Airwaves

by Brian Goslow

Every strong music scene needs to have a radio station (or two) where musicians can bring their material to try out on local listeners, who can give feedback and match up the names that appear in newspaper club listings. Gary Brooks is trying to do that with The Local Show, which airs on Wednesdays from 10 p.m. to midnight on WCHC (88.1 FM).

"We started about four weeks ago," Brooks says. He's basing the show around programs he listened to growing up in South Boston. "College stations in the Boston area have shows about what goes on in the Boston scene and that support local acts. I didn't see anything like that here and wanted to talk about and promote the Worcester scene."

One of the biggest contributions he plans to make is giving bands a place to perform live. It's been a few years since there's been a regular program in the area presenting live bands (WCUW's Dave and Dave Show, Litter Box, and Hullabaloo have done so from time to time, as has WSCW's Groupie Hour), the equivalent of UMass Lowell's WJUL, Brandeis University's WBRS, or MIT's WMBR, which gives bands a chance not only to play on the air but leave with a studio-quality DAT tape, many of which make their way onto CD. The program's first live session featured Woodgrain Theory, who played selections from their recently released CD, Sounds of Perception. They were scheduled to be followed on Wednesday by Overcast.

"I went down to the Espresso Bar and Sir Morgan's Cove to get a list of who was playing, and they gave me lots of demo material and phone numbers," says Brooks, who also searched through WCHC's extensive library. "We get a lot of music into the station."

The March 4 Local Show will feature a live performance by the Peasants, who are slated to appear at Sir Morgan's Cove the following night. Their debut CD, Out in the Streets (Blat), "is kind of a pop, punk type of music. Vocalist Peter Cassini makes a lot of social commentary. He had a reputation as a great street musician before he put his band together. The bassist, Bill Closs, played with the Freeze. He's one of the best musicians out there." He also plays with the revitalized Outlets (one of Boston's greatest bands, who Brooks says were probably ahead of their time when they first came out in the early '80s).

Asked to name his favorite Worcester band, Brooks mentioned Oi!-sters All Else Fails ("they just finished pressing their new CD"), the Westies ("still waiting for their new stuff"), and Chillum ("we get lots of calls for them"). Last week, he interviewed Evan Ouelette of the Brass Monkeys, who previewed the ska group's upcoming CD, which also features a touch of jazz and the blues. The program also included recent releases by the Drop Kick Murphys, Skavoovie and the Epitones, Gangster Bitch Barbie, Ducky Boys, SMA, and Tree.

"A lot of the stuff getting booked out here is the hardcore and punk stuff," Brooks says. "I'm curious to find out if there's other bands who play other kinds of rock in this area so I can open our listeners up to other stuff they haven't heard yet." Local musicians and groups should send their material to Brooks c/o The Local Show, College of the Holy Cross, 100 College Street, Box 266, Worcester 01610.

WE WERE SO EXCITED about the techo-charged Intergalactic Hoe-down last week that we gave you the wrong call letters. You can hear Kid Kosmos and DJ Atari every Thursday from 10 p.m. to midnight on WCHC (88.1 FM).