Normally, I approach each week of this newsletter as a blank slate. Sometimes it takes a minute to decide what should be on the page. Today is no such challenge and, alternately, is a true pleasure. As this is the start of the coming pledge week, I was asked to do a feature on our many local KSMU music programs. I could not be happier to oblige.
KSMU currently sports 11 unique, bespoke, and distinctly LOCAL music programs, in content and/or composition. They and their hosts are as follows…
Sunday - The Mulberry Tree w/ Emily Higgins @9:00 p.m.
Monday - Monday Night Jazz Excursions w/ Theresa Bettman @10:00 p.m.
Wednesday - Beneath the Surface w/ Eddie Gumucio @10:00 p.m.
Thursday - The Basement w/ DJ Imperial @10:00 p.m.
Friday (full slate!):
Arts News w/ Jimmy Rea @10:00 a.m.
The Roundabout w/ Joe Livingston @7:00 p.m.
The Basement (Friday edition) w/ DJ Imperial @8:00 p.m.
Local Radar w/ Your Author @9:00 p.m.
World Beat Broadcast w/ A Mysterious Voice with impeccable choice @10:00 p.m.
Saturday:
Seldom Heard Music w/ Mike Smith @7:00 p.m.
The Gold Ring w/ Lee Worman @9:00 p.m.
And (of course) Studio Live w/ your hosts Jessica Balisle and Melissa Rea! Brought to you the second Friday of every month (@ Noon), LIVE (duh!) from our studios, featuring music and Q&A with both Springfield and regional musicians, new and old.
Now, not all of these programs play exclusively local music (they can’t all be me), BUT they all are locally made, locally produced, and locally flavored (you can really taste the cashew).
I asked each of our vaunted hosts to answer a few short questions and I have absolutely no room to put all their answers here, but let me share some fun facts!
Lee (The Gold Ring) absolutely wins the episode count with 2303 episodes since 1982!
COVID was definitely the biggest challenge/change our hosts have faced, as everyone went to producing from home (not a small task), and many have remained there since.
In service of this, Joe actually built a home studio SO fabulous to produce The Roundabout that it was featured in The New York Times!
In his college days, prior to Beneath The Surface, Eddie hosted a Friday night show on KSMU called “The Midnight Snack” that ran from midnight to 6:00 a.m. I’m exhausted just thinking about that.
Three of our shows, The Gold Ring, Seldom Heard Music, and The Mulberry Tree have been on the air for over FORTY YEARS!
Monday Night Jazz Excursions regularly receives packages of Jazz from Italy! (I know because I receive them in the mail.) They just show up! From Italy! Viva Italiano!
Our former host, Meghan McKinney of the former show Punk and Variations, (2023-2024) herself student-worker-turned-reporter and announcer, is now the host of Morning Edition for Iowa Public Radio. She’s like Chris Drew for the whole state of Iowa!
I have many more facts I could give you and, frankly, generous writeups these hosts sent me at my own behest that I absolutely cannot use as I am also WAY over my word limit, so I will simply say this:
If these things move you, if these shows animate you, if these people or what they bring to the airwaves (or just me and Local Radar) truly inspire you, consider making a donation to KSMU. If you already do, thank you. If you’ve always wanted to, now is the time. As you may or may not know, public broadcasting lost its federal funding last year and that very much includes KSMU. Now it is up to every one of us to help ensure that this content, that you literally won’t hear anywhere else, is still able to be on the air.
We promise to keep bringing you all these things that you love, all these brilliant shows, these decades of legacy and local music, and also some jerks on Local Radar yelling about Chappell Roan, “Country Corners,” and “Banana Facts.” Ask a punk.
Please, if you can, give what you can. Call 417-836-KSMU or go online to ksmu.org.
