WUMB Auction

Hey, check it out.

The WUMB auction is going on now. New items all the time. Signed CDs and posters, concert tickets, and even cheese cake by one of the show hosts, Dave Palmater. One of the more interesting items on the site right now is a 1 hour consulting session with singer/songwriter Catie Curtis. I would love to bid on this, but I'm afraid it would take me the hour just to be able to ask a halfway intelligent question.

Folk Music on the Radio

I occassionally travel around the country on business and pleasure. In years past, I traveled about 90% of my time. Very rarely was I able to find folk music stations around the country. Certainly there were a few. KUT in Austin stands out to me, but there are plenty of others. What I've found however is that folk music, singer/songwriter music, contemporary folk music is only a small part of what these stations cover.

I am very fortunate to live in the Boston area where I have not only one full time folk radion station in WUMB, but I also have other stations that include folk as part of their lineup. The River, 99.5 and WGBH 89.7 are only two stations that play folk music at least part of the time. Full disclosure here, I love WUMB. I'm sure that at least 95% of my radio listening is WUMB.

As it turns out, I have about two hours of commuting every day. Most days I'm listening to WUMB. Unfortunately for me, I do not pick up the signal from my home, but this is a great time to listen to CDs. You do not need to live in the Boston area to take advantage of WUMB. They have live streaming 7x24. If you haven't already done so, I would recommend you check them out. If you don't hear what you like, wait until the next song. You probably will!

Scott

Opening Act - Chuck E. Costa

As I mentioned in a previous post, Chuck E. Costa was the opening act for Carrie Newcomer at TCAN. I had not heard his music (or his name) prior to this concert, but I was treated to a beautiful, albeit short set from Chuck. He has a very soft, beautiful voice that blends wonderfully with this acoustic guitar. His song writing is very personal, yet I found it easy to personalize to myself. Well done.

Among other accolades, Chuck has been granted one of Club Passim's Iguana Music Fund. I'm sure it's not going to make Chuck rich, but as a folk musician, I'm sure every little bit helps. Check out Chuck's Web site for a list of other awards he has received.

I intended buying one of his CDs after the show, but reluctantly decided against it. He has a new CD coming out in a few weeks, so I decided to wait it out until that is released. I apologize to readers, but I don't remember the name of his upcoming CD. Having heard some of the songs to appear on this release (The Goalie, At the Drawing Board), I am excited to hear his new release.

Carrie Newcomer Concert

Saturday night I saw Carrie Newcomer perform at the Natick Center for the Arts (TCAN) in Natick, Massachusetts. Although Carrie has been performing for about 20 years and despite the fact that we are both Hoosiers, this is the first opportunity I have had to see her in concert. In a word, I thought she was wonderful.

Her voice is absolutely beautiful and her song writing is so real. She was accompanied by a piano player who was very good, and added some beautiful touches to many of her songs. However her guitar playing was buried in the mix, so I didn't get to hear nearly as much of her guitar as I would have liked. In short, I would give her 4 out of 5 stars.

Her opening act was a New Jersey guy named Chuck E. Costa. But more on him in another post.

Scott