Cliff Furnald airs on Thursday Mornings, 7 to 10 AM — As democracy fades, Cliff plays music. New music. Old music. Local music. Music that is local somewhere else. Wherever you are, there you are. It might be jazz. It might not be. Might be folk, could be avant-garde. Rock music? Why not? It’s most unlikely that it will be opera, but you just can’t be sure. He will idly chatter from time to time, as well. But don’t worry, it never lasts too long. You can find out more about what you hear on the program at RootsWorld. Cliff Furnald brings music little heard on the radio ...

British Invasion! From the beginning of the record industry, American blues, jazz and rock-and-roll inspired musicians all around the world, particularly in Britain. In the mid-1960s, the proverbial turn-tables turned when British music and culture took the United States by storm. This phenomenon has come to be known as the British Invasion. American youth frenzied around British pop and rock groups such as The Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Animals, and, perhaps most notably, the Beatles. After the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963, America was ripe to accept the spirit of The Beatles music. Walter Cronkite featured a special on the Beatles in December of that ...

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. Charles Mingus, Jr. Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz double bassist, pianist, composer, and bandleader. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered ...

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, ...

Join WPKN for a special fundraising event Celebrating Aretha from 7 am to 10 pm on Thursday, March 25, 2021. The Queen of Soul, Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018), was an American singer, songwriter, actress, pianist, and civil rights activist. Franklin recorded 112 charted singles on Billboard, including 77 Hot 100 entries, 17 top-ten pop singles, 100 R&B entries, and 20 number-one R&B singles. She won 18 Grammy Awards, including the first eight awards given for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Franklin is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide. She was awarded the ...

Join WPKN for a special fundraising event American v. British Folk from 7 am to 10 pm on Friday, March 26, 2021. It’s now half-a-century since British folk rock became A Thing, with the early practitioners breaking new ground and inspiring an entire scene that peaked in the late Sixties/early Seventies. Earnest young post-Dylan singer/songwriters moved away from the intimacy of the folk clubs in favour of the nascent college/university circuit. Countercultural iconoclasts The Incredible String Band became a seismic influence on a whole raft of bands now categorised as acid-folk, Pentangle’s use of acoustic instrumentation within a nominally rock framework attracted many emulators (though arguably no real equals), ...

Jazz Love Songs: An all-day music and fundraising special only at WPKN 89.5 FM and streaming at WPKN.org. No genre does it better, and nothing says, “I love you” like jazz. If your theme for February is romance, the volunteers at WPKN want you to know how they feel: We LOVE our listening audience! Over the course of the day, we’ll be reading Valentine’s Day Tributes from our listening audience to their loved ones. Donations from this fundraiser will be used for the station operations, allowing our continued success. Cliff brings music little heard on the radio or the mainstream. Learn More What inspires me ...

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 ...