There’s just something about campus community radio. You hear music you'll never hear anywhere else, including new music from local artists - lots of it. And that means the world to musicians out there struggling to be heard on the air waves.
Jim Marino at CFMU 93.3 FM, Hamilton, is the consummate interviewer. On his show, Free Wheelin' Folk, he makes even first timers like me feel completely at home behind the mike. I was thrilled when he asked me to join him last fall to talk about and hear the songs from my EP Night Roads. I could feel that I was part of something important. This little studio in the basement of a large building is the touchstone for 25 years of music history. All the local greats sat here and were heard, maybe for the first time, on the radio. And Jim was there to put them at ease.
The secret to that is 25 years of talking to musicians. Well, that’s one secret. The main one is that he loves music and musicians. His enthusiasm is contagious even after thousands of hours of talking and playing new songs. Folk, Americana, Roots, and, Jim's big love, Bluegrass, it's all there every week, pouring out of the basement of the MacMaster Student Union building like liquid honey.
It’s a shame that he, like other music hosts, has to ask for donations since the Ford regime has hacked the finances of campus and community radio stations. But, I’m sure the long line of alumni will remember what Jim and Freewheelin’ Folk have done for them.
Tune into CFMU 93.3 FM, Free Wheelin' Folk on Saturdays, 10 am to 1 pm, and hear all the riches Jim Marino has on offer. Hopefully you will be inspired enough to make a donation and help keep this great show on the air for many more years.