 Back in 1986, WMMT DJ Gary Rakes had the idea that this small, ragtag, brand-new, motley crew of a community radio station could make some huge waves by bringing live performance radio–a staple of radio’s early days–back to the mountains.
Our first live broadcast from the 150-seat Appalshop Theater came that November, marking our first anniversary with a bang. The show, Bluegrass Express Live!, has grown over the years into one of the premier bluegrass shows in the nation, regularly featuring the likes of Blue Highway, Dave Evans, Ralph Stanley, Larry Sparks, Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time. Just since our last Fund Drive, we have welcomed Ralph Stanley II, Blue Highway, Larry Sparks, and NewFound Road to the Appalshop stage, and we have a stellar performance on tap for the series’ next installment: Dale Ann Bradley & Steve Gulley will play BGX Live on Thursday, May 10.
When you pledge your support to WMMT, you keep the BGX Live stage lit, and you help to keep bringing elite bluegrass performers right here to Letcher County, KY. Call 888-396-1208 or donate online to keep the music a-comin’, and while you’re on the phone, be sure to go ahead and make a reservation for the Dale Ann Bradley show!
 The grassroots Letcher Co. group Citizens Against Consolidation on Mountain Talk - 11/9/11 Each and every Wednesday evening at 6, WMMT brings you Mountain Talk, our weekly community conversation that touches upon a variety of topics related to life in these mountains, including our health, education, arts and culture, local economies, family, spirituality, food, history, and more.
On the first Wednesday of the month, this takes the form of What’s Cookin’ Now!, WMMT’s live radio cooking show. On the third Wednesday of the month, Art Matters sets aside time for conversations with local artists about creating art here in the mountains. In the intervening weeks, we welcome guests from all walks of life.
In just the half-year since our last Fund Drive…
 Hosts Jonathan Piercy and Jenny Williams have cooked everything from Chicken Kiev to sweet potato-andouille hash browns to cow-tongue tacos to dishes inspired by the Affrilachian poets, and they’ve done it all on the radio. They’ve also started a brand-new blog, featuring recipes, commentary, photos, and more.
Host Carrie Wells has interviewed a variety of local artists on Art Matters, including Chris Day, Lacy Hale, and Jeff Chapman-Crane.
WMMT has also featured conversations with & between:
- a grassroots citizens’ group opposing proposed school consolidation in Letcher County
- Appalachian Media Institute (AMI) interns upon the completion of their Fall Media Lab radio pieces
- Mimi Pickering, the Appalshop filmmaker behind the 1975 film “The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man,” played audio excerpts from the film and spoke with guests Jack Spadaro (who was hired as part of the state’s investigative team following the flood and later worked as a inspector for OSM and MSHA) and Shaunna Scott (Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of Graduate Studies at UK)
- Todd Howard, Fern Nafziger, and Nathan Hall, who discussed upcoming workshops that covered a broad range of ways to save and earn money here in the mountains through small-scale farming, forestry and energy solutions.
- Substance abuse counselor Jim Recktenwald, who discussed KY House Bill 70, a bill that would have allowed Kentucky voters to decide whether to grant the automatic restoration of voting rights to most former felons once they have served their sentence.
- And, of course, that ever-available and always-eloquent guest, Minnie Moore.
When you pledge your support to Mountain Community Radio, you’re supporting community members like these–from all walks of mountain life–and their ability to get on the radio to discuss issues important to us here in southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, and southern West Virginia. When you keep WMMT on the air, you keep your community on the air.
Be sure to tune in tonight (and every Wednesday) at 6 for the newest programs, and feel free to browse our streaming archives here on wmmt.org. Thank you so much for your support!
Q. I’ve heard you folks at WMMT have a fund drive coming up. What’s all that about? Why should I support Community Radio? What’s in it for me?
A. Thanks for asking! As your very own community-powered, non-commercial, volunteer-driven, listener-supported radio station, WMMT 88.7 does some pretty cool things, if we do say so ourselves–we bring you 24 hours per day of music that our programmers choose (not what we tell them to play) and public affairs programming on life right here in these mountains of ours, the vast majority of which we create ourselves about issues that you have told us are important to you.
We don’t beat you over the head with commercials, jingles, people yelling at you to buy things, or vague threats that the world might end if you don’t sign up for a lifetime subscription to Tomato Sauce Monthly, or anything like that. We air something for everybody: music your neighbors choose, across most any genre you could think of, and locally relevant programming. And we’ve got no plans to stop.
The catch is that there’s a reason you don’t hear commercial radio stations that sound like us; heck, there’s a reason you don’t hear other public stations that sound like us either! WMMT is truly one of the most unique radio stations on the planet, and that’s because WMMT is powered by all of you.
Twice per year, we ask that you give whatever you can to keep this amazing thing going, to affirm that you’d rather hear your neighbors on the radio than a playlist sent in from far away; that you enjoy hearing about issues of interest to us right here in the coalfields; that you appreciate that these mountains have a radio voice as diverse and distinct as each and every one of you that listens and keeps it alive. Our Spring Fund Drive starts tomorrow, April 25, and runs until next Thursday, May 3. As always, we don’t ask that you “Give ’til it hurts” or that you do anything you can’t afford. We’re excited about this radio station and we love being here, and fund drives are a celebration, a regular reunion with all of you wonderful and generous folks who are a part of the local, regional, national, and global WMMT family.
Big, little, or in the middle, on the air or online, all we ask is that if you value what WMMT brings to you, Give ‘Til it Feels Good. See you on the radio!
What’s Cookin’ Now: 4-4-12
 The WMMT office on a typical Wednesday In the April edition of What’s Cookin’ Now, intrepid hosts Jonathan Piercy and Jenny Williams pay homage to the AMC series Mad Men by serving up dishes inspired by the TV show and the era.
Jenny prepares a green bean casserole, but eschews the traditional cream-of-mushroom soup and crunchy onions for a shiitake mushroom cream sauce and caramelized vidalia onions. She also prepares an appetizer that has apparently been described as a “staple of 1960′s Bridge Club hostesses,” cheddar olive bites.
Meanwhile, Jonathan prepares Chicken Kiev, a breaded, rolled, buttery delight that was popular in the 60′s and ordered by Don Draper himself in a Mad Men episode. He also prepares two classic cocktails (for consumption either at home or on the job, if you’re truly paying homage to the show / era), the Tom Collins & the Old Fashioned.
Tune in to learn about bitters, the origin of the name “Tom Collins,” how food and Mad Men shed light upon the 60′s, feminism, and social change, and so much more. For more What’s Cookin’ Now!, head over to their blog or browse our streaming archives.
Coal Report 04-23-12
The battle over coal ash is heating up, again. Business Week reports environmental groups from seven states are in court asking a judge to order the Environmental Protection Agency to make a decision whether coal ash is hazardous. Power plants produce 140 million tons a year of it, and people have been much more aware of it after a giant ash spill in Tennessee in 2008. Industry groups defend ash as being basically harmless; opponents point to a list of nasty-sounding substances the ash contains. EPA has said it might rule ash is hazardous waste, subject to strict rules; or it might say it’s ordinary waste, leaving any regulation up to individual states. Mostly EPA hasn’t decided anything, which is why the environmental groups are in court—they want the court to order EPA to act one way or another. Meanwhile, a bill making its way through the House of Representatives would settle the question by denying the EPA any power to call coal ash a hazardous waste. Continue reading Coal Report April 23, 2012
You are missed already.
 the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center in Whitesburg, KY MN & WR 4-19-12
In this edition of Mountain News and World Report, we hear about where miners with black lung can get medical and legal assistance.
We also hear about a young east Kentucky artist finding her place in her own community; some unsettling news about how healthy we aren’t; and we close with a portrait of Kentucky old-time fiddle master Clyde Davenport.
Health Matters 3-26-12
(push play to stream or right click the text to download)
 coal miners protesting for black lung benefits In the March edition of WMMT’s Health Matters, host Dr. Van Breeding discusses coal worker’s pneumoconiosis, more commonly known as black lung disease. Dr. Breeding welcomes two special guests to the program, both with many years of experience in dealing with black lung: Dr. Mahmood Alam, a pulmonologist who runs the Black Lung Clinic at MCHC, and Anthony Warlick, the Program Director of MCHC’s Black Lung Clinic. Together, they discuss the health effects of black lung and detail how local miners and other folks affected can seek treatment and compensation. As always, Dr. Breeding and his guests also take audience calls in this installment.
Locally, for more information, you can call MCHC at the times Dr. Breeding lays out in the program, or check out the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center’s overview of black lung benefits, including instructions on how to apply for them.
Finally, be sure to tune into the April installment of WMMT’s Health Matters on Monday, April 23 at 6 p.m., when Dr. Breeding and special, expert guests discuss Diabetes, its health effects, and its impact on our region.
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Donate using our secure site. featured underwriter:Campbell, Collins, & Collins, Attorneys at Law. 161 West Main Street, Hindman, Kentucky. (606) 785-5048. 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. |
Back in 1986, WMMT DJ Gary Rakes had the idea that this small, ragtag, brand-new, motley crew of a community radio station could make some huge waves by bringing live performance radio–a staple of radio’s early days–back to the mountains.
