WBOM Admin

The Beatles – Abbey Road – to be Featured on The Inner Groove

The Beatles were an English pop band that – in many ways – defined rock music in the 1960s and beyond. In 1969, they recorded “Abbey Road” which ended up being their final album recorded as a band. Bob Francis brought the album in for an upcoming episode of The Inner Groove. He spoke with Daniel Francis about the history of the group and the record itself, along with some of his own history with the album growing up.

Their discussion along with the complete album will air Saturday night at 7 pm on The Inner Groove program.

If you would like to share a special album with our listeners, please contact us at radio.wbom@gmail.com. Let us know what artist and album you would like to talk about and a little bit about what it means to you.

Bob James – Touchdown – to be Featured on The Inner Groove

Bob James is a well-known jazz pianist. His early albums were numbered or had a play on words about their number. “Touchdown” was his sixth album released in 1978 (a touchdown is six points). Daniel Francis spoke with Paul Gutowski about the musicianship on the record – a veritable who’s who of artists that would go on to make names for themselves in the 1980s and beyond. He also explained how he first acquired the album and what it means to him personally.

Their discussion along with the complete album will air Saturday night at 7 pm on The Inner Groove program.

New Show – The Inner Groove

WBOM plays songs from many eras during our normal playlists. The limitation is that we only play a single song from an artist in any given hour.

However our new show, The Inner Groove, will feature a complete album from one of your favorite artists. We know the artist and the album are favorites because you are coming in to bring the albums to our attention – telling us why you like the album, what it means to you, and why we should listen.

Tune into The Inner Groove every Saturday night at 7 pm. And if you have an album you’d like to discuss and share, let us know about it. Email us at radio.wbom@gmail.com with the album name and what makes it important to you.

Ava Max – Heaven and Hell – to be Featured on The Inner Groove

Ava Max is a pop singer. She got her start in 2018 when her song “Sweet but Psycho” hit the charts around the world. Pamela Scott came in to discuss Ava Max’s 2020 release, the album “Heaven and Hell” for an upcoming episode of The Inner Groove. She spoke with Daniel Francis about her feelings on the album, and how the two sides of the album differ from each other.

Their discussion along with the complete album will air Saturday night at 7pm on The Inner Groove program.

Chandler Starr Miller Finalists Play Concert on Performance

After a two-year hiatus, the Chandler Starr Miller Scholarship Competition returned. The pandemic did force the preliminary stages of the selection process to be done via remote recordings. However, the finalist recital was held on the Starr Center stage on Saturday afternoon, April 30, 2022. Six finalists played their selections in front of a panel of three judges and an enthusiastic audience.

The adjucators spent twenty minutes sequestered in the Reitsch Room, making their decisions. Congratulations to the winners, and all the participants:

Wolfgang Vergara, piano.
Katelynn Clinton, violin.
Zoe Hart, flute.

The concert and awards presentation was recorded by WBOM. An edited version will air as part of the Performance program on Sunday, July 31 at 7:00 pm.

Jun-Hee Han Recital on Performance

Pianist Jun-Hee Han has been giving solo performances across the country. On March 28, 2022, Dr. Han gave a short but dynamic performance as part of the “Music on Main” series of concerts held in the Reistch Room at the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center. The room was crowded with an audience who were both amazed by the musicianship and enthusiastic in their response.

WBOM recorded the concert in its entirety. It will be aired on the Sunday, July 17 episode of Performance.

Performance airs Sunday nights at 7:00 pm and features complete concerts from local venues, including the various stages of the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center. If you’re interested in finding out when an artist will air on the show, check our Facebook page or sign up for our newsletter.

Avalon String Quartet Returns to Performance

The Avalon String Quartet returned for a third time in the 2021-2022 season on a rainy Friday night, April 29, 2022. They continued the journey they began earlier in the season, playing an unpublished work by American twentieth-century composer Leo Sowersby. They also completed their journey through Beethoven’s string quartets by playing the last one he ever completed.

WBOM recorded the concert for later broadcast for the Performance program. It will air on Sunday, June 19 at 7:00 pm.

Poetry Slam to be Featured on In Print Radio

Every third Tuesday of the month, the Nordloff Center is host to the Rockford Open-Mic and Poetry Slam.

The slam consists of two rounds. Anyone can participate in the first round. Poets perform a poem up to three minutes long. Poems are scored and the top three poets move to the second round. After that round is scored, the winners get their picture on the Rockford Ceritfied Slam Facebook page.

If you’re interested in participating, open mic performers can do anything they want up to five minutes in length. Poets planning to participate in the slam itself should bring three poems of up to three minutes each. The third poem will be used should there need to be a “tie-breaker” round.

Audience members can also be involved. Three members of the audience are given the job as judge – scoring each poet on a one-to-ten scale, similar to the Olympics.

If you’re still not clear as to what a Poetry Slam entails, the event held on February 15th was recorded as an episode of “In Print Radio”. Gwen Carratt spoke to a number of poets participating in the slam, asking about their history as poets, and the poems they brought to the slam. The episode will air on Sunday, April 17 at 7:00am with a rebroadcast on Monday morning, April 18 at 7:00.

After listening to the episode, please come out to the next Poetry Slam at the Nordloff Center on Tuesday, April 19 at 6:00. It is free to attend and free to participate in.

Malandrino to be Featured on Artist Spotlight

Pamela Scott speaks with members of Malandrino for the Artist Spotlight program.

We had the pleasure of sitting down with the members of Malandrino; Jon Rozman, Ross Thompson, Phil Pilcher, David Timmcke, Amy Nickel, and Tito Cevallos. Malandrino formed around the summer of 2016 after a trip by Rozman to Rio. Rozman fell in love with Bossa Nova and teamed up with Thompson while still playing for the Screw City Swingers.

The members discussed the differences between playing jazz and Bossa Nova, their combined love for the Bossa Nova genre, and why it’s special to them. They also discuss some of their favorite Bossa Nova artists and why the artists are legends in the world of Samba and Bossa Nova.

After a fascinating talk about musicianship and playing different types of music and instruments, we were treated to a mini concert by the group. Some of their songs will be peppered throughout the Artist Spotlight program featuring Malandrino airing on January 15th at 7:00 AM and re-broadcast on January 16th at 6:00 PM. They will also be performing at the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center on January 23rd at 3:00 pm.

Jazz for the Holidays on Performance

On December 2, 2018, the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center invited a quintet of talented local musicians to play a special holiday show on the Starr Center stage. “Jazz for the Holidays” comprised a wide assortment of Christmas music arranged for their easy jazz style.

The group included Emily Austin and Dianna Cole as featured vocalists. Tim Austin played drums, Carl Cole played piano, and Andrew Cole was on bass.

The show was recorded in its entirety and will be aired on the December 20th episode of Performance.