Matt Enos, a local video creator, stopped by recently and took some video during Off the Record with DJ Z, with local musicians Katherine Perkins and Danny Fisher-Lochhead playing some music live in the studio!
Station News
Youth Arts Council & “Downeast Hardcore”
WERU is partnering with Field Note Music of Ellsworth, Torchlight Media in Belfast, and the Cultural Alliance of Maine to steward a new program for creative teens, it’s called Youth Arts Council. The council will be hosting a teen craft night this Monday, November 9th, beginning at 4:15 pm at the Bucksport Public Library. Teens, bring whatever craft you like, whatever you’re working on, and if you can, bring materials to help make a poster to announce the screening of an independent documentary.
Local documentarian Ricky Leighton’s recent feature length film Downeast Hardcore: Stories from the Kave will be co-presented by Colonial Theater and Youth Arts Council on December 8th, with support provided by WERU, Field Note, Torchlight, and the Cultural Alliance of Maine. All are welcome to attend, with tickets available through Colonial Theater.
Our New Transmitter is On-the-Air!
WERU’s new FM transmitter is on-the-air at full-power! It was a lot of slow and careful work, but thanks to our Chief Engineer, Gil Maxwell, and the great WERU team, we turned on the full-power transmitter on Tuesday, October 6, and it worked – of course! (We’d been running on our small back-up transmitter for several days.)
Last Friday, after great deliberation, we found a solution to safely deliver our new 500 pound transmitter to the top of Blue Hill Mountain. It took a bit of legwork to find a way that was safe for our equipment, people, and the mountain trail, but thanks to the generous collaboration of Blue Hill Heritage Trust, Timberline Communications (a New England outfit coordinating the helicopter transport and labor for T-Mobile’s new cell phone equipment for the tower), and North American Helicopter, we were able to get the transmitter up there!
We are also proud to announce that thanks to generous anonymous donors, we were able to support our local economy by buying a unit made in Bangor at the Nautel US headquarters and factory. How cool is that? We feel grateful to have a local resource to go to if we have any issues with our infrastructure. Hooray for WERU and the support of all those who have made this possible. Thank you!
Meet Kristen Spalding: WERU’s New General Manager!
In July the Board of Directors of WERU announced that Kristen Spalding of Orland, Maine would become the next General Manager of the station, and as of September 8 Kristen is on the job!. Kristen grew up in Bucksport, is a graduate of Colby College, and most recently worked in development at Bagaduce Music in Blue Hill, and has also been integrally involved in several music-related initiatives in the region.
“Listening for the Notes” with Noel Paul Stookey & A.S. Aubrey
In an exclusive for WERU, Noel Paul Stookey and A.S. Aubrey (the pen name of Noel’s daughter, Anna) share songs, poetry, and conversation in radio special that was originally broadcast on July 25 and again August 1.
Hosted and produced by Matt Murphy, the program previews Noel and Anna’s “Listening for the Notes: The Gift of Word & Song in Challenging Times“ which was presented live at the Camden Opera House on Saturday, August 1, where they swapped poems, songs, and stories about the power of listening in these times. We invite you to listen to the program, which is archived here. Many thanks to Noel and Anna for sharing their creativity and insights with us on WERU!
Featured Artist of the Week
“Morning Maine” Featured Artist of the Week: VINTAGE EXPLOSION
Vintage Explosion is our “Featured Artist of the Week”! Tune in each weekday morning at 7:45 AM (ET) to hear our volunteer disc jockey play at least one cut from their new album Life And Soul.