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.
