Any of you lovely folks in our listening area might have noticed that you haven’t been able to pick us up on your radio dial as of around 10 a.m. this (Monday) morning. Well, we haven’t just given up (never!); our 88.7 FM transmitter atop Mayking Peak lost power this morning due to the Sudden Alpine Outbreak that beset our region this past weekend and dumped what seemed to be around six inches of snow in Whitesburg and even more across Pine Mountain in Virginia. We will be back and broadcasting at 88.7 as soon as the power company can reconnect us, but in the meantime, we are streaming online, business as usual, so if you have power enough to read this webpage, you shouldn’t have to miss a minute of WMMT programming. Just click listen live!
In the meantime, we hope everyone has been able to remain safe and well. In Letcher County, emergency shelters have been set up for those without power, and they are located in Blackey, Ermine, Boone Fork, and Jenkins. For more information, contact Letcher County Senior Citizens at (606) 633-0121.
We’ll let you know as soon as our tower is re-connected and transmitting. In the meantime, see you on the (virtual) radio!
Mr. Piercy with co-host Jenny Williams in the Opulent Appalshop Kitchen Complex
So WMMT’s very own Jonathan Piercy trekked up to Cincinnati recently for the 5B (Believers in Better Beer, Bites, and Blogging) Conference to represent WMMT and the world’s only live radio cooking show that we know of, What’s Cookin’ Now! Jonathan gave a presentation about the show at the conference, and has been good enough to include the text of his speech on the ever-fantastic WCN! blog.
The whole speech is definitely worth a read; it amounts to a sort of existential treatise on cooking, live radio, why they do the show, and hits on some highlights from over the years. Here’s a great excerpt:
3A: When you’re tired of your existing limitations, make some new ones up.
My favorite shows that we’ve done have been ones where we imposed external limitations on ourselves. For instance:
The stove in the Opulent Appalshop Kitchen Complex was down for a while. We eventually moved production to my house for a few months, but before that we did a show called “Oh, Crap! The Kitchen is Broken!” where we cooked without a stove. We used the microwave, a blowtorch, and did sous vide steaks with a beer cooler and an electric kettle.
All of us like to camp, so for one show we dragged the microphone out into Appalshop’s backyard, brought a fire pit and a campstove, and cooked in the outdoors. I think we all consider that one of our favorite shows.
We love doing shows with Mystery Baskets. Twice last year we had the ladies from Grow Appalachia at the Pine Mountain Settlement School bring us a basket of fresh local produce, and we brought a slew of basic pantry ingredients and cooked on the fly. (I almost hate to call this a limitation since the produce they bring us is always so gorgeous.) Next month we’re doing the same thing with the folks from Old Homestead Farm and a meat mystery basket.
Many thanks to Jonathan for representing us so well. To hear streaming audio of recent WCN! programs, check out our streaming archive, and see y’all next month!
It’s February, it’s dreary, and it’s grey. Now is exactly the time to begin getting excited about the 2012 Seedtime on the Cumberland Festival.
(film by the fantastic Ms. Rebecca Jones)
Stay tuned both here and on the Seedtime website over the coming weeks as we begin announcing the 2012 lineup. The Festival will occur from June 7-9 this year and, as always, will be a joyous, three-day showcase of traditional Appalachian musicians, artists, artisans, and craftspeople of all shapes and sorts. If you’re into facebook (though I still say this “internet” thing will never catch on), head by the Seedtime facebook page and “like” us to see a wealth of videos and photos from Seedtimes past.
So no matter how dismal or generally doldrummy it is out there, take some solace in this–Seedtime 2012 is less than four months away!
This week’s edition of Mountain news & World Report (February 9, 2012) looks at the importance, and the difficulty, of landowners getting legal advice in making a lease with a gas company; we profile a project that helps forest owners get income from non-timber products; and we hear a re-enactment of an important speech by Rich Trumka of the AFL-CIO on climate change and coal communities.
For the February show we wanted to celebrate Black History Month, and what better way to do it than to call on the Affrilachian Poets and cook some dishes based on their poems. Five of those poems were read on the air, courtesy of Jenny and our friends Sylvia, Marcie, and Jim.
Jonathan took his inspiration from a poem about comfort food, specifically salmon croquettes and grits. He kept his croquettes simple, using good old canned salmon and canned bread crumbs, but gussying up the flavor a little bit with some Cajun seasoning and lemon. He cranked the grits up by adding a good dose of cheddar cheese and some chipotle in adobo sauce, showing how easy it is to take a well-trod favorite and turn it into something new and exciting.
Jenny read a sultry poem about bacalao, the salt cod that made its way from Spain to the Caribbean. She cooked some of the bacalao simply and showed it off with a delicious salad. She also did some perfect butter biscuits and collard greens in a garlic cream sauce (because the collards are healthy enough to counteract the cream sauce, right?).
Check out recipes and more at the What’s Cookin’ Now! blog, www.whatscookinnow.org.
So we here at Real Possum Mountain People Community Radio are proud to announce that WMMT is now on the Public Radio Exchange, also known as PRX!
Q. But what does this mean for me, the listener?
A. We’re glad you asked. Joining PRX gives WMMT access to an enormous, and continuously-growing library of awesome radio content shared by other PRX stations and independent producers around the country. So it means more great stuff to listen to!
Q. Okay, but what does this mean for WMMT? Have you guys, like, sold out? You used to be so cool.
A. No, no! We’re still cool! We swear! Actually, this means that the oodles of radio content WMMT has produced (and will create in the future!) surrounding just what it means to call central Appalachia home (with all of the joys, the music, the issues, and the rich-as-anything cultural history that such a claim entails) will begin to be easily and readily available to radio stations around the country. It makes it easier to share our stories with the world at large. And that’s pretty exciting.
So far, WMMT has uploaded two stories: the Making Connections feature “More than Mail-Rural Postal Service Threatened,” as well as Fractured Appalachia, our hour-long documentary on issues surrounding natural gas extraction in our region. And we’re planning to add a whole lot more, so if you know anyone at any other station who would be interested in airing our work, spread the word! In the meantime, Happy Wednesday, and we’ll see you all on the radio!
Due to unforeseen circumstances, WMMT unfortunately must announce that we are postponing this week’s Bluegrass Express Live! performance, which had originally been slated to feature NewTown on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. We’re sorry for any and all inconvenience this may cause, and we’ll announce more details here on wmmt.org as soon as they are worked out. Thank y’all so much for understanding.
Platinum-selling singer John Corabi, formerly of Motley Crue, will join Greg on The Rock Show this Sunday Night at 10:30 pm e.s.t., in advance of his upcoming show in Whitesburg, Ky. at Summit City Lounge on Friday, February 10. Corabi sang lead for Motley Crue from 1992-1997, joining the band after the departure of Vince Neil, and wrote such songs as “Holligan’s Holiday,” “Misunderstood,” and “Uncle Jack,” helping to propel the self-titled Motley Crue album into the Billboard Top 10 in 1994. Corabi is the latest name on a list of rock-and-roll icons who have joined Greg on WMMT, so be sure to tune in every Sunday night beginning at 7 p.m.–you never know who you may hear!
WMMT-FM is conducting a search for a General Manager. For a complete job description, visit our opportunities page.
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featured underwriter:
The Cowan Creek Mountain Music School, passing our heritage to a new generation. Brochures available at the Cowan Community Center. For more information, 606-633-3187 or on the website at cowancreekmusic.org
making connections
Making Connections is a project for sharing news, stories, and information highlighting opportunities and challenges for building a healthy future for Appalachia's people and the land.
fractured appalachia
Fractured Appalachia is a series of radio broadcasts, public forums, and an online resource developed to inform residents on issues surrounding the increasing presence of oil and natural gas extraction in Central Appalachia.
