Howard Stern in the Land of No Bleep

Where would Howard Stern be without controversy? The unrepentant bad boy of radio built his career on thumbing his nose at taste, tact, various radio station bosses and the FCC. Having anointed himself of late as a poster child for free speech, he has leveraged his reputation and following to publicize his unquestionably bold move to satellite radio. But when he debuts on Sirius in January he enters new territory, where the f-bomb drops freely -- and as frequently as ordinance on an artillery range. How will Stern and crew fare in a medium where the bleep is an endangered species and the particular brand of controversy that has propelled his career is hard to come by?

Will an unbridled Stern simply amp up the frat-boy antics, or will something else emerge?

Stern is at his best when he asks squirm-inducing questions of his guests -- lampooning pompous celebrities; allowing starlets, strippers and rock stars to demonstrate their intellectual prowess; and providing a platform for racists, fascists and their ilk to bury themselves in uproarious ugliness.

But the occasional moments of genuine hilarity are too often separated by yet another segment of seventh-grade-level obsession with genitalia and/or the digestive process. Stern talking a woman out of her blouse is just not as funny as Stern asking Tori Spelling to name the capitol of New York State (her answer: New Jersey).

So what happens to Stern when there is no need for a 7-second delay, and no threat of whopper FCC fines? Is there any real mystery about what gets bleeped? And if not, is the ability to hear anyone on the Stern show utter even the filthiest expletive enough to keep a satellite audience entertained, especially when listeners can hear all the nasty language they want on any of dozens of other Sirius channels? In the uncensored world of satellite radio, dirty talk is not a distinguishing feature.

Stern's move to Sirius is a milestone in the continuing tectonic shift in media consumption. But the self-described king of all media is likely to find that he will need more than the Seven Dirty Words to keep his crown from slipping.


(Also available on Blogcritics.com)

Folk School: Carrying on the Tradition at the Kent State Folk Festival

In a tiny classroom in the Kent State Student Center, an impromptu four-piece combo fronted by two virtuoso steel guitar players rolls through a series of classic western swing and country tunes while the rapt, standing-room-only crowd of perhaps three dozen whoops in appreciation. In between tunes, the steel players answer questions from the crowd about their instruments and technique.

During the free workshops at the 39th annual Kent State Folk Festival, Nov. 19, 12 p.m. - 5 p.m., variations on that scene will play out in classrooms in the Student Center and in the adjacent Kiva auditorium, as some the region's best performers demonstrate and discuss instrumental technique (mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo, accordion), musical styles (bluegrass, blues, swing, Celtic, Balkan), songwriting, storytelling, and clog and contra dancing.

Elsewhere in the Student Center -- in designated jam rooms, lobby corners, and sometimes even outside -- amateur and professional players of all ages gather in floating sessions that will last the entire afternoon, playing everything from ancient jazz and pop tunes to blues and bluegrass, and the occasional classical piece.

While the dominant feature of the festival is the series of concerts by an eclectic list of national and regional artists, the workshops, held on the final day of the festival, represent the accessibility and personal interaction that define the folk music tradition.

"People want to know what's going on," said Josh Davis, singer and guitarist with Steppin' In It, one of the national recording acts that participated in the 2004 festival workshops, and a prime example of the new generation of folk performers.

"That's the cool thing about this music. People have a lot of hands-on interest, whereas with a lot of other kinds of music, people may have hands-on interest but it's not made very accessible," Davis said. "I've met most of my heroes in the folk music world, but there's no way I'm going to meet anybody from the pop music world."

It was at a KSU folk festival workshop that Roland Kausen, a veteran featured mandolin and bluegrass workshop performer, met and played with one of his heroes: bluegrass legend Jethro Burns.

"He was just such an easy-going guy, always cracking jokes, and he was really supportive of all the musicians around him. There was not a lot of ego there. It was a joy, and it was actually inspiring," Kausen said.

While the folk fans and amateur players are drawn to the workshops for the opportunity to listen to and learn from the some of the region's most skilled players, the featured workshop performers are attracted by the back-porch, community atmosphere.

"We all know each other and we've been doing this for twenty or thirty years," Kausen said. "It's an opportunity to get back together and visit and play."

That opportunity is rare among the area's working musicians.

"We don't get a chance to hear each other play because we're working," said Seth Rosen, a member of Cleveland-based roots band The Suspenders and another veteran swing and mandolin workshop performer. "This kind of thing during the day is an opportunity to hang out."

The Kent Folk Festival workshops are "one of the friendliest events you're going to find," according to Al Moss, pedal steel guitar player with Hillbilly Idol and a featured performer in the steel guitar workshop at the 2004 festival.

"As many times as I've been a part of it, in workshops or just participating in the audience, man, it's just like old home week," Moss said.

But for Moss and other featured workshop performers, the workshops also represent an opportunity to evangelize about the music.

Moss described the steel guitar workshop at the 2004 festival as an opportunity to be a "missionary of the pedal steel" to those who are unfamiliar with the instrument. "Lot's of folks, especially when you get north of the Mason-Dixon line, look at what I play and call it a keyboard. Or they hear it and say, 'Oh, yeah, I recognize that sound, but I didn't know that's what it looked like.'"

"What I hope is that they walk away with a better understanding," Moss said, "and then they will get turned on and want to play one."

If the number of guitar, fiddle, mandolin and other instruments cases being toted by those attending the workshops is any indication, people of all ages are getting turned on, and, thanks to events like these workshops, the folk music tradition shows no signs of running out of steam.

The Kent State Folk Festival workshops are free and open to the public. For more information and a complete schedule visit: kentstatefolkfestival.org

(Also available on Blogcritics.org.)

The 39th Annual Kent State Folk Festival: Workshops

The 39th Annual Kent State Folk Festival: "Free workshops at the Kent State Student Center"

A day of free entertainment. More on this later.

Profile: Folk Alley's Jim Blum

Jim Blum has witnessed the graying of the local folk audience and the emergence of a new generation of gifted young musicians in the 25 years he has been been a folk music host on Kent State's WKSU.

These days he is busy with preparations for the 39th annual Kent State Folk Festival, Nov. 11-19. Headliners for the the 2005 series of concerts include John Gorka, the Holmes Brothers, Over the Rhine and 60s icon Donovan.

Blum got his start as the host of an hour-long bluegrass show on WKSU. The Kent graduate had no radio experience, but had played in a bluegrass and swing band, and had worked as an actor and voice-over announcer.

"I submitted a tape and it came down between me and a professor and they thought, 'let's give it to this young guy, he may stick around a lot longer,'" Blum said.

They were right.

He split his time between his radio job, work as a salesman for a construction company, and acting in industrial films for General Electric and Sherwin Williams. It was a tough time, and then it got tougher. The market for the industrial films dried up in the sour economy of the late 90s, as did Blum's marriage.

He was hosting two evening folk shows on WSKU and spending one day in the office. The station management wanted to add a third night of folk programming, but was having difficulty finding someone to host the extra show. At the urging of station colleagues, Blum approached management with the idea of taking on the new night and rounding out a full-time schedule with work organizing the folk festival and other concerts.

The station agreed, and in 1997 Blum became a full-time folk radio host and music programmer.

In September 2003 those roles spilled over into Folk Alley, when WKSU launched the Web site to reach a world-wide audience with a 24/7 digital stream of folk music. Folk Alley now has more than 50,000 registered users, and countless others who listen via iTunes.

What goes into selecting the music for Folk Alley and WKSU? "People say it's all subjective, that it's whatever you like," Blum said. "Oh, no it ain't."

"I can point to any song on Folk Alley and tell you why it's there."

Blum describes a complex criteria for song selection that includes melodic structure, lyrical content, instrumental virtuosity and an absence of clichés. In programming the songs for each show, Blum likes a diverse mix of male and female performers, solo acts and groups and songs in a variety of tempos.

Blaring electric guitar solos or jazzy horn sections are unlikely to make the cut. The selected music is generally acoustic, but each piece is considered on its own merit, according to Blum.

"There are things that might not be totally acoustic, but they fit, " Blum explained.

The boundaries of folk music are unclear, and that is what makes the music unique. Blum draws from several categories: singer-songwriters; heroes, such as Pete Seeger, Lead Belly, and Joni Mitchell; instrumentalists, such as fiddle and guitar whiz Mark O'Connor; Celtic; Roots/Americana, including swing and bluegrass bands; and World Music, which on any given show might include music from the Andes or Australia or from Cuban dance hall sensations The Buena Vista Social Club.

Blum challenges any strictly traditionalist definition of folk, saying, "the best stuff is between categories."

According to Blum, some people consider folk front porch music that was never intended for public performance. Others describe it as outspoken, socially conscious music. Still others claim that folk is played only on acoustic instruments by artists with the skill of a jazz or classical musician.

"If you look at some of these young groups and some of the established people, they have these things in common. They are poets and philosophers who phrase well. They are skilled players. Yet it's a casual, homespun thing, too," Blum said.

Blum mentions several acts that have recently emerged on the national folk scene -- including Nickel Creek, The Duhks, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Mammals, Uncle Earl and Steppin' In It -- as prime examples of the new generation of folkies.

Closer to home, there is no shortage of talent. Blum describes the folk scene in the Cleveland area as vibrant and overstocked. Venues like the Beachland Ballroom in Collinwood, the Barking Spider in the University Circle area, the Winchester in Lakewood, the Rose in Medina, the Kent Stage and the Visitor's Center in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park all compete for the same acts.

Members of local folk talent pool, many of whom will participate in the free Folk Festival workshops on Saturday, Nov. 19, try to play out all the time. But the market is tight, and people can't go out every night.

"You've got people in their mid-40s into their 50s listening," Blum said. "They're now nesters, and they've got a couple of kids and they can't go out."

But while folk has a dedicated, if aging, local audience, Blum acknowledges the need to expand the audience by exposing the younger generation to the music.

"I'm a little concerned about this market skewing older," Blum said.

While Kent State has hosted the Folk Festival for 39 years, few students actually attend.

"You would hope that these 20,000 kids would wake up and realize that they don't have to listen to the crap that's being handed to them," Blum said.

"How do you get them to do it? You can't force it down their throats."

Efforts to attract a younger audience to the 2005 festival include the continuation of the festival talent contest and the booking of younger acts, including Over the Rhine, premier jam band The Horse Flies, the Dust Poets and fiddler April Verch, who opens for Donovan on Nov. 19.

Those who have discovered folk music have sought it out, according to Blum, who describes the folk audience as "bright people who just won't settle for...pablum."

"And then they're enlightened when they find that there is a choice," Blum said.

Information on tickets for all Kent State Folk Festival shows is available at kentstatefolkfestival.org/


Technorati tags: folk music, music, music festival, Kent State, WKSU, Cleveland, Ohio

(Also available at Blogcritics.org.)

Journalists vs. Bloggers

In an Oct. 16 column, Raleigh News and Observer columnist Ted Vaden wrote:

In the area of journalistic standards, I for one am not getting too hung up on the relative merits of newspaper journalists versus bloggers. My sense is that readers will gravitate to those communicators, print or online, who over the long term demonstrate adherence to basic journalistic values of accuracy, fairness and pursuit of truth.

I want to believe that Vaden's assessment of readers is accurate, but I'm also tired of the discussion. Bottom line: blogging is karaoke journalism -- no insult intended for either activity. Weblogs are nothing more than user-friendly content management systems. It's the content that matters.