Write On! A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted through different eras of popular music. Get a Great Gift with Your Donation! Your contribution helps WPKN, a 501(c)(3) organization. Al Bell celebrates the Blues and R&B, playing songs in accordance with his own unique desire to hear one creative piece in juxtaposition with the next. Learn More What inspires me about ‘PKN is that amidst all the differences, there is a ...

Blues In The Evening is a celebration of the Blues and R&B on the second Thursday of the month at 8 pm. Join host Al Bell as he takes you back in time, brings you new classics, and makes every song as fresh as the day it was recorded. Al Bell celebrates the Blues and R&B, playing songs in accordance with his own unique desire to hear one creative piece in juxtaposition with the next. And, it works. Al's love of music is an expression of joy and delight that will brighten your day. Learn More Other Programs by Al Bell ...

The Al Bell Cool Blues and Rare Records Show airs the second Thursday of the month from 8:30-11:30 pm and Sunday nights from 7:00-10:00 pm. Featuring all kinds of blues, rhythm and blues, vocal groups, rockabilly, rare soul and original vinyl records from the early 1950s on. From my personal collection of over 12,000 records and 3,500 cds. Al Bell celebrates the Blues and R&B, playing songs in accordance with his own unique desire to hear one creative piece in juxtaposition with the next. And, it works. Al's love of music is an expression of joy and delight that will brighten your day. Learn More ...

Created by African-Americans in the United States in the late 1800s, the blues is a music genre, a style of music, a way of presenting musical ideas, different musical cultures, and an emotion. Its roots are in African American slave songs such as field hollers, work songs, spirituals, and country string ballads. Rural music that captured the suffering, anguish, and hopes of 300 years of slavery and tenant farming, the blues was typically played by roaming solo musicians on acoustic guitar, piano, or harmonica. Early on, the lyrics and instruments of the blues were improvised, giving rise to the one-stringed diddley bow, the percussive washboard, the jug, the spoons, and ...

Best of 2021 Join WPKN for the last fundraising event of the year: Best of 2021 from 7 am to 10 pm on Tuesday, December 28, 2021. This is your last opportunity to give for the year, capitalizing on the tax benefits of donating to a 501(c)(3) organization, WPKN 89.5 FM Independent Community Radio. Our volunteer-based, passion-driven community thanks you for your kind support now, and every day of the year! Get a Great Gift with Your Donation! Your contribution helps WPKN, a 501(c)(3) organization. WPKN General Manager Music has always been front and center for me. It’s beyond therapeutic. ...

Muscle Shoals Sound Join WPKN on December 16 and 17 for a special fundraiser celebrating the Muscle Shoals Sound. In 1969, The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, widely referred to as “The Swampers” started a recording studio. The founders, Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, David Hood and Jimmy Johnson, were originally session musicians at Rick Hall’s FAME Studios and, together with Hall, they created the “Muscle Shoals Sound.” The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section provided musical backing and arrangements for major hits by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and the Staple Singers. Success in soul and R&B prompted rock and pop performers to record at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. Recordings included Elkie Brooks, ...

BRILL BUILDING A two-day fundraising special – September 9-10! The Brill Building is located at 1619 Broadway and 49th St. in New York City. The 11 story building was built in 1931 and is famous for housing music industry offices and studios where some of the most popular American songs were written. It dominating the pop charts in the early 1960s. The “Brill” name comes from a haberdasher who operated a store at street level and bought the building. Composers and Lyricists at the Brill Building Burt Bacharach, Jeff Barry, Bert Berns, Bobby Darin, Hal David, Neil Diamond, Luther Dixon, Sherman Edwards, Buddy Feyne, Gerry Goffin, Howard Greenfield, Ellie ...

Join WPKN for a two-day special on June 24 with Summer of Love Disco and June 25 with Summer of Love songs! You know that special song that screams IT’S SUMMER!!! to you. The one you played over and over while you got your summer groove on. We're going to share it with the world! As we are seeing an end to the pandemic restrictions, the Summer of Love special will kick-off several unique opportunities for you to help position WPKN for a sustainable future in our new location. Check out our WPKN MOVE giving opportunities. Special thanks to Martha Willette Lewis for supplying the Summer of Love artwork, ...

80 Years - Bob Dylan Birthday Special celebrates Bob Dylan who has been a major figure in popular culture for more than 6 decades. Born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, author, and visual artist. Some of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” (1963) and “The Times They Are a-Changin’” (1964) became anthems for civil rights and anti-war movements. In 1965 and 1966, Dylan drew controversy when he adopted electrically amplified rock instrumentation, and within 15 months recorded three of the most important and influential rock albums of the 1960s: Bringing It All Back Home (1965), Highway 61 Revisited (1965), ...

A good song is twice the fun! Join WPKN programmers for two days of musical games as we play covers from all genres and the originals that started it all, as we fundraise to support the station and our imminent move to new digs. This special programming invites deep dives into our archives and takes a look at great songwriting from yesterday, today and tomorrow. What better way to start the weekend than with a feel-good, kaleidoscopic journey down musical rabbit holes in support of your community radio station, the little station that can, WPKN? Please join us and please consider donating to what will be our costliest and ...