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!
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.
THCR is thrilled to announce that we are recipients of a generous Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation grant. After nearly three years of preparation, planning and countless volunteer hours, the effort to bring a community radio station to Two Harbors is now becoming a reality. A portion of the $20,000 award will help purchase nearly 75 percent of the basic needed equipment needed to get KTWH-LP 99. 5 FM on the air. Studio space rental and operational costs are also priorities to be funded from the award.
Michelle Ronning, fundraising chair of THCR expresses her gratitude,
“Thanks to the generosity of the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation, local businesses and especially the individual support, we will raise the antenna for your community radio.”
We are in fact rolling out the “Raise the Antenna” campaign this week to help get KTWH-LP (low power) on the air by summer of 2015. Now your individual contributions to THCR mean more than ever. Of course, we realize many of you have been volunteers, financial contributors, and steadfast bearers of local good will for this effort, for which we are ever grateful. However, much hinges on our ability to raise the remainder of the money we need to purchase and install the studio and transmitter/antenna equipment.
You may easily click here to donate on this website or at the Donate tab on the home page or by visiting our THCR offices in the Harbor Landing Building at 7th Avenue and 7th Street, Two Harbors hours are Monday through Thursday, 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Checks made out to THCR can be sent to THCR, PO Box 622, Two Harbors, 55616. Our phone contact is 834-2247.
There is even more to update you on:
Radio Station TrainingTuesday, September 30, was a successful night of introductory information sharing and training exercises for some of the roster of people interested in being on air at KTWH-LP. We expect to have more training sessions yet this year. Remember to submit your program ideas on the Programs page of this site, even if preliminary, so that we can keep in touch with you about your proposal and let you know about upcoming programmer training.
We are working out details for our studio and transmitter locations. We will post more updates soon as agreements are settled for these locations.
We continue to seek volunteers for committees, radio theater, working with our youth training, important archiving and clerical work, and many other on- and off-air tasks that will need doing to make Two Harbors Community Radio a “sound” operation. Let us hear from you!
