wilkerson visited WMPG for an interview with Hashim Allah. The interview was a riviting look at the American Justice System and how a person can spend more than 30 years in jail for the possession of a $5 bag of marijuana...
In 1970 Malik Rahim was a co-founder of the Lousisiana Black Panther Party. Today Malik continues struggling for social and ecological justice in his community. One week after Katrina, Malik co-founded Common Ground Relief. Over the pst 2 1/2 years, Malik has worked endlessly to bring the story of post-Katrina New Orleans to the world.
Robert King Wilkerson is a former member of the Black Panther Party. He spent 29 years in solitary confinement in the Louisiana State Prison aka Angola Prison for a crime he was later exonerated for in 2001. He is one of the widely written about Angola 3. Since he was released King has worked to free the other two former Black Panthers who are still incarcerated.
The Maine Association of
Broadcasters holds an annual conference to highlight some of the
years best work in radio and television. For 2007, WMPG
staffer Stephanie Philbrick was honored with a First Place Award
for Feature reporting for her production of "The Homefront Veterans Oral History Project, Episode 1". This five part series was a collaboration between WMPG and the Portland Harbor Museum and funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
WWII turned the greater Portland area into a boomtown. Thousands of people flooded into the area to take jobs generated as we geared up for war. Old professions became new again when two large government shipyards were built in South Portland. Thousands of men and women from all over New England came to build the Liberty ships that supplied allied troops overseas. Many ships were built between 1942 and 1945. Portland Harbor Museum and WMPG are recording interviews with the Homefront Veterans who built the Liberty ships.
Woman Ship Builder
These are the stories of how local people - our mothers,fathers, grandparents and neighbors -- contributed to national and world history. This important community collaboration brings WMPG and Portland Harbor Museum together to collect and preserve our local history. This series first aired over the winter on WMPG. If you missed our spring rebroadcast you can also download the entire series by clicking below.
WMPG presented a "Speak Out" on diversity - @ USM's Gerald E. Talbot Lecture Hall
The WMPG "Speak Out!"
What exactly is racism?
What exactly is discrimination? In today's multi-ethnic society, sometimes
it is hard to know how communication and actions are going to be received
and perceived.
On Sunday, December 9th, WMPG presented a live, moderated panel discussion in which people from various ethnicities and cultures talked about their experiences in the contemporary culture of the U.S. They discussed what they particularly value about their ethnicity, what they find
challenging or difficult about their ethnicity in the setting of the U.S.
today, and what words or actions they have experienced which they never want
to have repeated.
The purpose of this speakout was to foster open discussion, mutual
understanding, and respect. It will be conducted in front of a live
audience at the Gerald E. Talbot Lecture Hall on the USM Portland Campus and
was broadcast live on WMPG, as a special feature during the Mama Africa show.
The live event was free and open to the public, and the broadcast on WMPG's two frequencies, 90.9 and 104.1 FM, and on line at
www.wmpg.org. The show is posted for download
on the audio archive page at wmpg.org and available now.
USM's Convocation opens this year with a keynote speech by Roger W. Bowen,
a former university president and former general secretary of the American
Association of University Professors (AAUP). He will speak on "Academic Freedom
and Academic Democracy" on Thursday September 20. The morning of the speech
he talked with WMPG volunteer Steve Hirshon on his show Hukkin' a Chainek.
That interview can be heard here.
Download here
Steve spoke to Daily Kos blogger Bill from Portland
Steve Hirshon speaks with Daily Kos front pager Bill in Portland, Maine. Bill writes Cheers and Jeers Tuesday through Friday. Daily Kos is one of the top ten most read blogs on Earth.
For more than ten years WMPG DJ's had Phil Hersey to thank for keeping all the equipment up and running. Phil's favorite time at WMPG was either late at night repairing equipment or when a band was playing and he was the engineer. Phil was the WMPG Technical Director and engineer for our Local Motives program, the program dedicated to live local music. If you were in a local band around here for the last decade, chance are Phil made you sound good. He was an institution within the local music scene. Phil passed away in 2004 and last year WMPG DJ Lars Lindgren completed this monument to him. If you want to hear some of Phil's work just call one of our DJs and ask for some local music. We have more than 500 recordings in our library which he mastered. We miss ya Phil but are happy that your passion and love for live music has lived on here at WMPG!
Pulitzer nominated author Dave Eggers and Valentino Achak Deng, one of 17,000 Lost Boys of Sudan - speak at USM
Valentino Achak Deng
On Sunday, February 25th, 2007, author, Dave Eggers, and Valentino Achak Deng spoke to a packed house at USM's Hannaford Lecture Hall. Deng a Sudanese "lost boy" is the hero of Eggers' new book What is the What. Eggers and Deng spoke conversationally about Deng's life, mixing his first person stories with readings from What is the What. The evening concluded with questions from the audience.
"I cannot recall the last time I was this moved by a novel. What is the What is that rare book that truly deserves the overused and scarcely warranted moniker of "sprawling epic". Told with humor, humanity, and bottomless compassion for his subject, one Valentino Achak Deng, Eggers shows us the hardships, disillusions, and hopes of the long suffering people of southern Sudan. This is the story of one boy's astonishing capacity to endure atrocity after atrocity and yet refuse to abandon decency, kindness, and hope for home and acceptance. It is impossible to read this book and not be humbled, enlightened, transformed. I believe I will never forget Valentino Achak Deng."
--KHALED HOSSEINI, author of The Kite Runner
This was a fundraising event for The Telling Room, a Portland-based writing program for young people.
WMPG's Dave Wade interviewed independent journalist Dahr Jamail
On Wednesday, September 27th, WMPG's Dave Wade interviewed journalist Dahr Jamail. Jamail is one of only a few independent US journalist who has spent time in Iraq during the war. His MidEast Dispatches have become critical material for publications such as The Nation, The Sunday Herald, Islam Online and the Guardian.
Jamail is in Portland to speak at USM at the Abromson Community Education Center. Before the evening event he visited us.
Have you ever wondered what WMPG's music library looked like or perhaps the on-air studio? If yes, then here it is, we recently took out our digital camera and took a walking tour. Take a look at our 67,000 cds and 30,000 lps! Check out our new audio console compliments of the Maine Association of Broadcasters. Meet a few of the people that keep WMPG running! Thanks to Stephanie Sample for the creative editing of the video.
"Day of the Dead" was written, directed, and produced by Frederick
Greenhalgh, a USM student (now alum!) and WMPG volunteer. The radio drama,
inspired by the myth of Orpheus, tells the story of a young man from Maine
as he journeys through New Orleans in search of his missing lover. "Day of
the Dead" was recorded in both Louisiana and WMPG's studios, and features
performances by Mark Krasnoff, Charles Grant, Barry Hilton, Philip Hobby,
Casey Turner, David Howley, Kateri Valliere, Donald Murphy, Jason Elvin,
John Coons, Joshua Force, and Braden Biddings.
During the summer of 2004,the Thursday Evenin' Sun featured an imaginary roadtrip throughout the southern states with the Zipdawg at the wheel. On one such ride,July 1st, Zip picked up Barry Cowsill hitchhiking. Barry graciously chatted and played a couple songs live to earn his fare. Straddling the line between reality and fiction,this interview becomes more relevant and poignant now that Barry Cowsill has passed on at the age of 51. Listen and enjoy,sharing a few minutes with Zipdawg and Barry Cowsill (1954-2005).
Written by: John Mooney, WMPG Volunteer DJ For Tuesday's Groove Yard
Shift 6:30-8:30 am
Long ago, Kansas City, Missouri lit up the
American musical scene as never before. The city's 18th and Vine
district became second to none with its jazz influence. Jam sessions
would swing the masses into what would become the signature of Kansas
City as well as our nation.
In June, WMPG completed the installation of our new analog/digital
90.9 IBOC FM transmitter. Brian Dyer, WMPG’s long-time Chief
Engineer, began installing the equipment this past spring and we have
been tweaking the signal and making adjustments to the digital
broadcast.
For you, the listener, the transition should have been seamless as
we
continued broadcasting in analog. The new transmitter broadcasts in both
analog and digital . If you want to hear WMPG in digital you'll need to
purchase a digital radio. There are a number of models available from
Kenwood and a number of new autos that offer digital radios, too. You
may also install a digital converter. This will allow an analog radio
to receive digital signals. As for other WMPG plans related to our
digital upgrade, we are planning on purchasing a number of digital
radios and placing them around town as “listening booths”
and when they become available we'll be offering digital radios as
Begathon premiums....
On Thursday, July 21st, WMPG's Steve Hirshon interview Sean Wilsey, editor at large at MC
Sweeney's Quarterly. He talked with Steve Hirshon about his memoir "Oh,
The Glory of it All(Penguin)" on the Thursday morning drive-time show
Huckkin' A Chainek
prior to his Portland reading at Space Gallery.
Sean Wilsey's writing has appeared in The London Review of Books, The
Los Angeles Times, and McSweeney's Quarterly, where he is the editor at
large. Before going to McSweeney's he worked as an editorial assistant
at The New Yorker, a fact checker at Ladies' Home Journal, a letters
correspondent at Newsweek, and an apprentice gondolier in Venice, Italy.
He was born in San Francisco in 1970 and now lives with his wife, Daphne
Beal, and his son, Owen.
Click Here to
download interview
THE CURE
Call 1-888-WMPG-AUTO to donate your car to WMPG!
We've teamed up with the friendly folks at 
A Radio & Photo Documentary
500 Forest Avenue, Portland, ME (207) 780-9581
Discount Computer Sales and Road Runner Access for USM Students and Employees!
Click here for a VIDEO TOUR of WMPG
Click here for Homefront Veterans Oral History Project
WMPG is now broadcasting a digital signal. Click here to learn more.
