Kathy Weisbach greets me at the door of her home in Crescent Hill followed by her dog, Dottie; a small white dog with black spots, floppy ears and a gentle disposition. Weisbach just adopted her this past summer and told me she’s probably around 7 years old and completely deaf. This is ironic given that Kathy’s life revolves around music. An upright piano sits a foot away from her dining room table and you can often find musicians plugging in their guitars and amps in her shoebox basement, singing into the set of microphones staged just in front of the staircase. This is where the action is: Crescent Hill Radio’s headquarters, a simple arrangement of computers, a small mixer, and microphones. On one wall, Weisbach has cords looped and hanging just above a small, screened window, barely noticeable, at the baseboard where her part-Lionhead rabbit Thumper peeks in to see who has come to visit. Joining Thumper are two parakeets that Weisbach has rehabilitated, chirping a rhythm to our conversation.
Most evenings are this quiet. The animals wander, the music from the station purrs in the background. “Everything is automated,” Weisbach tells me. “What’s cool about it is I can record the intro to the band that is getting ready to play and the computer program randomly goes through the whole list of everything I dumped on the computer and when the artist’s name comes up, it matches the files that we recorded, like, ‘And now here’s The Bad Reeds,’ and it cross-fades and everything. I can’t believe this program.” The program also will go online and find the time and temperature, and match that with pre-recorded announcements. Weisbach had her 10-year-old niece record all of the temperature announcements. This mix of technology and grassroots enthusiasm is what makes Crescent Hill Radio unique among radio stations. Weisbach has funded the entire operation, starting with an inspired purchase of two A.M. transmitters, which she has affixed to two buildings she owns on Frankfort Avenue, and has taught herself how to use a small sound board, the mixing program and web page design.
Weisbach began the station in 2009 as “an expensive hobby” with the hope of providing her neighborhood with an alternative to local radio programming, which she believes is mostly corporate-owned. Crescent Hill Radio has grown over the past year and a half to over 4,500 different recordings and is available through streaming audio 24-hours a day. Although Weisbach has no intention of getting rid of her two transmitters that serve a radius of sixteen blocks throughout the Crescent Hill and nearby Clifton neighborhoods, she has devoted listeners from around the world. Weisbach has listed the station on as many internet radio directories as possible, many of which are now available as apps for iPads and iPhones, including iTunes and Windows Media Guide. In fact, she humbly tells me, “On the front page of the Windows Media Guide, the Editor’s Picks, pick four different stations a week and we’ve made that list three different times.” She adds, “I guess they like us.” The editors at Windows Media Guide aren’t the only people who like the station. Weisbach says she has garnered regular listeners from around the world, including listeners from Japan, The Netherlands, Canada, California and New Jersey. That’s not only good for Crescent Hill Radio. That’s good for Louisville music.
Crescent Hill Radio is a proud proponent of local music. Every show, save one show produced by a theater company in Seattle, is locally created, hosted and produced. Hosts are responsible for their own playlists, all of which feature Louisville or Kentucky musicians. In addition to the prerecorded shows, Weisbach has several live shows. kRi and Angie host a live show called Wednesday Night Live, featuring local acoustic, folk and folk-rock musicians, while on Thursday nights Hippyhead and Kevin produce a live show, Hippyhead Spotlight, with more of a heavy metal, hard rock emphasis. Weisbach also invites local musicians into her tiny studio to play music and interview. Also she travels to neighborhood events with her laptop in hand to record and stream live shows such as the Mighty Kindness Harvest Hootenany, Danny Flanigan’s weekly showcase at Clifton’s Pizza, and the upcoming Kentuckiana Blues Society’s Anniversary Party at the Vernon Club.
Another upcoming, live broadcast Weisbach is happy to discuss is Crescent Hill Radio’s first-ever fundraiser. The event is scheduled for November 26th at The Vernon Club and will feature five bands, including honky-tonk musicians Denny Wheatley and Mickey Clark, indie-rock band Several Hundred People, and blues act The Stella-Vees. The fundraiser will help the station raise needed money for advertising. Weisbach also empowers her hosts to find sponsorships to put money back into their shows. Right now, the station relies on word-of-mouth, internet directories, and social media to drum up listeners. Hippyhead’s show is one of her most popular shows because he uses Facebook frequently to link with his programming. Weisbach is all in favor of using technology to connect with her listeners. Hosts and local musicans send their shows and music to Weisbach as MP3s through YouSendIt, and Weisbach includes widgets galore on the Crescent Hill Radio website. These include an Amazon.com icon that allows listeners to purchase the music they are listening to and links to musician’s individual web pages.
If Weisbach’s webpage is busy, it’s only because her mind is working on overdrive. Don’t let the calm demeanor and the sweet dog sleeping at her feet fool you. She has more ideas than she is able to put into action. Currently, Weisbach has just found a local jazz guitarist who sits on the board of the Louisville Jazz Society, Diego Palma, to host a Sunday jazz show, she would love to start a bluegrass show, and she is actively looking for a local theater company to produce radio drama. Every page on the station’s website sports an envelope icon for musicians and budding radio producers and hosts to contact her with ideas, pitches, and MP3s. And she is happy to include local announcements about community events into her automated rotations. Crescent Hill Radio is a living example of how technology and community-building can go hand-in-hand.
–Amy Miller
Crescent Hill Radio:
Shows Worth A Listen
Just log on to Crescent Hill Radio’s website and you will notice a variety of programming genres. The word “eclectic” doesn’t do justice to what’s going on here. Better yet, all of the offerings are local or regional, with the exception of public domain radio drama and classic variety shows such as “Burns & Allen” and “Gunsmoke.” Where else will you hear regularly broadcast local hip-hop, local heavy metal, local punk, local classical, and local faith-inspired music? Nowhere, that’s where! Among the smattering of hour-long local genre rotations, Crescent Hill Radio boasts locally-produced shows with live or pre-recorded hosts creating the mix of music. The following list is a highlight of the weekly shows that have garnered listener interest. All shows can be accessed online for a week following their broadcast.
Danny Flanigan + 1
(8:30 PM, Tuesdays)
Each week, local acoustic hero Danny Flanigan hosts a “song swap” with a different musician at Clifton’s Pizza on Frankfort Avenue. This show is a live recording of Flanigan’s shared set.
Wednesday Night Live
(7 PM, Wednesdays)
kRi and Angie host a show full of local acoustic stylings from Pokey LaFarge to The TWA Sisters.
Hippyhead Spotlight
(8 PM, Thursdays)
Two friends host the show and banter together and with guests while they play a range of local music, from blues to heavy metal.
The Kentuckiana Blues Radio Show
(8 PM, Fridays)
This hour-long show is hosted by the Gary Sampson, President of the Kentuckiana Blues Society. Sampson plays contemporary and vintage blues from Louisville and regional musicians.
Keep Hearing Voices
(Noon, Saturdays)
Hosted by Marie Direction, this show is an amalgam of local reporting, reading, singing, interviews, recipes, outtakes, live and edited recordings. Founded on the belief that one voice is neither more nor less important than another, the show changes the mix from week to week.
From The Inkwell
(1 PM, Saturdays)
Local writers have an outlet on Sheri Wright’s weekly show. Writers can submit poetry and short prose, and join Sheri in the studio to read their work.
And Two New Shows:
Dan Boone’s Pickin’ Ranch
(5 PM, Sundays)
The Pickin’ Ranch originally aired on cable access as a video series recorded at Louisville Musician’s Union Hall. The audio from the series is now an 11-part radio series you can only hear on Crescent Hill Radio, featuring local folk musicians. The show will end with a Christmas special.
The Sunday Sessions
(6 PM, Sundays)
The new kid on the block is jazz guitarist Diego Palma’s show featuring jazz musicians and ensembles from Louisville.
How to buy remedies online at best prices? In fact, it is formidably to find of repute drugstore. Kamagra is a far-famed curing used to treat impotency. If you’re concerned about sexual dysfunction, you probably know about dosage of levitra. What is the most vital information you have to know about levitra doses? More data about the question available at levitra dose. Perhaps you already know some about the matter. Usually, having difficulty getting an erection can be embarrassing. This disease is best solved with vocational help, generally through counseling with a certified physician. Your pharmacist can help find the option that is better for your condition. We hope that the info here answers some of your questions, but please contact physician if you want to know more. Professional staff are experimental, and they will not be shocked by anything you tell.