TRANSCRIPTION:
David Fair: WEMU is expanding its local programming lineup. I'm very glad to say, starting today and every weekday, you'll have local programming from noon until 2 p.m. I'm David Fair, and this is 89 one WEMU. We already have the Daniel Long and Groove Break experience on Mondays between noon and two. On Wednesdays, that slot features Wendy Wright and the Soul Break. And on Fridays, Jeremy Baldwin fills those two hours with the Roots Break. But until now, we've not had a local host to keep you company between noon and two on Tuesdays or Thursdays. Well, now we do. Every Tuesday and Thursday, you'll get the Song Break with John Bommarito, and we couldn't be more excited to get this show underway. And in advance of the inaugural show today, I thought it might be fun to get a little preview of what to expect and to better introduce you John as the host. Welcome!
John Bommarito: Thank you. David. How are you, sir?
David Fair: I am excellent and looking forward to what you have to offer. Now, when I heard there was going to be a new music program on WEMU, it kind of made perfect sense to me that you would fill that time with songs.
John Bommarito: Yeah! Why not? I mean...
David Fair: But clearly, as you were developing the concept for the show, the show title of the Song Break must go a bit deeper.
John Bommarito: Well, I think it was actually a Michael Jewett idea. I was proposing three other ideas, and he said, "How about because when we lost Tony Bennett, we didn't really have a home for his kind of music." It was sort of a hole in the schedule. Maybe a little bit on the weekends, but there was no spot for those classic songs that he does, and that Frank Sinatra does.
David Fair: So, we're talking about the American Songbook.
John Bommarito: The American Songbook. And then, we kind of expanded that, too. But what about these great versions of songs by Bob Dylan and Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell? Oh, okay. Well, maybe a song like that. So, I think the concept was born out of songs that you know, songs that you've heard and done a gazillion times, perhaps. But we're going to look at all those versions. We're going to play vocal versions. And if I'm playing an instrumental version, you're probably singing along to it in your head. So, those are the kind of songs we're going to target for the show.
David Fair: For those who don't know, John previously worked as a music host at Kool 107 and is well acquainted with the taste of the community. I'm curious though, John. You've been on board at WEMU for a year or so now. What differences have you found between the commercial radio audience you were talking to before and the public radio audience at WEMU you'll be talking with now?
John Bommarito: Well, I've actually done noncommercial and commercial radio in my lifetime--Ann Arbor's 107.1 being a commercial station. There is a different approach to the delivery. We're talking to, I guess, a faster-paced listening audience. I guess the NPR audience expects a slower pace of speaking, and that's what I'm going to have to get used to a little bit, because I am used to being excited about what I'm playing. And I will be excited about what I'm playing, but I have to get used to being an NPR host, because I know you guys have this nice, calming tone--- unless you're Michael Jewett. No, I'm just kidding. Michael. He gets excited about his music, too. It's just a different approach. I know that the audience listening in Washtenaw County, some of them will know me from my 15 years on the air, seven days a week up the road. But on the other hand, some people who have not been familiar with the fact that I've been promoting the singer/songwriter music scene, that's kind of what I've known for doing is giving that singer/songwriter scene a boost.
David Fair: This is 89 one WEMU. I'm David Fair alongside John Bommarito. Beginning today, John is going to serve as host of the Song Break from noon to two, both on Tuesdays and on Thursdays. Now, I have a bit of luck working inside the walls of WEMU, and I've got to see kind of how the music sausage is made. I get to see how Michael Jewett prepares a show. I get to see how some of the weekend hosts prepare a show and how they then put it forth. Process and results are as identifiable as the fingerprints of the people who make them. So, how do you approach putting together a two-hour show?
John Bommarito: I've been spending a lot of time in the last month since we came up with the idea to do this--to dig through our library and my own personal library, which has a lot of the artists that I'm going to play. But it's not stuff I've spent a lot of time, like, engulfing my brain into--I'm going to play that on the radio someday. That's a different approach when I'm listening to music. If I'm going to play it on the radio someday, I try and think about how it's going to sound at the time of day that it's on. I've been a DJ for weddings for 37 years.
David Fair: That's a whole different experience!
John Bommarito: That's dinner music. So, this is lunch music. In dinner music, there's going to be some of the same songs, but I'm going to try and keep it the best I can an upbeat lunch.
David Fair: Well, you'll take to the air later today for the first time is host of the Song Break: again, a celebration of the art of the song and where the Great American Songbook meets the modern-day songbook. With that in mind, what are a few of the artists you're going to feature today?
John Bommarito: Well, we're going to start out with Tony Bennett, his very first single, and then something from his last album with Lady Gaga. So, I'm going to kind of look at that. There's a spectrum of time we're going to cover right there. So, today, I'm going to feature some of the classic vocalists. Since we're still in Women's History Month, we're going to obviously go with Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. On Thursday, I'm going to go into some of the more modern singers of that same type of vocalist.
David Fair: Well, I'm looking forward to it all. We'll have more live and local programming on WEMU, and it begins at noon today! It's John Bommarito and the Song Break--Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon to two. Thank you for the time today, John. I'm looking forward to the show!
John Bommarito: Thanks, David.
David Fair: That is John Bommarito. He will be hosting the Song Break noon to two Tuesdays and Thursdays as WEMU continues to expand its live and local programming. I'll be listening. I hope you will too. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89 one WEMU.
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