Score one for indie radio

[helen99]

The WTMD morning show

Excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTMD

"Relationship with Wasnington [DC]: WTMD partnered with WAMU in Washington DC whereby WAMU rebroadcasts WTMD on their HD Radio Channel 2. This brought back independent music radio to Washington for the first time, since WHFS was sold to CBS Radio (emphasis mine). In fact, this partnership was recognized and praised by FCC Commissioner McDowell in his remarks when the Commission voted to make HD multicasting permanent. WTMD also transmits via a low power signal from the suburb of Great Falls, Virginia on 105.5 FM."

Aha! That would explain why I found it at 105.5 FM. I don't have HD radio, so that's where I would get it. Because it's a low power signal, it sounds a lot like the now defunct WHFS did before their many glitzy upgrades (and subsequent music downgrades). I lose the signal from WTMD about 3 times on the way to work - but... minor technicality. I have enough signal the rest of the time. Anyway, it's nothing a few antenna augmentations can't fix. I've done it before, after all... I've already heard two or three localish, low airplay artists I want to support.

Whatever their location or signal quality, I have not touched that dial since finding them...

More from the Wiki site:

"The station produces First Thursday Concerts in the Park, a series of six free after work shows at West Mount Vernon Park in downtown Baltimore. The Damnwells, Steve Forbert, The Colour, The Young Dubliners and others have performed and these show attract crowds of about 3,000."

Comments

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Excellent news. I remember listening to WHFS back in the late '70s. They're the first place I heard Firesign Theater and many other similarly eccentric wonders. Indie radio is definitely a good thing.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

Yes, me too...

[rhiannasilel.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's incredible. So there's an actual real indy station on the air again? I mean we kind of had WRNR, but last time I listened to that it seemed more like a classic rock station.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

This one sounds a lot like a Pandora stream sometimes - which is a good thing - I love Pandora since it allows you to hear stuff that never gets played on the radio.

I'm still looking for this one song I heard last year though. I don't know the title or the artist (which makes it hard to identify), but I think the refrain contained the words "the Sun, the moon and the stars". I didn't write it down so I'm not exactly sure if those were really the words or not. When I did a search on that phrase and also on each word individually, none of the search hits were the right song. Still looking. I hope some day I hear it again. It was the kind of song that made me go..."They just played that song on mainstream radio - and it was from another realm altogether". Hopefully it isn't, because if so, I'll never find it again...