Tuesday, November 10
By Bruce Swan, Folk Radio DJ and Host, “Music Your Mother Would Not Like” 
A normal week, pre-pandemic, would be preparing, producing, and delivering 2.5 radio shows to the two radio stations that I broadcast from. This includes preparing setlists, organizing interviews, preparing the interviews, and then the final production including editing.
The benefits of these wonderful activities are being able to present new music to a growing fan base. Hopefully, to bring a little levity to a bad day, some company to a lonely person, some new discovery to a listener, all anonymously. While I am not anonymous, I certainly let people listening know who I am and where I am broadcasting from. This is radio (and streaming) after all, therefore, obviously, I’m not seen. Therefore, I’m never sure who is listening and where the audience is listening from.
If you have ever heard “The Ballad of the Sandman” by Mike Agronoff; a recitation about a late-night disc jockey, you have a bit of an idea of the creativity, excitement, mystery, and anonymity of the job. It is worth a listen and while it is loosely based on a couple of real life people, aspects of the piece are right on. It’s interesting to note that Mike was never a DJ, but you’d think he was.
The other part of the week was going out to see live music. Most weeks, I was out two to four nights a week, sometimes two different venues on the same night! Seeing live music is a bug that I caught as a teenager. While I don’t remember the set lists of the first two bands I saw live, I remember everything else about it including my mother dropping me and a friend off at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, MO. Yup, old enough to rock but not to drive!
So began the passion for live music. For me, it’s more than a passion, less an addiction. I am not sure that I am a candidate for “Concert Goers Anonymous” but perhaps a little group counseling might be in order.
And then the pandemic… The medically, socially, politically, and wisely right thing to do was to close the places of mass assembly. For a short while, music recorded live was a distraction and entertaining, but like any good song that you listen to frequently, there were no surprises. At a show, I am eager about seeing the band, familiar faces in the audience, staff members that I have grown to know, and in many cases the ease of getting backstage to say howdy to heroes. One can never guess from listening to a record what the set list will be, when the breakaway solos will figure in, or how many encores will be performed. All the answers to the normally burning questions are printed on the back!
By now, gentle reader, you are looking for the tie-in to the title of the piece. When the venues closed; my naive expectation was a couple of weeks and everything would reopen. After several weeks it was clear that this was not going to be the case at all; that the venues should and would remain closed.
Watching my favorite artists online during the early stages of the pandemic was satisfying. The artists were in most cases playing a few songs to their fans from their homes in pajamas with the cat or dog on their bed along with a half-finished bowl of ice cream… you get the idea. The performances were cathartic – we knew that our heroes were ok, we could help them by sending a couple of dollars to their tip jars. The “performances” were intermittent and unpredictable and none of this was a replacement for a live show.
A long walk on a late spring Saturday afternoon produced a conversation lamenting the loss of concerts, festivals, music conferences, outdoor gigs, etc. Envision crocodile tears in the proverbial cup of coffee and you get the idea. All the tears in my ducts were not going to bridge the gap. So, if I couldn’t go to the venues, the artists and staff couldn’t go to the venues, then the logical solution is to bring the venue “inside” with the fans and the artists and the staff too. This idea would beget a weekly streamed showcase series called “Music My Mother Would Not Like”. The humor behind the name of the show stems for a fondness for my mother and her disdain for my musical choices. (It’s a great story, you can read all about it here.)
The goal was two-fold, to curate a series that exposed people to new and familiar artists and also develop a community and common “space” where artists and fans could meet. Now in its 19th week, the series builds on the radio programming that was formerly done live and the shows that I would have gone to see live. That “live” feeling is what not only I, but the musicians and music fans were and are desperately seeking and the show satisfies. These shows also provide a much needed opportunity for musicians to put a few bucks in their pockets.
Each week we present four artists in a showcase format to our virtual audience, Each play a 20 minute set of music on a Zoom platform and simultaneously on Facebook (you can watch past shows). The shows are designed to bring complementary acts that are either well known in a different regional market or are nationally touring artists. Close to 90 artists have been presented to a loyal and growing audience.
The plan is to continue the series until it becomes safe to return to the venues and see live music.
You can get more information about the previous, current, and future shows at the WEBSITE. Previous shows are being uploaded to the Music My Mother Would Not Like, YouTube Channel. The best way to find out about the upcoming shows is to sign up for the weekly newsletter on the website – here is the link for the contact, just ask to be added to the newsletter and you too will be kept up to date!
Bruce Swan is a Folk DJ.
- Host Bi Weekly Music My Mother Would Not Like WPKN, 89.5 Bridgeport, CT Fridays 1 – 4 PM
- Host Weekly “Blue Highways Radio” WRFR, 93.3 Rockland, ME 99.3 Camden, ME, Sundays 9 – 11 AM.
- Host Weekly “Late Night Groove” WRFR, 93.3 Rockland, ME 99.3 Camden, ME, Sundays 10 – 12midnight.
- Booking Agent, Baker Booking
- Host “Music My Mother Would Not Like” Tuesday night weekly Showcase Concerts
- Host “Songs & Stories on Music My Mother Would Not Like” Thursday night weekly interview / concert
