By Tracy Ross
Murray, KY – Media Release: Public Radio WKMS Changes Saturday Line-Up on Fourth of July Weekend. Contact: Tracy Ross (tracy.ross@murraystate.edu - 800-599-4737)
Two long-running WKMS Saturday programs move to new times on the July 4th weekend. This American Life moves from 7 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays (also re-airing at noon Mondays replacing Studio 360 which leaves the station's schedule) and Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour moves from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays.
For Saturday, the 2nd of July only, WKMS features back-to-back hours of The Eisenhower Hour from 1 to 3 p.m. as the first installment in a three-day marathon that includes two hours of Eisenhower Hour specials 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, July 3, and Monday, July 4.
On Saturday, July 9, WKMS introduces 3 new programs from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturdays. At 1 p.m. Nashville Public Radio's Bluegrass Breakdown joins the schedule. At 2 p.m. a new locally produced music program, Rick's Kitchen Sink, features a distillation of Juke Joint Shuffle (which goes on hiatus annually from July through December). At 2:30 p.m. NPR's All Songs Considered presents new music emerging from many genres.
The new airing time for Ira Glass' This American Life, the award-winning journalistic non-fiction program of essays, memoirs, field recordings, short fiction, and found footage, positions the program as a lead-in to NPR's All Things Considered. Each week's show loosely centers on a particular theme, almost like a movie for radio, with interesting music connecting segments.
About 1.7 million listeners join more than 500 public radio stations across the country to hear this edgy weekly program.
Nashville Public Radio produces Bluegrass Breakdown in its studios featuring conversation, live music performance with an ear on what's new in bluegrass. Recent guests have included The McLains, Lynn Morris & Marshall Wilborn, Crucial Smith, Tim O'Brien & Dirk Powell, and the Larry Stephenson Band.
Graphic artist/designer Rick Nance of Murray, long-time co-host of Juke Joint Shuffle with John Griffin, embarks on a new musical journey with Rick's Kitchen Sink. Nance's personal collection is strong in what he calls "old school" favorites. Rick's Kitchen Sink will feature rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, a variety of eclectic music that would be at home on the Juke Joint (which goes into summer hiatus on July 2 when co-host Griffin returns to his part-time job directing the Murray State University Regensburg Program in Germany).
NPR's half-hour All Songs Considered discovers new music that doesn't get a lot of airplay anywhere else. The acclaimed (and Emmy-nominated, Webby-winning) program features roundtable discussions about new music, reviews, live concerts, artist interviews, guest DJ appearances and more. Host Bob Boilen created All Songs Considered as a Web-only program in January, 2000 in response to listeners seeking more information about the music that he, as director, played between stories on NPR's All Things Considered. The program has since grown to become one of the most popular and respected destinations to hear new music online and on the air.
See more about all WKMS programming at www.wkms.org, including other new features beginning the July 4th weekend. Murray State's public radio service includes the regional 100,000 watt signal 91.3 FM WKMS, Murray; 91.3 WKMS HD-1 and All-Classical HD-2; repeaters 90.9 FM, WKMD, Madisonville and 89.5 FM, WKMT, Fulton; and translators 99.5 FM Paris, TN as well as All-Classical 92.5 FM Paducah and 105.1 FM Madisonville. The station also streams both WKMS HD-1 and HD-2 at www.wkms.org. Call 800-599-4737 for additional assistance.