Left of the Dial

That wonderful Replacements tune reminds me of my high school days when I was "discovering" great rock music that certainly wasn't heard anywhere on the Memphis radio dial (or so I believed). It also calls to mind four years as a DJ at KCOU 88.1 FM in Columbia, Mo. where Ted and I were both students. That was a special station. In addition to diverse and eclectic programming, the station had that college radio "spirit" that left a huge mark on me musically.

I wrongly assumed that a station like that certainly didn't exist in Memphis. It wasn't until I moved back to town in 1998 that I was turned on to the wonderful little radio miracle called WEVL 89.9 FM. Founded 30 years ago, WEVL is independent, volunteer radio at its finest, folks. Over the course of the last couple of years since we released REFRAIN, WEVL has been very good to us. Several DJs, including Hayden (host of Tuesday's "Memphis Beat") and Paul (host of "Thursday Morning Throwdown"), play cuts from both of our records consistently. Of course, it's fun to hear our songs on the radio, but it's even more exciting to get the music out in a town that (perhaps surprisingly) isn't always so supportive of artists who write and perform original music. We are most appreciative of the work of this station. We hope you'll peruse the WEVL Web site and check out some of these fine shows. You can make requests by calling the air room at 528.1990. Naturally, the greatest way to support the station is to become a member. That's a whole lotta radio love for just $35/year. We hope you'll join us as members!

Now that you've sworn-off big, corporate-owned stations totally, I have exceptional news: There's a brand new local music show on the opposite end of the dial! Dennis and Ric host "The Great Unsigned" on Rock 103 every Sunday from 9 to 11 p.m. The show has only been on for two weeks now, but the guys do a great job of highlighting and promoting local talent. On Sunday night, Dennis and Ric played our song "In the Books". They followed it with some jabs about us changing our name to "The Pacific Standards" when we get big and move to L.A. and a really nice shout-out to our good friend and producer Posey Hedges. It's a fantastic show. Hope you'll go ahead and inundate the guys with requests for songs from our new record. They can be reached here.

So, before you rush out to buy your Sirius receiver or have XM installed in your car, give both of these great locals a listen! It'll be worth your while!!