Hi everyone! This week's playlist winner is Gene McDonnell, host of Celtic
Connection (Wednesdays at noon). Gene played a track from local artist Perry
Tucker's new demo (#63 on the playlist) and wins a CD from the promo box in my
office.
Keep digging through the playlist for underheard and underappreciated gems! It
improves your programming and also gets you a chance to win music each week!
--
For this week's programming tip, we'll look at some brainstorming the same way
I did with Gordon Lightfoot's passing last month, and look at different ways we
can approach a holiday, like July 1st, Canada Day.
Canada Day is one of the more visible and important holidays in Canada, and it
makes sense for programmers to build shows around it. Many of our hosts have
already done so this July and many more will do so as the month progresses.
Starting with the most obvious way to celebrate Canada Day, and that would be
playing Canadian music. We certainly do not have a lack of good Canadian music
in our station, and that includes almost any genre you care to think of. No
matter if you want to do a hip-hop show, a country show, a jazz show or a
classical show, you'll find more than enough Canadian music in our library to
satisfy any show. You could easily weave together more than one show on
Canadian music and dedicate the entire month to Canadian music is you so
desired. The same applies to any Canadian topic, from literature, to history,
to law or theatre. Keep in mind, though, that other programmers will be doing
the same, and thinking of programming around the same idea. So, try to think of
ways to make it unique. Anyone can put together a show of Canadian music, but
how do you make it special? This should be at the forefront of any good
programmer's thinking process, how to take an idea and not only program around
the idea, but to do it in a way that no one else is doing.
I've seen several shows on Canada Day programming attempt to play a song from
every province and territory, which is pretty easy with our music library now.
I've seen this idea done with indy rock, eclectic programming, blues and
country. You could focus on a certain area of Canada, say playing artists from
the Maritimes, or the northern Territories, or even from just here in Kamloops.
how about focusing solely on First Nations artists from Canada? Or songs from
French Canada? Once again, our library is full of material you can use, and a
bit of research will help that happen. How about playing artists that were
produced by Canadians? Or artists signed to Canadian labels? The ways to
approach this idea are endless.
Another way to approach this to come from the outside and looking inward. What
does the rest of the world think of Canada? What Canadian artists are liked in
other countries? Why not take a look at artists who are Canadian, but don't
play in Canada, like say, Melissa auf der Mar, who has played in the Smashing
Pumpkins and Hole. There are lots of artists from Canada who live outside of
Canada, like Neil Young for one of the most famous, or Ember Swift, who lives
in China. Some ensemble artists like The Band and early releases from Heart
have several Canadians playing with them. How about artists who have covered
Canadian songs? Leonard Cohen, for example, has had his music played by artists
all over the world in many different genres, like folk, pop, blues, jazz and
classical. Often, you'll find these songs may count as Canadian Content
(Cancon) since the song was written by a Canadian, so they'll get the Lyrics
and Music credit. From a spoken word standpoint, you can easily find
international students at TRU and get them to talk about how they feel about
Canada, and how Canada is seen in their home countries. An outsider's look at
our country is always an interesting way to approach Canada Day, since we
rarely get to hear those points of view inside our own country.
Try these approaches with any holiday or observance. For example, BC day is
coming up in August, making a really good prompt to program nothing but music
and content based on British Columbia. Focusing on Canadian music doesn't need
to stop with Canada Day, and you can program an all Canadian show any time
during the year. Try looking up lesser known holidays or observances, like
Black Cat Appreciation Day, or national holidays of other countries and base
programs around them. Look up birthdays of artists and use that as a jumping
off point. And there is no rule that says you need to play a certain holiday's
music at a certain point of the year. Play Hallowe'en music in April. Play
Christmas music in August. Celebrate Valentine's Day in November. The only
limit is your creativity.
Steve Marlow, Programming Coordinator, CFBX Radio
Campus/Community Radio for Kamloops
http://www.thex.ca
