Photo at right: WPR Newsmakers producers John Gaddo, Maureen McCollum, Steve Roisum & John Davis
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WPR MORNING NEWS on 88.9 WLSU-FM/HD1, La Crosse's NPR news and music station from WPR:
Weekdays during Morning Edition (4-9 a.m.),Wisconsin Public Radio teams up with NPR to cover the day's regional and world news. Special reports and extended interviews produced by WPR's La Crosse News Bureau are occasionally aired at 7:20 or 7:50. Selected reports can be found on our La Crosse News Specials archive page.
Arts & entertainment reports on Great River Region arts and cultural events and activities, music performances, theater, visual arts, community festivals, and more, are occasional features Fridays, at 8:40, on Morning Edition, repeated Friday nights at 6:20 during All Things Considered; WPR's John Gaddo hosts.
Additional news from Wisconsin Public Radio is available at WPRNews.org.
WPR news archives are available here.
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From the archives:
Day to Day Ethics: A series of local interviews that address ethical issues that face people in their everyday lives; learn more about the series at the D.B. Reinhart Center for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University, or
listen online to audio archives.
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MUSIC PROGRAMS exclusive to 88.9 WLSU-FM/HD1...
The World Cafe - Weekdays, 7-9 p.m.; Sundays, 7-8 p.m.
Weeknights, from NPR Music, host David Dye connects us with what's new in the world of music; from jazz to acoustic to new folk and contemporary indie pop, David introduces the musicians creating today's music through studio interviews and performances, plus new and classic recordings. David returns on Sundays to kick off a new week of shows with Conversations from the World Cafe featuring selected interviews and performances from recent programs.
World Cafe playlists, recent music news, reviews, and much more about all types of music are available at World Cafe and NPR Music.
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Jazz Night - weeknights, 9 p.m.
WLSU's weeknight jazz takes off with a slightly different spin each night, opening with:
* Mondays: Swingin' Down the Lane; David Miller hosts an hour of swing music from the big-band era. (Also heard Saturdays at 12-noon.)
* Tuesdays: Song Travels from NPR; Michael Feinstein explores the genre of American Popular Song with musicians who trace their roots back to the Great American Songbook.
* Wednesdays: Blues Encores; Tami Bartels shares two hours of her favorites from the WLSU blues library on Wednesday Night Blues.
* Thursdays: Piano Jazz from NPR; Jon Weber welcomes established and emerging musicians for an hour of conversation and performance, offering new takes and turns on jazz expression. (Also heard Sundays at 3 p.m.)
* Fridays: Riverwalk Jazz from PRI; David Holt and members of the Jim Cullum Jazz Band bring you back to the early years of jazz in America. (Also heard Sundays at 4 p.m.)
Weeknights after 10 p.m. (Wednesdays after 11): locally-hosted jazz from the WLSU music library; Fridays...recordings and classic performances hosted by nationally-syndicated jazz host Bob Parlocha.
OTHER LOCAL JAZZ....
The Saturday Afternoon Jazz Club - Saturdays, noon-5 p.m.
David Miller hosts an hour of big band favorites from noon-1 on Swingin' Down the Lane, and between 1 and 5, WLSU hosts play favorites from the WLSU music library. Requests are welcome at (608)785-8380
Side By Side Jazz is an ongoing series showcasing WLSU's extensive collection of LP recordings, one side at a time; Sundays at 2 p.m. with repeats scheduled periodically throughout WLSU's weekly jazz schedule.
Jazz Night: The Sunday Jam - Sundays, 8 p.m...a wider-than-usual range of musicians and styles from the WLSU library that intersect with jazz, plus occasional specials from NPR and other national producers.
Sonic Vibrations - Sundays, 10 p.m.
The Sunday Jam concludes each week with an hour of electronic music demonstrating improvisation and jazz-like influences on contemporary electronic artists; Steve Farley hosts and welcomes your comments or playlist requests by e-mail at sonicvibrations889@hotmail.com. [You can catch an early broadcast of each week's show Sunday mornings at 4 a.m.]
Jazz Encores, late night/overnight
La Crosse-area hosts share favorites from the WLSU music library, including selected encore broadcasts from past shows.
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OF SPECIAL NOTE...
Piano Jazz from NPR, Sundays at 3 p.m.; Jon Weber welcomes established and emerging musicians for an hour of conversation and performance, offering new takes and turns on jazz expression. (Also heard Thursdays at 9 p.m.)
Sundays at 4 p.m., we head to San Antonio, Texas for Riverwalk Jazz. Soak up the high-energy sounds of the Jim Cullum Jazz Band as award-winning storyteller David Holt brings you back to the early years of jazz in America. His captivating tales cover everything from the turn-of-the-century blues and cakewalks to the small swing ensembles of the 1920s and '30s. (Also Fridays at 9 p.m.)
Sundays at 6 p.m., sample selected performances and regional variety on Tent Show Radio, contemporary music -- from acoustic and folk to swing and rock -- plus spoken word, comedy, skits and more. Tent Show Radio (also heard locally Saturday at 7 p.m. on WPR's Ideas 90.3 WHLA) originates from the Big Top Chautauqua on Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin.
Gail Vaughan hosts ROOTS GOSPEL showcasing selected recordings from the "golden age of Gospel" -- the middle decades of the 20th century -- that led more than one musician into the world of jazz, blues, rock, funk and popular music. You can wake to an encore airing of this series Sunday mornings at 5 a.m.
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WATCH FOR THESE PERFORMANCES COMING TO OUR BLUES ARCHIVES...
We're working to clear the way to hear selected Wednesday Night Blues 'live' performances from WLSU's studios:
In June 2013, Tami welcomed Innocuous Voodoo to the studio for a live Wednesday Night Blues broadcast. Influenced by music from artists from The Meters, Dr. John and Professor Longhair, to Tab Benoit, John Lee Hooker and Aretha Franklin, Innocuous Voodoo is a New Orleans-style funk, jazz, rock, blues, and reggae band based in La Crosse. Founded in 2012, this band has a standing gig Sunday nights at the Popcorn Tavern. Learn more on the band's Facebook page.
The five-piece string band May North was was in our studios for Wednesday Night Blues in May 2013. From rockin' blues to foot-stompin' bluegrass and traditional Americana Folk, members of The May North come from St. Paul and Winona, MN: George (guitar) and Stephanie McCorkell (fiddle), Chris O'Brien (dobro), Jeff Swanner (bass) and Matthew Byrne (banjo).
In March 2013 we heard the bluesy side of Matt Ray and Those Damn Horses, a hard-driving string band that serves up steamy helpings of roots, Americana, and old time music all with an intoxicating modern twist.
Members of the band (at left) visited with Wednesday Night Blues host Tami Bartels and performed 'live' in our studios during a recent visit to the Coulee Region.
Other past guests:
* Winona blues musician Mike Munson returned to share more of his own music and to introduce some of his favorite recordings by others, as he co-hosted the show with Tami Bartels. (February 2013)
* Singer-songwriter Scott Wilcox shared a selection of stories and music, from blues to rock, jazz to soul, folk to country. The Tomah, WI native, has returned to Wisconsin after living in Alabama and starting a family. (January 2013)
* Members of the local blues group Cheech & The Family Band. This group, which plays in La Crosse and for surrounding music festivals, is comprised of Andy Steeno on upright bass, Jim Zill on guitar, Steve Moen on harmonica and Greg "Cheech" Hall on slide guitar. (October 2012)
* La Crosse's own Paul Paulie Matushek has been producing looped sounds with his acoustic and bass axes since his discovery of the art. He shared his music and discussed the joy he feels from playing his music. (July 2012)
* Minnesota blues guitarist Charlie Parr stopped by during his 2012 spring/summer tour to perform in our studios. His tour has included concerts in La Crosse, Decorah, and other area communities. (June 2012)
* Independent Music Award winners Joe and Vicki Price from Decorah, Iowa. Joe and Vicki's music is flavored more to the juke-joint end of the blues: a bit rough and tons of fun. (May 2012)
* Western Wisconsin's County Road G: Heather Kitching, bass; Jeff Strand, electric guitar; and Noah Hittner, acoustic guitar, vocals. Combining the influences of blues, folk, and classic rock, they perform mostly original material with selected covers. (April 2012)
* La Crosse's Greg "Cheech" Hall (at right). (March 2012)
* Winona blues musician Mike Munson. (February 2012)
Wednesday Night Blues presents three hours of blues every Wednesday from 9-midnight. Bartels draws mainly from the WLSU music library, but also features musicians from our scenic river and bluffs region along the Mississippi River who perform solo and acoustic blues "live" in our studios.
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For WLSU's full schedule, check out our daily program guide.
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Other program news...
WPR Network Programming - Information on NPR News and music programming on 88.9 WLSU-FM/HD1, La Crosse, and 89.1 WSSW, Platteville, can be found at WPR News and Music. Please note: local programming preempts some WPR network programs on 88.9 WLSU-FM/HD1; you can hear the entire service on 88.9 WLSU-HD2 and on 91.3 WHHI-HD3.
WPR CLassical, Wisconsin Public Radio's full-time classical music service can be heard locally on 90.3 WHLA-HD2 and 91.3 WHHI-HD2 or over the Internet, Learn more at WPR Classical.
Details about WPR's Ideas Network programming on 90.3 WHLA-FM/HD1, La Crosse, and 91.3 WHHI-FM/HD1, Highland, can be found at WPR Ideas.
A GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!
The Saturday, June 8 national broadcast of Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know? from Viterbo University was a huge success! Some 650 people attended the show, broadcast by Wisconsin Public Radio, and distributed to stations coast-to-coast by Public Radio International.
Guests included a visit from La Crosse Congressman Ron Kind, Blues music from Winona Mike Munson, mayfly expert
Professor Emeritus Tom Claflin, Gary Rudy from Rudy's Drive-In and local brewmaster Joe Katchever of Pearl Street Brewery.
And we couldn't have done it without the many businesses, individuals and organizations who donated time, materials or in-kind support to make it happen.
Our thanks to:
* Radisson Hotel La Crosse
* Three Rivers Outdoors
* D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership
* Nordic Creamery
* Minnesota Marine Art Museum
* Franciscan Spirituality Center
* St Brigid's Meadow
* Pearl Street Brewery
* The Pump House Regional Arts Center
Many thanks also to the volunteers who helped:
* Photographers Jenn Baechle & Franklin Hessler
* Sarah Albertson of Three Rivers Outdoors
* Tim Keneipp & his daughter Shea of Nordic Creamery
* Emily Strickler & friend from Franciscan Spirituality Center
* Phyllis Stevenson
* Kay Mazza & family
* Michelle Jerome
* Michael Sigman
* Diane & Brian Doudna
A one-hour version of the show will be broadcast Saturday, June 15, at 9 a.m. on 88.9 WLSU during the Whad'Ya Know? Radio Hour.
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"WORLD PERSPECTIVES" is a collaborative project produced in conjunction with UW-La Crosse. Throughout the year, the La Crosse office of Wisconsin Public Radio hosts tours, class conversations and special program opportunities to assist UWL international students in their understanding of U.S. media, community issues, and the English language.
Since 2009, this initiative has included gathering student commentaries and essays that reflect their perspectives on home, culture, and living abroad. The full archive, including all-new essays from the 2012-13 academic-year, and details of the project are available on our "WORLD PERSPECTIVES" page.
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WPR's 88.9 WLSU tops the list of "favorite La Crosse-area radio stations!"
The 2012, third annual Best of La Crosse contest was sponsored by La Crosse's Second Supper monthly newspaper. Read more at Second Supper Newspaper.
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IN 2013, HD DIGITAL RADIO OFFERS CLASSICAL MUSIC (AND MORE) FROM WPR
Newsmakers also received a second place 2012 WBA award in the category of "best radio show" -- this award recognizes presentation and impact, creativity, and production values, and in this case calls special attention to our Newsmakers program on historic preservation initiatives in and around the La Crosse area.
