WBOI's Behind The Mic

Jazz has always been a key ingredient in WBOI's rich mix of diverse musical offerings, and one volunteer host, Bruce Reidenbach, has been spinning those discs right here at the station for 38 years. His current show, hosted with Bill Forsythe, is "The Friday Vibe", featuring traditional jazz from the 1950's to the present day. The show's mission? Getting the listener into their weekend vibe with style! As WBOI's Julia Meek continues to take her monthly looks "Behind the Mic," she invited Reidenbach into the studio to discuss what drives his passion for the genre, and his love for public broadcasting.

Jazz has always been a key ingredient in WBOI's rich mix of diverse musical offerings, and one volunteer host, Bruce Reidenbach, has been spinning those discs right here at the station for 33 years. His current show, hosted with Bill Forsythe, is "The Friday Vibe", featuring traditional jazz from the 1950's to the present day. The show's mission? Getting the listener into their weekend vibe with style! As WBOI's Julia Meek continues to take her monthly looks "Behind the Mic," she invited Reidenbach into the studio to discuss what drives his passion for the genre, and his love for public broadcasting.

Besides being evening news anchor for All Things Considered, WBOI's Ben Clemmer gets a creative workout each week as producer host of WBOI Presents and facilitates the station's growing number of podcast series. To implement these and other station projects, he has also established an Intern/Work study program for students enrolled in area colleges and universities. As part of her ongoing Behind the Mic series, WBOI's Julia Meek caught up with Clemmer by phone to learn how and why these projects fuel his passion for public radio. You can find other Behind the Mic conversations at wboi.org or wherever podcasts are found. Our music is by Mark Waldick. Our production assistants are Monica Blankenship and Mikaela Veltum.

WBOI's volunteer host, Bruce Grimm, developed a love for music, and local record stores at an early age, and that's what drives his present musical passion every Saturday night. That's when he and his co-hosts, Brad Etter and George Seymour invite listeners to climb aboard, for a two hour, freeform, eclectic musical mix called "SideTracks." As WBOI's Julia Meek looks "Behind he Mic," she managed to derail Grimm into the studio, to discuss the scope of his musical interests, and the audio routes they cover.

To volunteer show host, Bill Forsythe, unwinding for the weekend means serving up a freeform mix of jazz-driven music, which he does, every other Friday night, on WBOI's "Friday Vibe." Forsythe's turns in the air studio alternate with those of his long time co-host, Bruce Reidenbach, and their mission is to present, as they call it, three hours of music that is easy to listen to, but definitely not "easy listening." As part of her monthly "Behind the Mic" series, WBOI's Julia Meek invited Bill into the studio to learn how a "college crush" led to his burning passion for the genre, and how sharing it over the public radio air waves keeps that fire going strong.

Classical music is alive and well here at Northeast Indiana Public Radio, and volunteer host Stan Whippo shared in the form of a live, four hour "Matinee," every weekday afternoon on our classical station, 94.1 WBNI for over 20 years before retiring in October 2018. A Pennsylvania native, Whippo is proud to be a Hoosier now, and also spent his time volunteering for Allen County Public Library's Audio Reading Service, and participating in member activities at Trinity English Lutheran Church. As part of her ongoing "Behind the Mic" series, WBOI's Julia Meek invited Stan into the studio to learn what the genre means to him, and how it drives his passion for public radio.

WBOI's Burnt Toast Show is an eclectic mix of great, non-mainstream musical styles and genres, modeled after freeform radio shows of the '60s and '70s. It's on the menu every Sunday night from 8:00 to 11:00, served up live by volunteer show host, Todd Harrold. A full time musician, and music teacher here in Fort Wayne, Harrold is gratified to be doing "exactly what he wants to do," and feels that he's been training his whole life for this very purpose. WBOI's Julia Meek, as part of her ongoing "Behind the Mic" series, invited him into the studio to discuss where his passion for music all began, and how sharing it in this fashion satisfies his own musical appetite.

Martin Fisher, Executive Director of Fort Wayne's Science Central, has been the host of 89.1 WBOI's "The Weekly Experiment" segment for nearly six years. A self-proclaimed science geek, Fisher is dedicated to explaining the science of our everyday world in a way that informs and entertains, and the show's 300th episode will be airing in May. WBOI's Julia Meek, as part of her ongoing "Behind the Mic" series, invited him into the studio to share the secret of his scientific formula.

WBOI's "Tossed Jazz Salad" is a tasty mixture of that genre's styles and forms, served up every Tuesday evening by volunteer host, Bob Mayer. Mayer's teaching and performing background adds extra spice to the experience, and WBOI's Julia Meek, as part of her ongoing "Behind the Mic" series, invited him into the studio earlier this week, to discuss how his musical passions have helped him perfect this secret recipe.

WBOI's weekly "Black Light Radio" focuses on the greatest and most obscure Psychedelic, Progressive, and Avant Garde Jazz titles of 1968 to 1974. To complete the mood and stay true to that era, volunteer show hosts Bob Wagner and Morrison Agen present the show in an all-vinyl format. As part of Julia Meek's ongoing "Behind the Mic" series, she invited Wagner, a self-proclaimed "vinyl junkie," into the studio, to discuss why this musical addiction is impossible to kick.

As volunteer host for WBOI's weekly Connexxion Latina, El Salvador native, David Calderon has been sharing his musical and cultural passion over the airwaves here in northeast Indiana for the past 16 years. Calderon's show is WBOI's exclusive Hispanic language program, and showcases a wide variety of music styles and genres from all of the Latin American countries. He is gratified to have developed a broad fan base, including many listeners that don't speak a word of Spanish. As part of Julia Meek's ongoing "Behind the Mic" series, she sat down with David earlier this week to learn when, where and why those passions, and his drive to connect. all began.

For the past five years, volunteer show host, Rob Martinez, has been sharing his musical expertise and his audio production skills over the WBOI airwaves, most notably, with his weekly "Movie Music Spotlights" and annual "Nights Before Christmas" music specials. As part of Julia Meek's ongoing "Behind the Mic" series, she coaxed Martinez away from his extensive record archives, and into the studio, to discuss how his pop culture sensibilities drive his deep passion for public radio.

Fort Wayne native Brad Etter has a seemingly unquenchable thirst for music he shares every Saturday night on 89.1 WBOI, with co-host Bruce Grimm, on Sidetracks. Serving up this weekly, two-hour sampler of eclectic musical genres and performers has been a part of Brad's life since 2012, and he regards sharing music in this way as an honor and privilege. As WBOI's Julia Meek continues to take her monthly looks "Behind the Mic." she managed to derail Etter into the studio, to discuss the roots of his musical passion, and the routes they take, on and of air.

Indiana native, Tom Castaldi, has a passion for regional history he's been sharing over the airwaves for more than two decades. Every Monday, during Morning Edition and All Things Considered, you're invited to join him "On the Heritage Trail." Castaldi lives by the idea that "to know your history is to build pride in your community, and pride building community is what builds towns and cities." As WBOI's Julia Meek continues to take her monthly looks "Behind the Mic," she got Tom off the trail, and into the studio, to discuss how his "history habit" began, and the many directions it has taken him.

If you're hungry for a helping of the blues, WBOI's volunteer host, Jack Ankenbruck serves up a tasty, one-hour portion of it every Monday night on his "Blue Plate Special" show. Besides being the youngest show host on 89.1 WBOI, with the newest addition to the station's weekly musical lineup, Ankenbruck is also the only one to produce his show "long distance," while he pursues a music career from his current home in Nashville. As WBOI's Julia Meek continues to take her monthly looks "Behind the Mic," she caught Jack, last time he was in town, to discuss the mechanics of such an ambitious endeavor, and the music-centric passions that drive him.