It is often said that to become a writer one must become an avid reader. Logic might also suggest that to become a great storyteller one must learn to listen. Erika Adams, host of the Tale Collector on Two Harbors Community Radio, naturally embodies both of these traits. As someone born with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) she has had to develop a laser-like focus as the ‘disorder’ makes it difficult to screen out background noise. She is also a budding author in her own right.
Erika’s book entitled ‘Allie’s Adventure on the Wonder’ is loosely based on Lewis Carrol’s “Alice in Wonderland.” It tells the tale of a young woman with APD and her adventures. It was through promoting her book that Erika first met KTWH volunteer Michelle Miller at the Two Harbors Public Library. Adams was there to donate a copy of her book when she struck up a conversation with Michelle that led to the suggestion that Erika should host a show.
Tale Collector is a monthly 15-minute review of tales told via book, music, movie or video game. Adams on-air delivery has overtones of Levar Burton’s Reading Rainbow in that there is nothing either infantile or pompous in her tone. Her voice has the measured cadence of someone who has spent years reading aloud for all ages. As Erika discusses the deeper meaning of the symbols used in a narrative, one gets strong hints of Joseph Campbell and his ability to zero in on the story’s central message.
Adams’ growing catalog of shows includes a review of the 2010 video game Limbo. The player guides an unnamed boy through a 2D side-scrolling environment as he searches for his sister and tries to avoid danger. It uses minimalist black and white imagery to create a film noir effect that is reminiscent of Indonesian shadow puppetry.
“I liked this game,” she says, “because of the minimalist aspects in both the artwork and the storytelling. Like a great book or a 1940’s era radio drama, it leaves enough blank space for the player to fill in the back story and missing pieces from their own imagination.”
Tale Collector airs bi-weekly on Fridays at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 11:30 a.m. KTWH-LP, 99.5 FM, is a volunteer-driven non-profit serving the town of Two Harbors and surrounding area with a broadcast range of 10 miles. It streams online at ktwh.org.
Most everyone who grew up in the late 1960’s and early 70’s, knew someone like Robert Johnson, host of Two Harbors Community Radio’s ‘Harvest Program.’ A young adult with a massive record collection and an almost encyclopedic knowledge of music. They were the go-to person who could settle any disagreement concerning the members of a band or the author of a particular song. Ever wonder what happened to such people after high school or college?
In Robert’s case, his passion for music did not fade away as the years progressed. While attending college in Staples, MN he used a major portion of his $1500 of what would now be called his Student Loan to travel to Minneapolis and purchase over 100 vintage albums. After college, he found work in San Jose at a record factory which led to a position at one of Tower Records flagship stores. From there it was onto community radio station KKUP in Cupertino, CA. It was here he became enamored with the somewhat legendary KFAT in Gilroy, CA. KFAT (now KPIG) was notable as a freeform alternative country station and was also responsible for many of the comedic parodies of radio ads that proliferated on the airwaves during the 80’s. He eventually returned to Minnesota and spent 12 years working the record section of Carlson Books in Duluth.
The Harvest Program is very aptly named in that over the years Robert has separated the wheat from the chaff, preserving the very best from each decade of vinyl. The music heard is a mixture of blues, country, folk, jazz, and rock that flows seamlessly from one song to another. The background and history provided for the various tunes of interest is presented in a friendly matter of fact manner. What the listener does not see when the mic is off and the music is playing is that the DJ/host/producer is rocking out like 15 year old headbanger with the speakers at full volume.
One of the inaugural programs that launched KTWH during its first week on the air, it can be heard ‘live’ Tuesday mornings at 9 AM. It is rebroadcast at noon on Saturdays.
KTWH-LP, 99.5 FM, is a volunteer run non-profit serving the town of Two Harbors and surrounding area with a broadcast range of 10 miles. It streams online at ktwh.org.
The musical term ‘steel guitar’ usually conjures up notions of twangy country tunes rife with lyrics about heartache and romantic betrayal. Steel Harmony host, Paul Hanson, uses his two-hour Thursday night show to quash that stereotype. Each week he showcases a multi-faceted instrument that has a surprising history and has gone through an amazing evolution over the years.
Like most all of the Two Harbors Community Radio on-air personalities, Paul is a passionate student of the genre that he presents to the public. The student becomes the teacher when he speaks about the history of the instrument and the exact definition of ‘steel guitar’ as a style of music. “It was a result of Captain Cook bringing the Spanish guitar to Hawaii. In 1889, Joseph Kekuku applied a steel bolt to the strings on the neck of an old Spanish Guitar creating the first slide guitar style of playing. He would go on to become internationally famous, touring Europe for years.”
Paul also gave a much more inclusive definition of the steel guitar when he said, “It is really a style of playing as much as it is a particular instrument. There is the slide technique of playing using a steel bar or glass bottleneck like the Dobro used by Delta bluesmen. Then there’s the lap, or Weissenborn, also called the Hawaiian, steel that has a squared off neck and no resonating cavity. And finally, there is the pedal steel that most people have come to associate with country and Texas swing music. The pedal steel, in the hands of a true master like Buddy Emmons, has found homes in such genres as classical, bebop, rock, Dixieland, jazz and even Nigerian Jùjú music. It is more versatile than what most people think.”
As part of the core group of former 80’s KUMD DJs and engineers, Paul was involved in the early efforts to make community radio a reality in Two Harbors. As a result, Steel Harmony was one of the station’s inaugural shows. He credits his neighbor, Dave Slatterly, for mentoring him in the rich history of the steel guitar, without which the show would have followed a different path.
Steel Harmony airs Thursdays at 7 p.m. and re-airs Saturdays at 4 p.m. KTWH-LP, 99.5 FM, is a volunteer run non-profit serving the town of Two Harbors and surrounding area with a broadcast range of 10 miles. It streams online at ktwh.org.
Two Harbors Community Radio’s program description for the Monday night music show, Northwoods Archive, lists it as “a musical sojourn exploring a common thread.”
When host Shane Dickey was asked how he goes about selecting a particular theme for the show, he replied, “There’s not a solid theme for each show, it’s more of a feeling I’m having that day that connects each song.”
Much like making a mixtape with a friend in mind, the content of the show is a means for Dickey to connect and communicate with his audience via the medium of music. The show is a mixture of genres as well as a blend of both lesser and more well-known artists.
Because he is a music archivist in his personal life as well as managing the station’s collection, his broad goal is to play only one song per artist in order to showcase as many musicians as possible.
“As much as I love Brother Ray, if I play ‘One Mint Julip’ that means Mr. Charles is forever off limits,” Dickey said. “It is easy to fall into a rut by allowing yourself to use prolific artists like Ray Charles, Prince, or even the band Chicago as ‘go to’ fillers in a playlist. The challenge is to keep it fresh. If I want to play ‘Georgia on My Mind’ now that Ray Charles has had his turn, I will select another artist that has covered it. Sometimes that version is a much better fit than if I had gone straight to Ray.”
Dickey developed an interest in music both new and old during the 80’s. Like a lot of kids, he got his start by rummaging through his grandparents’ and parents’ vinyl record collections. But it was hearing the Beatles for the first time that truly fanned the flames of his musical passion.
While not one of the founding Two Harbors Community Radio volunteers, Dickey has become an integral member. Board member, mentor, program producer and host, and manager of the station’s music archives are some of the titles he holds.
Northwoods Archive airs Mondays at 7 p.m. and re-airs Fridays at 3 p.m. KTWH-LP, 99.5 FM, is a volunteer run non-profit serving the town of Two Harbors and surrounding area with a broadcast range of 10 miles. It streams online at ktwh.org.
Looking for an easy way to show your support for the various non-profit community organizations here in Lake County? Well, here’s a method that is simple, easy, and free.
AmazonSmile, part of amazon.com, is willing to donate 0.5% of each purchase made by shoppers who have chosen a charity via the smile.amazon.com website. Doing so will not add a penny to the shopper’s purchases.
It is as simple as logging into the Smile URL with the same username and password used for every day Amazon purchases. Type in the name of charity into the search field provided, e.g., Lake County Humane Society, Two Harbors Community Radio, Two Harbors Area Food Shelf, etc…hit enter, and click on the Select button that matches your charity.
The only requirement after completing the setup is to remember to log in to smile.amazon.com each time before making a purchase. No checks to write, no boiler-room sales pitches, no endless series of emails clogging up your Inbox. Amazon eliminates the hassle.
Oh, for simple!
Most people would not think to turn on the radio to experience their favorite cooking show but that is the aim of chef Uriah Hefter, host of The Hotdish Imperative on Two Harbors Community Radio.
“I wanted to create a show for those interested in cooking that I, myself, would actually listen to whenever it aired,” he said.
The weekly program is a blend of music, humor and food preparation instruction. The music for each show is selected to loosely complement the main dish through a shared commonality. If the focus of the program is about baking bread there is a better than average chance that the 1960’s and 70’s rock band Bread will see some air-play that day.
It would be easy for the average person to think to themselves, “A show about cooking? On the radio? He doesn’t do magic tricks, as well, does he?” To overcome for the lack of visuals that cooking shows on TV have traditionally relied on, during the broadcast Hefter closes his eyes and attempts to describe, in detail, each step of the preparation process.
“I would imagine that if you walked past the studio while I was in ‘explanation mode,’ you would most likely assume that I’d lost all mental capacity, or was experiencing a stroke at minimum,” he said.
Hefter, originally from Kansas City, Mo., met his wife, a Sauk Centre native, while in the City of Fountains. From there they moved to Iowa for a few years, but both had a yearning to make Northern Minnesota their permanent home. They are now going on their fifth year in the area.
A graduate of the culinary arts school at Indian Hills College in Ottumwa, Iowa, Hefter has honed his skills at small mom and pop owned kitchens, catering companies and large corporate operations. His preference is for smaller restaurants whereby he has oversight of aspects of the operation or as he puts it, “I like to have my fingers in lots of pies.”
The Hotdish Imperative airs Thursday at 11 a.m. and is rebroadcast at 11 a.m. on Saturdays. KTWH-LP, 99.5 FM, is a volunteer run non-profit serving the town of Two Harbors and surrounding area with a broadcast range of 10 miles. It streams online at ktwh.org.
Dave Anderson was always a musical child. In the same manner, most kids were scolded by their parents for sitting too close to the TV, Dave was prone to hugging the family radio, with his head and ear pressed firmly against the speaker until reprimanded by his mother. It is this love for music that leads inevitably to his learning guitar and the formation of his first band Dave & the Wharf Rats in 1960. The next four years saw him playing in several bands including one that went by the name The Pink Panthers. He took a long break from the road, got a respectable job, and soon left the Two Harbors area upon getting married in 64’. He returned to the area after retiring from the Teamster’s Union in 1998. He then set about becoming involved in 4 separate bands as a dobro player.
One of the early volunteers and content producers for Two Harbors Community Radio, Mr. Anderson was involved doing on the spot recordings for the station at various events prior to the launch of the Big Dave’s Beat Farm. He describes the 2-hour weekly broadcast as “an upbeat mix of Tex-Mex, Blues, Boogie, Swing, etc. Each show features a live music segment with area bands and musicians of varying skills, styles and instruments.” The live performance spot is open to anyone from the area regardless of professional experience.
Getting the best performance from someone who has never played ‘live’ requires a bit of wizardry. The magic begins with Dave’s hospitality towards his guests. His demeanor is genial and unrushed. As a musician himself, he can anticipate concerns and questions a first timer might have. Watching him interact with last week’s guest, Larry South, before the show, the outside observer comes away with the sense that Dave is truly interested in the person before him and the story behind their music. The show is not an altar to his ego, and this segment is purely a vehicle designed to showcase community artists of all skill levels.
A few minutes before going on-air the radio station office suddenly transforms into the lobby of a local civic center as friends and fans of both the performer and the show casually file in to lend support and add to the overall energy. Stories and names are traded between audience members until the signal is given for the one-minute to air countdown. The small rows of folding chairs now take on a church-like quality as everyone sits quietly waiting for the show to begin.
One could easily draw parallels between the Beat Farm’s live broadcast and the in-the-field recordings made by the late great archivist, folklorist, and musicologist John Lomax. The musicians, their stories, and their songs that Mr. Anderson makes available to the world are, for the most part, those rarely heard outside of living rooms, multi-family BBQs, or the occasional coffee house.
The wrap party between host, performer and their supporters is brief as there is still another hour of programming to be filled. After each show, at his own expense, Dave snail mails each artist a digitized copy of their performance. For some first timers, this makes all the pre-show jitters well worth it.
Big Dave’s Beat Farm airs Friday nights at 7 PM and repeats again Sundays at 3 PM. KTWH-LP, 99.5 FM, is a volunteer run non-profit serving the town of Two Harbors and surrounding area with a broadcast range of 10 miles. It streams online at ktwh.org.
Two Harbors Community Radio would like to thank everyone who stopped by the KTWH Heritage Days booth to show their support this past weekend.
Many of those visitors were former residents who were pleasantly surprised that Two Harbors now has a real-time source for community news, severe weather information, music, and entertainment. A surprising number of these hometown visitors were already aware of the station and were frequent listeners via KTWH’s live streaming feature at ktwh.org.
THCR would also like to thank its many volunteers for the time and effort they contributed towards making Heritage Days 2016 a rousing success. Just as crucial as the volunteers who set up, maintained and staffed the Heritage Days booth were those who stayed behind to man the boards back at the station. It is this type of coordinated effort that makes possible the day to day operation of the station and the services it provides to the community.
A round of applause is in order for both Arna Rennan and Dave Anderson for their special participation. Arna, the host of Nordic Roots, christened the Heritage Days main stage with her performance of Scandinavian folk and dance tunes on accordion. Big Dave’s Beat Farm and his band of Beat Farmers endured the midday sun as they rolled through town dispensing good will and candy for children of all ages.
Congratulations are due to the three lucky winners in the Two Harbors Community Radio Heritage Days Prize Drawing:
● Taking home the all-in-one entertainment unit was Steven Keech.
● Brad Ronning chose the one night’s stay for two at The Inn at Gitchee Gumee.
● Winner of the John & Susanne Bathke donated loon artwork was Tim Lekatz.
For everyone we have yet to thank, such as content contributors, underwriters and the people who drop off baked goods at the station, etc., thank you for your support.
KTWH-LP, 99.5 FM, is a volunteer run non-profit serving the town of Two Harbors and surrounding area with a broadcast range of 10 miles. It streams online at ktwh.org. Big Dave’s Beat Farm airs Friday nights at 7 p.m. and repeats again Sundays at 3 p.m. Nordic Roots airs Mondays at 9 a.m. and again Saturdays at 3 p.m.
There are plenty of things for the whole family to do during the Heritage Days celebration. Two Harbors Community Radio is back again this year with more to see and hear. The THCR booth will be located in the Vendor area near the Historic Depot. Volunteers will be on-hand to hand out KTWH-LP 99.5 FM program schedules as well as answer questions about the station and its mission.
On Friday, July 8th, starting at 11 AM, Nordic Roots host, and on-air personality Arna Rennan will be kicking things off on the Heritage Days stage performing a selection of Scandinavian dance tunes on accordion.
Saturday from 9 to 11 AM the radio station, 99.5 FM, will air rebroadcasts of two shows that will be of interest to residents and visitors alike.
Both shows will air again on Sunday, July 10th starting at 11 AM.
Saturday at 1 PM watch for KTWH’s very own Dave Anderson, host of Big Dave’s Beat Farm, and his Beat Farm float in the Heritage Days Parade.
Sunday at 12 noon Two Harbors Community Radio will hold a drawing for three awesome prizes including:
New Show Premiere! Sunday at 7 PM will mark the start of the weekly hour-long program, Hear Tomorrow. The show profiles new music and artists (of every genre) that might not otherwise be getting the attention they deserve.
KTWH-LP, 99.5 FM, is a volunteer run non-profit serving the town of Two Harbors and surrounding area with a broadcast range of 10 miles. It streams online at ktwh.org.
