WNCW NEWSLETTER - MARCH 2009 HIGHLIGHTS IN THIS EDITION:
Thanks to you, WNCW is celebrating our 20th anniversary this year! In just a few weeks, we'll kick off WNCW's On-Air Spring Fund Drive. You can help jumpstart the campaign by making your secure online contribution today. Online pledging is the most efficient way for WNCW to raise the money we need to keep bringing you the music, news and features you don't hear anywhere else on the radio. As an added incentive, we're offering some great reasons to go ahead and make your contribution NOW! If you donate $75 or more by March 28th, you will also receive the WNCW Gold MemberCard, which offers you 2-for-1 savings at over 340 participating restaurants within WNCW’s listening region. After our fund drive begins, this offer will be available only for pledges that are $100 or more. For a pledge of $75, you can choose to receive one of WNCW's Spiritex 100% organic cotton t-shirts. We offer short-sleeved WNCW station t-shirts cut for both men and women. We also have Goin' Across the Mountain, Jazz and Beyond, Frank on Friday, and Local Color short-sleeved shirts.
Great Music in February and More to Look Forward to in March -- Martin Anderson, Music Director and Morning Host After a bit of a midwinter lull, there was a flush of great new releases during February here at WNCW. Some of our favorites include the latest from J.J. Cale, Neko Case, Justin Townes Earle, Buddy & Julie Miller, Madeleine Peyroux, as well as Van Morrison's live reworking of his classic '68 Astral Weeks album. Jazz fans should definitely listen up for the new one from legendary organist Dr. Lonnie Smith (you've gotta hear his soulful remake of The Beatles' Come Together!) New to our Celtic library is the latest collaboration between fiddler Liz Carroll and guitarist John Doyle. Nate Leath, fiddler for Old School Freight Train, has the best new old-time CD I've heard in a very long time. Perhaps the biggest surprise release of the past month was the latest bluegrass/old-time/Celtic release from comedian/actor/banjo fanatic Steve Martin. You'll have to hear it to believe it! In the coming weeks we should be receiving the latest from such favorites as Steve Forbert, The Decemberists, The Indigo Girls, Gomez, Wynton Marsalis, and Sara Watkins (formerly of Nickel Creek.) We are also beginning work on a fun way to celebrate our 20th Anniversary this year: a countdown of WNCW’s all-time favorite artists! Yes, in the spirit of our annual end-of-year Top 100 Album Countdown, we’ll be tallying your votes on your favorite 20 artists that WNCW has brought you these past 20 years – from Acoustic Syndicate and The Beatles to Neil Young and Warren Zevon. We’re currently researching our playlists and such to come up with a list of 500 or so of the most-played artists here of the past 20 years. Look for the list and contest later this spring, at www.wncw.org. In the meantime, start thinking of your own “20 of the past 20” now!
Make Your Tax-Deductible Gift to WNCW Today! Your tax-deductible gift will go a long way toward helping WNCW bring you another year of great music hand-picked by our hosts, live Studio B sessions, NPR News, features, arts and culture throughout 2009. Please make your secure online gift NOW at www.wncw.org to keep WNCW’s programming going strong! Thank you! A WORD FROM OUR GENERAL MANAGER Within the last two weeks, it's been my great fortune to chat with two people who helped to open my eyes – as well as my mind – to just how remarkable and unique both WNCW and the region (and people) it serves really are. The first exchange was with Greg Hils, who currently works for the Media and Technology Division of McDowell High School in nearby Marion, NC. For those of you who've been listening and supporting WNCW since its early days, the name "Greg Hils" probably rings a bell. For those of you for whom it doesn't, Mr. Hils has an effect on you almost every time you tune into WNCW. Greg Hils was WNCW's first Program and Music Director, and he had an enormous role in defining and establishing WNCW's music programming philosophy (known as Crossroads), which remains the touchstone and guiding principle of today's WNCW DJs. The concept was fairly revolutionary for radio in 1989 and dared to blend musical styles, genres and musicians who seemed to have little in common ... a fairly revolutionary idea for radio in 1989. Yet, Hils and those who staffed WNCW in its early days weaved together a tapestry of musical styles. They established and maintained a thread that connected each to the other. During my conversation with Greg, I felt that I was studying at the feet of a master?someone who'd been present at the birth of the station whose legacy is now in our hands?including mine, WNCW's staff, and those of our many stakeholders – including yours. My discussion with Greg not only gave me greater insight into WNCW's past, but also how we who are now responsible for it can sustain, grow and further the station's future while remaining true to the ideas and ideals of those who established WNCW 20 years ago. The second exchange was with Anya Hinkle, who – among her many other pursuits – is lead vocalist and plays fiddle with the Asheville-based quintet, Dehlia Low. We were discussing the economic downturn and how it was reflected by the behavior of people in different areas throughout the nation. After comparing notes about some experiences we'd had in other cities, I mentioned that I'd yet to encounter in Western North Carolina or Upstate South Carolina people asking for money on the streets, at downtown stoplights and outside store entrances?a phenomenon I'd grown used to in my previous home of Austin, Texas and in many other cities I've visited. Anya's response was simple, but profound. "It's family," she said, "people here take care of one another like family. It's part of the culture." That idea is not lost on those of us here at WNCW. We recently adopted a slogan in our advertisements that describes the station as "More than community radio. A radio community." Like family, a community helps its own. In addition to continuing our commitment to showcasing the best musical talent our region has to offer (part of Greg Hils's legacy), you might have noticed that during NPR's Morning Edition, WNCW's Pam Bunch is featuring not only regional news headlines, but adding local and area features, too (and she's just getting started). As I wrote in my first communiqué to our members, WNCW exists to reflect this region – our community – to the rest of the world while bringing the rest of the world to our community. We're working hard to expand our role in "taking care of one another" within our community (as Anya Hinkle pointed out). We hope you'll do the same by embracing – and supporting – WNCW. After all, we're family and taking care of one other is part of the culture. Come join WNCW at The Crossroads. The best way to do that? Become a member of WNCW or renew your membership. There's no time like the present to join WNCW, so do it NOW, quickly and securely here. Or call us at (800) 245-8870. Remember, WNCW's spring pledge drive takes place March 28th through April 4th. So if you don't get around to it before then, we'll look forward to hearing from you then!
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For a limited time, you can receive Crowd Around the Mic Volume 12 for a pledge of $100.
We are also offering for a limited time our BRAND NEW Goin’ Across the Mountain Live, Vol. 3, at a pledge level of $50.
Pledge BEFORE our Spring Fund Drive (which starts with Saturday Night House Party on March 28th) and you will automatically be entered to win a MerleFest Platinum Patron Package for four to the 
