Monday, July 18, 2005

The history and evolution of Seldom Heard Radio part 3

In Y2K, the Universe converged to lead me back to my intrigue with radio. Quite by accident, in the early part of the year, I noticed a program guide for the local college station, WSCS, in the weekly shopper that arrives in the mail like clockwork each Thursday. I had never heard of WSCS and decided to give the station a listen. Looking over the program schedule I was hooked --- no commercials, new age and celtic music, folk shows, WSCS had to be special. And I felt I had something to offer via my eclectic knowledge of music.

I wrote a letter to the Program Director offering my services as a volunteer DJ. Within a week, he called, we arranged to meet, and before I knew it, I was trained in the stations policies and equipment and running a broadcast of my own every Sunday.

But what to call the show? Color Wheel Radio (after the literary journal I co-edit)? I wanted to play mostly obscure music, artists rarely heard on the airwaves. Numerous names floated through my mind … then I thought (bizarrely) of a old bluegrass / country band called the Seldom Scene … and since the music I wanted to feature was seldom heard … the pun stuck and the name was born. Life was good, the tunes were awesome, and little did I realize the realm of shortwave radio was waiting for my rediscovery …

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