Hey, what's that sound?
One of the main priorities with my Twitter posts as well as the Citified blog is to help bring awareness about issues in Waterloo Region. In order to do that, I try to stay up-to-date as much as possible via subscribing to, and following, local newspapers, newsletters, organizations, and people doing important work locally. Community radio has also been a great resource, though one I have only come to appreciate in the last couple of years. Today, I want to share a little more about why I think community radio is vital to our community, and hopefully by the end of this post, I’ll turn you into a fan as well, if you’re not already!
We are fortunate to have several great options for community radio here in Waterloo Region, including CKMS - Radio Waterloo, CKWR 98.5, and Midtown Radio. I am most closely connected to Midtown Radio, so, I’ll focus on them today.
I first learned about Midtown Radio in its early days as a Kitchener ‘love my hood’ project. I had the chance to speak with the creators of the Midtown Radio Project, David and Danielle, at a neighbourhood event several years ago. After chatting with them for a bit, and even recording a ‘station id’ promo, I was hooked! Soon, I was even involved in helping produce Midtown Conversations. Given I had zero experience in recording and producing a radio show, I loved being part of a community of volunteers sharing skills and learning together.
Midtown Radio is a community-building initiative which “aims to develop and maintain a community-based, online radio station, that plays local music and podcasts, as well as community information – with the aim of promoting local artists, creators, small businesses, and public events through the development of innovative, locally-produced content.”
As someone who is a strong believer in ‘supporting local’, I love that we have such quality community radio which allows me to listen to all sorts of amazing local artists. In addition to hearing artists such as Sam Nabi, Joni NehRita, Luke Michielsen, and Alysha Brilla, I was also introduced to my favourite local band I, The Mountain during their premiere of ‘Rosa’ on Midtown Radio.
But, it’s not just local music that you’ll hear on Midtown Radio! There is an ever-expanding list of local shows covering a range of issues and interests, such as Bonn Park, Dog Friendly KW, Mid Credit Scene, and Across Her Table.
One of my favourite regular features is Midtown Mixtape “where each episode features a mixtape of awesome tunes chosen by a different WR celebrity.” I have had the opportunity to create some playlists for Midtown Mixtape and it’s really fun! In fact, (shameless plug ahead!), you can hear one of my playlists on this weekend’s show. The folks behind Midtown Mixtape also produce the Devils Cut Podcast and in 2018 they posed a fun question to municipal candidates: “We know campaigns can be tough, so to lighten things up we're asking candidates if they had campaign music, or a song they feel represents them, what would it be?” You can read my answer here.
If you haven’t had a chance to listen to community radio recently, I encourage you to tune in today. Here are a few of my favourite local songs currently. What are you listening to?
Let It Burn by Joni NehRita
Backyard by Matt Weidinger
Landlocked by Luke Michielsen