As of this weekend, WUMB-FM (91.9) will be playing more music - just don't call that music "folk."
The University of Massachusetts-Boston public radio station has announced program changes to begin Saturday that will move around existing shows and replace public affairs programming with longer music shows and the return of a Saturday afternoon institution. The changes, the result of studies funded by a Corporation for Public Broadcasting station renewal grant, also include dropping the station's long-time identification as "folk radio" for a livelier, more electric sound that, for now, is simply being called the "WUMB music mix."
"It's a work in progress," says station program director Brian Quinn, adding that the station remains focused on a "roots" sound. "We wanted to give it a little kick, a little more electricity," he says.
That has meant adding some heritage electric blues artists, such as Muddy Waters, into the station's signature singer-songwriter mix and also programming more rock-sounding cuts from current artists, like Neil Young and Lucinda Williams. In the past, explains general manager Pat Monteith, "when we made selections of what music we were going to take from a particular artist, we looked for a particular sound. Now we're going back in and saying we selected these three songs over some of the more energetic and uptempo things. We're going to reexamine some of the music."
Along with this more eclectic sound, the station has rearranged its schedule for longer, uninterrupted programming blocks. Weekdays still begin with Dick Pleasants's "Morning Express," but his rotating shift of cohosts is being dropped, allowing for approximately five more minutes of music each hour, says Monteith. Live local programming will continue throughout the day, after which the popular "World Cafe," from Philadelphia station WXPN-FM, will move up to start at 7 p.m. weeknights, with much of the station's specialty programming bumped to late nights or weekends.
To make room for these changes, two Sunday public-affairs shows, "National Geographic" and "The Changing World," are being dropped. But two specialty music shows that had been slated to be cut, "Afropop Worldwide" and "Mountain Stage," will remain, thanks to last-minute negotiations with distributor Public Radio International.
These trims and the reshuffling of programs will allow for the expansion by two hours each of Sunday's "Acoustic Sunrise" (8 a.m.-noon) and "Folk Odyssey" (2-6 p.m.). They have made room for an extra shift of the "WUMB Music Mix" on Saturdays from noon-2 p.m. Pleasants will take over that Saturday show, effectively returning him to the airwaves during the same shift that he held as host of "The Folk Experience" at WGBH-FM (89.7) from 1981 until 2004.
"I took the weekends off for a long time, and it feels good to be back," says Pleasants. "Saturday afternoon is a wonderful radio time. It's a nice, relaxed, very comfortable group of people."
Spinning the dial
As listeners heard last Saturday, Moe Lauzier has been let go after nearly 25 years at WRKO-AM (680). The talk host announced his firing during his weekly 6-10 a.m. show. Entercom officials did not return phone calls asking for comment. . . . WUMB and "Magic" WMJX-FM (106.7) are among the recipients of the 33d annual Gracie Awards. The Gracies, given by American Women in Radio & Television, were announced last week. WUMB won for outstanding special program for a pilot, "As I Am," focusing on the diverse voices of the Asian-American community. Part of the pilot aired during NPR's "Morning Edition," and the full pilot should air on WUMB in April. WMJX won both outstanding public affairs program and outstanding interview program for its long-running Sunday program, "Exceptional Women." . . . WGBH will broadcast the New York Philharmonic's historic concert in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. The concert will also stream online at wgbh.org.
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