the dashboard melted, but we still have the RADIO...

Happy new year! Here's hoping 2008 is filled with peace, love and parties, music, friends and fun, and a whole lotta blogs!

I just received a reminder today that Harrisonburg's favorite alternative music station: 88.7FM WXJM, will be back in action starting Monday, January 7th. For those of you in the Harrisonburg area, be sure to get your radio ready and for those of you, like me, who will NOT be local listeners, check this out! No need to be tied to those measly radio waves! Welcome to 2008.

For those of you who don't know much about WXJM, here's a little history:
WXJM began as a question on an SGA annual election ballot in 1984, which asked: “Do you support a student-run, student-organized radio station.” Nearly 100% of voters responded “Yes” and the station was born.
The founders of WXJM went through many steps to create the station heard on 88.7FM today. An available frequency had to be found, a name had to be decided on and an FCC application had to be completed. It was also determined early in the creation stages that WXJM would raise funding for the station through underwriting and sponsorship dollars from local businesses rather than rely on corporate donations as many college stations do.
This choice reflects the greater goals and values of WXJM as a promoter of local and independent businesses as well as bands and musicians. General Manager, Amanda Phillips described the philosophy as a way of giving artists air-time who truly deserve it though it is otherwise unavailable to them on major stations. WXJM distinguishes itself as a station dedicated to enabling students hands-on experience with broadcast communications, production, promotion, and music industry experience as well as an opportunity to share their love of music not only with others involved with the station, but with the entire JMU and greater Harrisonburg community.
“Going to a WXJM show is a great way to meet different people at JMU,” explained Programming Director Sarah Delia. “It’s an awesome way to be exposed to new music and see what other people are doing in the ‘Burg.”
Phillips was excited to talk about the future plans of the station. “It’s cool to put a lot of time and effort into something you love.” She explained, “If you like good music, then WXJM is the right place to go. It’s all good people with a common interest in music…and we’re fun!”
Unlike most genre-based radio stations, WXJM features loud rock, jazz, americana, progressive rock, RPM, urban, free form, world, and talk shows and makes a conscious effort to reach each of those audiences through their live shows as well. Delia emphasized the goal of the station is to expose students to all kinds of music throughout the year and appeal to all audiences as the many genres featured on WXJM do.
That’s what WXJM is all about: opening ears, eyes and minds. In addition to entertaining the JMU campus with various shows and events, and promoting independent music through the airwaves, members of the station also traveled to New York City in October to represent JMU at CMJ, a college music festival featuring many of the bands heard on WXJM.
It’s an exciting time for music as the industry changes with the advances in technology like MySpace.com, making the world an easy place to navigate for under-represented artists.
If you are interested in getting involved with the independent music scene and WXJM, or are just looking for some good music, good people, and a good time, check out the website or post a comment here.