89.1 WEMU

  What happens when you take a radio junkie and technophile and plop him down in the middle of one of the great public radio stations in the United States?  Well...  You've been hearing and seeing parts of it for just a little more than two years.  Patrick Campion loves the idea of what radio once was, what it still can be, and what it must become into the future.  WEMU is the very embodiment of all those great concepts, and your continued support lets WEMU thrive and flourish in unprecendented ways.

Marc Taras surrounds himself with records for a living.  In his "day job" he's the proprietor of a local record shop.  Saturday evenings he spins tunes for all of us during Cuban Fantasy. He's a prime example of how WEMU's hosts turn their passion for music and community service into great radio.

  Joe Tiboni has spent most of his life as a devotee to the blues.  You get to experience that experience and passion every Sunday evening when he steps in to host Big City Blues Cruise.  That's what you support when you give to WEMU - passion.  Shows like these are slowly disappearing from the radio landscape, but, at WEMU, they're an important part of our schedule because that's what our community has told us is important. 

When Jorge Avellan joined WEMU's staff he had never spent time working in public radio.  His background as a professional news man, however, impressed us enough to know that he'd do a great job for you.  What you've heard over the past few months is his commitment to news coming through in his reports.  Jorge loves telling the stories of our community, and when you support WEMU you support those efforts.  

Jeremy Baldwin is another man of few words on the WEMU staff.    That just leaves him more time to listen to great music and share it with you every Saturday during The Roots Music Project.  His passion for discovering new tunes and sharing them with you is what you support when you give to WEMU.  Let's learn a little about what makes him tick, a few words at a time.

Have you ever met someone at their "day job" and wondered what they do for a hobby?  We wonder how many people have bumped into Nik Thompson during the week would know that he gets his groove on with you every Sunday morning on WEMU.  Get to know a little more about the host of "The Sunday Best" and his passion for bringing you the very best music he can find.  That's what you support when you listen and donate to WEMU - the passion of folks just like Nik.  

If you listen to WEMU, then you're automatically part of the "In Crowd."  Our listeners and supporters make the station hum, and our hosts know and love this energy.  That's where Jessica Webster comes in.  She's been with WEMU for a few years, but recently she's come to Sunday afternoons and taken possession of the 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. time slot as the host of "The In Crowd."  Here's a glimpse into what makes her tick.

Weekday mornings at 4:30 a.m., most people are still soundly sleeping in their beds.  Mat Hopson is already in the WEMU studios, getting things ready to bring you the best possible Morning Edition he can produce.  Your reward for supporting WEMU is the dedication of people like Mat.  We sat down with him to learn a little about what makes Mat tick. 

  Taylor came to WEMU as a student employee while he was finishing his undergrad work at EMU.  We were so happy with what he did in our newsroom we offered him a gig when he graduated.  This is the kind of effort you support when you listen and donate to WEMU.  He's a man of few words, but he makes them all count!

Here's another example of great passion for public radio and performance leading to a long term love affair with WEMU.  Wendy Wright hosts "From Memphis To Motown" every Saturday at 1:00 p.m.  But that's not where she started.  Wendy followed the path from listener to volunteer to host that many of our staff have been on.  Your passion for and support of WEMU helps us keep weekends "live and local" with great hosts like Wendy.

One of the most important jobs at any public radio station is taking care of the people that take care of the station - donors and volunteers like you!

Marilyn does a great service for WEMU by taking of a lot of the "behind the scenes" work that keeps the station moving forward.

One of the great things about WEMU is that we have passionate and loyal fans/listeners/supporters.  Some of them are so passionate that they just have to get involved.  This is what led today's featured staff member to WEMU.  As of last year, Daniel Long has been handling hosting duties on The Groove Yard.  He continues a long tradition of audiophiles, passionate about sharing their passion for jazz, working for you on the airwaves of WEMU.

What you hear on the air on WEMU is the result of a lot of hard work behind the scenes. Your donations to WEMU keep things moving on both fronts. Our next "meet the staff" interview is with a hard working woman that never stops trying to make the best WEMU possible.  She's our Music Director and host of 89.1 Jazz, Linda Yohn.

Every afternoon you rely on WEMU to get you news, traffic, weather and more. We entertain you, inform you, and make you laugh. When you support WEMU, you fund the hard work that goes into making all of that possible. We will be spending some time with several of the people that make WEMU "go" over the next couple of weeks.  Today we sit down with our newest on-air host, radio veteran, Lisa Barry.

When you listen to WEMU, you spend time with the great people that work on and off the air.  And, when you support WEMU, you help keep them moving forward.  We will be spending some time with several of the people that make WEMU "go" over the next couple of weeks.  Today we're chatting with the man behind "Bluestime," Michael Jewett.

  When you listen to WEMU, you spend time with the great people that work on and off the air.  And, when you support WEMU, you help keep them moving forward.  We will be spending some time with several of the people that make WEMU "go" over the next couple of weeks.  First up is a familiar voice to anyone who wakes up with WEMU - David Fair.  

After several requests from station supporters to give The Roots Music Project more time on the 89.1 WEMU airwaves, management has decided to move the program to a new time and expand it from two hours to three.  Starting Saturday, July 19, the popular show and its host, Jeremy Baldwin, can be heard starting at 4:00pm.

 "Jeremy has a great following in this community," said Patrick Campion, WEMU Program Director. "Moving the program to a little later time on Saturday opens it up to an even larger potential audience and lets us more easily expand it to an additional hour.  This also gives us a chance to move some other local programs around that pair up well with The Roots Music Project."

From Memphis To Motown and host Wendy Wright will move from 7:00pm Sunday to 1:00pm Saturday.

"Wendy's blues selections are a great lead in to the rest of our new Saturday lineup," Campion continues. "Again, this gives her an opportunity to be exposed to a new and wider audience with a program we believe has a lot of potential for growth."

Dear WEMU Friends:    This is it.  The last day of  WEMU's Spring Pledge Drive.  More than $140,000 has been pledged since March 13; if yours was among them, please accept our grateful thanks.  If you have not yet made your gift to WEMU, please do so now to help us raise the last $58,000.

 It will take a record day to meet that last chunk of our goal but we have been here before and we have been successful.