Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

WMM presents: Stephonne + Danielle Ate The Sandwich + The Fur and The Fang

1. “Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks”
   from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979
   [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]

2. Debbie Friday – “1/17”
   from: “1/17′ / Sub Pop Records / March 20, 2025
   [Debby Friday is sharing “1/17”, an anthemic and salacious new dance pop single for 2025, available now worldwide from Sub Pop and in Canada from Royal Mountain Records. // Written and produced during a whirlwind European tour, “1/17” marks an exciting evolution for Debby Friday as she unveils a softer, more playful side of her artistry. Featuring hypnotic vocals and cheeky lyrics with nods to ancient Greece and nude selfies, the track exudes charm and lightness. With threads of experimental dance-pop woven seamlessly throughout, “1/17” is a refreshing addition to Debby Friday’s sonic world and a promising kickoff to her new era. // “1/17” was produced by Friday and Darcy Baylis, mixed by Alex Gamble, with assistance by Taylor Finnigan, and mastered by Levi Seitz. // Its soaring and singular shot official video is directed by Friday and frequent collaborator Kevan Funk (“WHAT A MAN,” “SO HARD TO TELL”), and filmed at Toronto’s historic Massey Hall. // Friday says of the visual, “It’s based on an amalgamation of two experiences that I had. The first was when I won the Polaris Prize at Massey Hall, which felt like a peak moment in my career. The second was when, nine months later, I played a festival show to absolutely no one in the audience. I’ve spent the past year detaching myself from the highs and lows of this business and trying to see everything as a sign. Of what? I don’t know. But I’m sure in the end, it’ll all mean something.”]

3. Billie Marten – “Feeling”
   from: Dog Eared / Fiction Records / July 18, 2025
   [New Single from Billie Marten’s 5th LP DOG EARED. Dog Eared is a warm, rich and textured record that bristles with confidence and self-belief, with Billie already approaching the prolificacy of a “lifer” with so much life left to live. It’s a left turn from her previous recordings, albeit a subtle one, taken with a deftness of touch. A musician embracing change, while staying true to her core self. There’s a certain strength of conviction here that finds its voice more prominently in the extensive pool of her acclaimed American contemporaries, of which she now surely stands shoulder to shoulder with. With Dog Eared, Billie calmly posits herself at the top of the tree of not just British contemporary folk artists, but with British songwriters at large. // Of the record’s opening number, “Feeling”, Billie explains: “I’ve discovered that I have a really particular long-term memory: I have specific sensory recollections from when I was two onwards, that I can recall easily now. One of these is marking out roads in my grandmother’s patterned carpet, for my Dad’s old 1950/60s toy cars to drive on. I used to trace patterns in everything: fabric seats at the dentist, carpets, wallpaper and walls, raindrops on car windows. Everything had a pattern to be noticed.” // “Another strong memory is the feeling of big, warm hands when you’re a child and how comforting and safe that feels. The notion of age being so far away from you, but you know it’s a future inevitability, and that you’re on your way there. The inarticulateness of that ‘feeling’ you can’t describe yet, but you’re aware of a push in the world that you don’t yet understand.” ”Feeling” is really set alight by Núria Graham’s guitar part, the one you hear from the outset. It sparks the album info life and really sets a benchmark in terms of rhythm. This is an album of rhythmic focus.”]

4. Yukimi – “Peace Reign (Radio Edit)”
   from: For You / Ninja Tune / March 28, 2025
   [Debut Solo Album from Yukimi, the celebrated vocalist and co-founder of Grammy-nominated band Little Dragon, shares her new single “Peace Reign.” A hopeful song about believing and striving for a peaceful world, the song starts with a sweet message from Yukimi’s son, “you have to believe it for it to come true, it’s right in front of you.” This is the latest offering from her debut album For You due March 28th via Ninja Tune.
   “Peace Reign is about not giving up on the dream that this world can be a peaceful place. Believing in hope and a brighter future for the generations to come,” says Yukimi.
   Her debut solo album sees her step away from a band formation to create some of her most beautiful and intimate work to date: both intensely personal and brilliantly relatable. On For You, Yukimi elegantly entwines musical styles from jazz, soul and electronic pop to hip hop, roots and psychedelia, but the themes of her solo songs dig deeper than ever, across love, loss, feminine energy and innate resilience. // For You will include previously released singles “Stream of Consciousness” featuring British singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas. The collaboration marks Yukimi’s first time writing and creating music with another woman, which allowed her to fully delve into her feminine energy; “Sad Makeup,” which was written “about those days when you try to push down and control a sad feeling” says Yukimi; “Winter Is Not Dead,” inspired by those long, dark winters in Scandinavia; and the self-empowering debut single “Break Me Down” which was also in collaboration with Lianne La Havas and Little Dragon bandmate and long-time friend Erik Bodin.//Reflecting on For You, Yukimi shares: “I want this music to really be a force to connect people to each other, and step away from the madness of everything on the planet right now. And I’m excited about embarking on that journey on my own – the expression really feels pure.” // To celebrate the album’s release, Yukimi will embark on a full North American tour beginning in April, making stops in major cities including New York, Toronto, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Full tour details and ticket information can be found at https://yukimi-music.com/. // Renowned for her distinct and graceful voice, Yukimi has captivated audiences since co-founding Little Dragon in 1996. With the band, she has performed on some of the world’s biggest stages, from Coachella and Glastonbury to NPR’s Tiny Desk—while collaborating with an impressive roster of artists, including Mac Miller, Kali Uchis, Gorillaz, JID, KAYTRANADA, Flume, and De La Soul. Her ability to transcend genres and craft deeply moving music has cemented her status as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary music.]

5. The Faint – “Desperate Guys”
   from: Wet from Birth / Saddle Creek / September 14, 2004.
   [Wet from Birth is the fourth studio album by The Faint, formed in Omaha, Nebraska, the band consists of Todd Fink, Graham Ulicny, Dapose and Clark Baechle. The Faint was originally known as Norman Bailer and included Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes, with whom The Faint toured in 2005). He quit shortly after the band was formed, though the Faint continued to share a spot with Bright Eyes on Saddle Creek Records. // The band originally consisted of Clark Baechle, Todd Fink (formerly Todd Baechle), and Joel Petersen. Growing up, Fink, Petersen, and Baechle skateboarded in their free time, until Fink developed knee problems, which shifted their hobbies towards making music. They signed to Saddle Creek Records and released a few singles, but were unable to establish widespread sales. After adding Matt Bowen, the Faint released Media. At the end of 1998, Jacob Thiele joined the band, and shortly thereafter, Matt Bowen was replaced by Ethan Jones. They toured the U.S., playing what would become the songs that would comprise the next album, Blank-Wave Arcade, which had a more dance and techno-influenced sound and was an underground hit. Before recording the album, however, Jones left the band and was replaced on bass guitar by Joel Petersen, who played both bass and guitar on the album. Partway through the creation of Danse Macabre, the Faint added Dapose, a death metal guitarist formerly of LEAD. Their next album, recorded with Mike Mogis and released in 2004, was called Wet from Birth. Conor Oberst claimed in an August 2020 interview with Pitchfork Magazine that The Faint were offered a major label record deal, but turned it down out of loyalty and commitment to Saddle Creek, which at the time was still a collaborative project between members of The Faint, Cursive and Bright Eyes. // In May 2008, the Faint announced that they had split from Saddle Creek, and that their fifth studio album would be self-released under their own label, blank.wav. The album, entitled Fasciinatiion, was released on August 5, 2008, in the U.S. The first single from the album was “The Geeks Were Right”, which was released on Boys Noize Records. It was also announced that the band would tour North America with British electronic group Ladytron during the spring. // Since the release of Fasciinatiion, two of the band members, Clark Baechle and Todd Fink have been quietly, with little advertising, performing under the name Depressed Buttons, playing remixes of other artists, and DJing for various small clubs and venues. // The band performed an original song “Teach Me Teacher” on the children’s show Yo Gabba Gabba! in the third-season episode “School”, which originally aired September 19, 2010. // On October 30, 2012, Saddle Creek Records released a deluxe edition of Danse Macabre with the original album remastered, bonus and unreleased tracks, and a DVD of archival footage, live projections from that era’s tour dates, and live footage. The band announced that it would play Danse Macabre in its entirety along with fan favorites during a tour of 24 cities across North America. // In 2016, Graham Ulicny (of Reptar) replaced Jacob Thiele on keyboards. Thiele died on February 13, 2020.]

[The Faint play The Warehouse on Broadway, 3951 Broadway Boulevard, KCMO on Friday, March 28 at 8:00pm with special guests Plack Blague]

6. Honeybee – “i wish i knew you then”
   from: “i wish i knew you then” – Single / Honeybee / March 28, 2025
   [New honeybee single from their upcoming EP “midtown girl”, to be released on June 6, 2025. // The track was written by the songwriter and lead singer, Makayla Scott, who wrote to us, “i wish i knew you then is inspired by all the stories Al (honeybee bass player and Mak’s partner) has told me about their life prior to us getting to know each other. Sometimes when we are reminiscing and giggling about the past, I get hit with a big wave of fomo – sad i’ve missed out on so much. but they always say that the timing of our relationship is perfect and that they’re glad we met when we did. Still, I would have LOVED to hang with kid AL and play horses or dogs or any of the 2000s era Madden games!” // Honeybee released their EP Saturn Return on March 29, 2024 part of WMM’s 120 Best recordings of 2024. // Honeybee started as the solo project of Singer/Songwriter Makayla Scott and now include 3 or 4 of her friends umping in… Honeybee released the songle “I Know What Love is” on January 27, 2023. Makayla Scott also played with the band Blue False Indigo Makayla Scott studied music at Drury University graduating in 2017. Honeybee played Manor Fest 6 at 6:30 PM at Arizona Trading CO. 1722 Oak Street KCMO with The Highwater, and Jass.]

7. David Luther – “Wrecking Bay”
   from: “Wrecking Bay”- Single / David Luther / March 28, 2025
   [David Luther released the first single “Smile About Something” on January 21, 2025. David Luther released the 2d single, “If Love Just Ain’t Enough (feat. Garrison Starr) on February 28, 2025. all singles off of David’s upcoming album EWHO YOU ARE expected April 25, 2025. // David Luther Broxterman recorded his first self-titled EP in 2009 with Nashville producer Neilson Hubbard. The EP featured backing vocals from Americana artist Garrison Starr. This experience was the catalyst that would send him on his path to a music career, gigging part-time to begin with while working full-time as a social worker. // In 2020, during the heart of COVID-19, David knew it was time to embrace becoming a full-time musician.. Stepping away from social work and side jobs, especially as a single father of two boys, was a faith move then. During this time, David collaborated with David George and Pat Tomek on his EP Take Me Home, which was released in 2022. The EP included the anthem Home To Kansas City and World’s Gonna Change, a song co-written by David, Brandon Mashburn, and Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning songwriter Tom Whitlock. George and Tomek’s dedication and artistry to the project, along with the exceptional musicians and singers, inspired David. Shortly after, David worked with his sister Anna Taylor and producer Brandon Mashburn on the single I Will, released in 2023, a song to draw attention to things that unite rather than divide us. // In July 2024, David again joined Neilson Hubbard, studio musician Juan Solórzano, and engineer Dylan Alldridge in their East Nashville studio to record a new full-length Americana album. The album, Who You Are, features partner Kelly Dougherty on several songs and Garrison Starr on If Love Just Ain’t Enough. The songs on the LP are a journey of David’s songwriting, many coming from painful places in the past and leading up to the last song he finished the night before the last days of recording, the title track. // David is grateful for the people in his family and community who have come alongside him, often carrying him and sometimes dragging or chasing him down his path. He says he can’t imagine how he’d still be doing this without their ongoing help and encouragement, especially that of his partner and manager, Kelly Dougherty. “I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but there’s no going back.”]

8. Krystle Warren & The Faculty – “Truly Great Thing”
   from: Extended Play / Parlour Door Music / November 1, 2024
   [Krystle Warren & The Faculty are: Krystle Warren, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Mike Riddleberger, and Jonathan Anderson. Following their double album LOVE SONGS (2012) Krystle Warren & The Faculty were involved in many musical projects. Krystle Warren & The Faculty, released the single “Macca” on May 22, 2023. They released and their single “Rising” released May 31, 2019, and written especially for Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed television mini series WHEN THEY SEE US. When Covid delayed the upcoming release of Extended Play, Krystle and members of The Faculty along with some of their frequent collaborators formed The Crew to release the 4-song CREW EP on September 15, 2020. Through isolation came unity. The Crew was made up of: Lakecia Benjamin, Matthew Silberman, Jacob Snider, Joe Blaxx, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Cassorla, Krystle Warren, and Ben Kane. They recorded unique versions of classic songs with the hope of encouraging the rallying cries of The Moment: the movement of the people. // In the lockdown of their homes, they sewed together their interpretations of “Bein’ Green” (based upon Ray Charles’ rendition); “Gimme Some Truth” (a mighty John Lennon composition); “Dear Landlord” (a scathing indictment from the blistering pen of Bob Dylan); and “Rhythm of Life”, (a timeless statement originally performed by Oleta Adams). // A portion of the proceeds from The Crew. EP were donated to the various causes and organizations // // The Faculty was formed with Krystle Warren, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Mike Riddleberger, and Dave Moore. While the four boys had classes and gigs, Krystle floated around New York and made a lot of friends. She busked and wrote songs, and, with the help of her band members and Ben Kane, who had an internship at Electric Lady Studios and was sneaking them in at odd hours, Krystle turned those songs into an e.p. called Diary. // Diary led to Circles, which Ben Kane co-produced with Voodoo engineer Russell “The Dragon” Elevado. Circles was bought by Because Music in France, but Krystle still recorded Love Songs in New York, a double album that invokes a Blakean duality with its two subtitles, ‘A Time to Refrain from Embracing’ and ‘A Time You May Embrace’. // Love Songs​ was produced with most of the Faculty (Zach was on tour with Amos Lee) and a slew of guest musicians in Brian Bender’s Brooklyn studio, The Motherbrain. Bender’s assistant, Jonathan Anderson, would later go on to replace Dave Moore on keys. // The Faculty has always been a tenuous project for everyone involved because of the distance and the schedules. While everyone remains close friends, the band members are spread across the globe. Krystle in France. Riddleberger in New York and Zach in Woodstock. Jonathan in Los Angeles. And then they are all working musicians, touring, recording, and collaborating with an impressive list of artists. Musicians like, in no particular order: D’Angelo, Hercules and Love Affair, Donald Fagen and the Nightfliers, Joan As Police Woman, Jonathan Wilson, Emily King, Janet Jackson, Ron Sexsmith, Amy Helm, Taylor Swift, Rufus Wainwright, Natalie Merchant, Graham Nash, The Knights, Bleachers, Emmylou Harris, Amos Lee, Mayra Andrade, Lana Del Rey, Broken Social Scene, Teddy Thompson, Lakecia Benjamin, and honestly that’s less than the half of it. // So they have been busy, and they have gained a lot of experience since the days of sneaking into ElectricLady late night or playing for meager pay and free wine at an East Village Italian resto. And while Diary, Circles, and Love Songs​ were recorded with everyone in the same room (​Three the Hard Way, Krystle’s solo album, was pared down to her and Kane collectively), Extended Play​ was recorded disparately and assembled together by the steady hands and ears of Kane and Krystle. There is distance between the musicians in the recording process, but there is still a close emotional connection that can be heard in these songs. // The songs that make up ​Extended Play​ are songs of experience—the lyrics reflect on a crush from high school, a departed musical hero, and others who live in memory. There is nostalgia in Extended Play, and a forlornness. // Krystle describes “When I Look Back,” the last song of the album, as “an apology to my teenage self.” Twenty years ago she was writing songs about what happened day-of because being young is about immediacy and living in the present tense. Now the songs are about years past because life slows down, and we are allowed the time to “look back.”// But as Krystle sings in “Rising,” “Future lingers while past is present.” She’s writing about the past because we are all our collected histories—or as she puts it in “When I Look Back”: “there’s still something of her that stays.” The future, of course, still lingers, always there waiting for us, for the next move. The album ends with a recording of Audre Lorde’s gravelly voice. She says, // I’m going on to something else, the shape of which, I have no idea. ‘Only thing I know is, it’s going to be quite different. What I leave behind has a life of its own – I’ve said this about poetry … Well in a sense, I’m saying it about the very artifact of who I have been. // Krystle Warren & The Faculty still have more to come. They have built twenty years of memories, experiences, recordings, and shows, and with the release of Extended Play,​ they continue to show a commitment to growing as musicians together, even if apart. The Extended Play bio written by Phil Anderson]

10:29 – Underwriting

10:31 – Interview with Stephonne

Stephonne is in the house. Joining us today to debut his new single “It’s Gonna Be Alright.” Stephonne describes himself as the lovechild of Prince & Billie Holiday. He grew up in KCK and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music from Benedictine College, and Masters in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University. Singer, songwriter, actor, model, artist, activist – Stephonne Singleton keeps very busy, serving as a board member of KC Folk Fest, organizing tribute shows, playing: music festivals, Charlotte Street Foundation, Lemonade Park, Lawrence Pride, Manor Records, Midwest Music Foundation, The AIDS Service Foundation of KC, InterUrban ArtHouse, Crossroads Music Fest, The Black Box, The Folly Theatre, and West 18th Street Fashion Show. Stephonne released his EP SIS: Side B on June 24, 2022. He also released the single “I” on August 21, 2024. Stephonne is a 2023 winner of the Charlotte Street Generative Performing Arts Fellows. More info at: http://www.stephonne.com

Stephonne Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Welcome back to the show. We are nearly three months into the year and Stephonne has already produced another epic tribute show, this time to Mary J. Blige at the Fifth Floor in the historic West Bottoms. Stephonne was also one of the featured artists at the Rock is Black concert at the Zhou B Art Center in the heart of the 18th & Vine Arts & Cultural District.

Both of these events were very important to Stephonne as a performer, but also in the community building work that Stephonne does.

Stephonne is a multifaceted performer, actor, drag performer, singer-songwriter, model. Stephonne has been a big part of the Wednesday MidDay Medley, as one of our most frequent guests, and someone we call on when we’re celebrating anniversary shows. We have loved watching Stephonne’s journey as a musical performer. This has been a journey of discovery of self.

Part of Stephonne’s most recent work is being on the board of Kansas City Folk Festival.

KC Folk Fest Fundraisers:
Pickball – Saturday, April 19, at 10:00am, in Gillham Park, sign up by April 11, 2025
FolkyOkie Karaoke, April 23 , at 7:00p at The Ship 1221 Union, KCMO West Bottoms
Rural Grit Happy Hour, Monday, May 5, at 6:00pm at The Brick, 727 McGee, KCMO

Kansas City Folk Festival is Saturday May 17, 12:00pm to 8:00pm with Sunny War, Nokisee Fields, Jamogi and The Jammers, Stranded in The City, Rural Grit Happy Hour, Dalima Kapten, Gracie Caggiano, Wim Frederick, Pheenix Leeor, Mitxi Mckee, KC Queertet, No Divide KC Spotlight, KC Fringe Showcase, KC Young Audiences, Heartland Song Network, Poetry, Craft Market, Food Trucks, and more, More infoat: http://www.kcfolkfest.org

Stephonne Singleton keeps very busy, serving as a board member of KC Folk Fest, organizing tribute shows, playing: music festivals, Charlotte Street Foundation, Lemonade Park, Lawrence Pride, Manor Records, Midwest Music Foundation, The AIDS Service Foundation of KC, InterUrban ArtHouse, Crossroads Music Fest, The Black Box, The Folly Theatre, and West 18th Street Fashion Show

10:40

9. Stephonne – “1 Think It’s Gonna Be Alright”
   from: “1 Think It’s Gonna Be Alright” – Single / Stephonne / March 28, 2025
   [Co written by Stephonne Singleton with Shawn M Stewart.]

10:43 – More Interview with Stephonne

Stephonne is in the house. Joining us today to debuts his brand new single “It’s Gonna Be Alright.”

More info at: http://www.stephonne.com

Stephonne Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Along with your work with KC Folk Fest, you have also worked with Charlotte Street Foundation, Lemonade Park, Lawrence Pride, Manor Records, Midwest Music Foundation, The AIDS Service Foundation of KC, InterUrban ArtHouse, Crossroads Music Fest, The Black Box, The Folly Theatre, and West 18th Street Fashion Show.

Stephonne is a 2023 winner of the Charlotte Street Generative Performing Arts Fellows.

Each Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Award receives an unrestricted cash grant of $10,000, recognition by Charlotte Street at the time of the award announcement and throughout 2023. The 2023 Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Awards recognize two exceptional artists in the fields of dance, theatre, music, opera, sound art, performance art, multimedia performance, spoken word, puppetry or hybrid performance-based forms. Along with Stephonne Singleton and Tiara Nicole was the other recipients of the 2023 Generative Performing Artist Awards. Since 1997, 29 performing artists and 106 visual artists in the Kansas City region have received this highly regarded award.

All of the 2023 Charlotte Street Award Fellows were selected through competitive processes beginning with open calls for applications from artists based in the five-county Kansas City Metro Area. Artist selections were made by a panel of jurors consisting of renowned and qualified arts professionals. Jurors participated in interviews, presentations, and studio visits, resulting in the selection of 10 finalists for the Generative Performing Artists Awards and 12 finalists for the Visual Artist Awards.

Stephonne’s Statement:

“As a generative performance artist and musician, my music is a result of radical and unconditional love that I have for my life and human connection. That love persists, despite living in a world that relishes my artistic contributions but not the color of my skin nor my queerness. It is within this relentless predicament that I find myself, my melodies, and my lyrics. I share my struggles, triumphs, and journey to self-love through performance. I create music and live experiences that break through the boxes of race, gender, social status and genre so that others may see their reflection in my art. All of my musical influences come together to create something inimitable but familiar. Music has always understood me and It is through music that I continue to define and understand myself. I want my audience to feel accepted and understood by my art, to feel seen – and then to better understand themselves and those around them.”

Stephonne Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley
More info at: http://www.stephonne.com

10:53

10. Stephonne – “1”
    from: “1” – Single / Stephonne / August 21, 2024
    [Written and Produced by Stephonne Singleton. Additional Production – Justin Mantooth. Engineering, Mixing, and Mastering – Justin Mantooth. Additional Vocal Engineering – Stephonne Singleton. Vocals – Stephonne; Synths, Drum Machine, Keyboard – Stephonne; Guitar – Zachary Arias; Bass – Carly Atwood; Drums – Adam Soliz (McKee); Trombone – Trevor Turla. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Westend Recording Studios, Kansas City. // Stephonne describes himself as the lovechild of Prince & Billie Holiday. He grew up in KCK and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Benedictine College, and Masters in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University. Singer, songwriter, actor, model, artist – Stephonne Singleton keeps very busy, organizing Tribute Shows, working as a Resident Artist at Charlottee Street studios, playing Music Festivals, Lemonade Park, Lawrence Pride, Manor Records, Midwest Music Foundation, The AIDS Service Foundation of KC, InterUrban ArtHouse, The Black Box, The Folly Theatre, collaborating with The Black Creatures, Calvin Arsenia, Miki P, Jass, Eboni Fondren, putting out EPs, and singles. Stephonne released his EP SIS: Side B on June 24, 2022 it was in the TOP TEN of WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2022. Stephonne was a featured performer at the 23rd Annual West 18th Street Fashion Show on Friday, June 2, 2023, and also in the 24th annual West 18th Street Fashion Show.]

11. Julien Baker & TORRES – “Sugar in the Tank”
    from: “Sugar in the Tank”- Single / Matador Records / December 13, 2024
    [This was the first single from Julien Baker and TORRES upcoming 12-track album SEND A PRAYER MY WAY to be released April 18, 2025. // After playing “Sugar in the Tank” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Julien Baker & TORRES closed out 2024 with the release of their critically acclaimed debut single “Sugar in the Tank” via Matador Records. Since then, they have also shared the official video for the track which was shot in collaboration with the queer country dance party Stud Country. // Formed by their shared experiences of growing up queer in the south, “Sugar in the Tank,” which is now #3 greatest gainer, and #30* at AAA, not only reflects Julien Baker & TORRES’ love of country music, but joyfully reclaims the genre’s traditions and iconography which until only recently felt exclusionary. The single is a beautiful duet that is authentically country as it is a celebration of the songwriter’s roots. // “Sugar in the Tank,” is a stunning duet—a heartfelt celebration of identity and belonging, steeped in the timeless essence of country music. // “Straightforward country — guitar strumming, banjo picking, pedal steel guitar — perfectly suits the all-out declarations of love in “Sugar in the Tank.” -The New York Times // “the pair’s voices fit together like puzzle pieces, making ‘Sugar in the Tank’ a must-listen for any country music fan out there.” Billboard]

11:00 – Station ID

12. Danielle Ate the Sandwich – “Fumbling”
    from: Fumbling / Danielle Ate The Sandwich / March 21, 2025
    [Fumbling by Danielle Ate the Sandwich, is the artist’s 8th full length release of original music. Produced by Fritz Hutchison, Alison Hawkins, and Danielle Anderson. Mastered by Ian Dobyns. Recorded in Kansas City, KS. Photography by Paul Andrews. Danielle Anderson: vocals, ukulele, guitar, banjo. Fritz Hutchison: drums, bass, banjo, guitars, keys. Alison Hawkins: vocals, keys, fiddle. Joy Zimmerman: vocals. Marco Pascolini: pedal steel. Alberto Racanati: trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet. Aryana Nemati: flute. Laurel Parks: violin. Sascha Groschang: cello. Community Choir on ‘Peace to You Brother’: Annie Kalahurka, Morgan Fender, Forest Kinsey, Mark Orr, Jamie Campbell, Jessica Campbell. More info at: http://www.danielleatethesandwich.com]

[Danielle Ate The Sandwich plays a FUMBLING album release show Saturday, March 29 at 7:00pm, at Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview Ave, KCMO Featuring Fritz Hutchison, Alison Hawkins, Michelle Bacon, and Marco Pascolini. Info at: http://www.greenwoodsocialhall.com]

11:04 – Interview with Danielle Anderson

Danielle Anderson performs as Danielle Ate the Sandwich. Danielle is a singer/songwriter, recording artist, and comedic performer based in KCMO. Danielle Anderson jois us to talk about her new album FUMBLING from Danielle Ate The Sandwich, released March 21, 2025. Danielle has released over 300 YouTube videos, conducts an annual community songwriting project called the 24 Hour Album, and has released 8 full length albums of original music. She has opened for Mumford and Sons, Jake Shimabukuro, and had the opportunity to write the soundtrack to the Emmy nominated HBO documentary, “Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson.” In 2023, Danielle was awarded a 2-year studio residency at the Charlotte Street Foundation, and was the recipient of an Inspiration Grant from ArtsKC in 2024. Danielle Ate The Sandwich plays a FUMBLING album release show Saturday, March 29 at 7:00pm, at Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview Ave, KCMO. Info at: http://www.greenwoodsocialhall.com

Danielle Anderson, thank you for being with us on WMM.

We just heard the title track from Danielle’s 8th full length album Fumbling.

Produced by Fritz Hutchison, Alison Hawkins, and Danielle Anderson. Mastered by Ian Dobyns. Recorded in Kansas City, KS. Photography by Paul Andrews.

Danielle Anderson: vocals, ukulele, guitar, banjo.
Fritz Hutchison: drums, bass, banjo, guitars, keys.
Alison Hawkins: vocals, keys, fiddle.
Joy Zimmerman: vocals.
Marco Pascolini: pedal steel.
Alberto Racanati: trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet.
Aryana Nemati: flute.
Laurel Parks: violin.
Sascha Groschang: cello.
Community Choir on ‘Peace to You Brother’: Annie Kalahurka, Morgan Fender, Forest Kinsey, Mark Orr, Jamie Campbell, Jessica Campbell.

Danielle Ate The Sandwich’s 8th album received an Inspiration Grant from ArtsKC.

11:12

12. Danielle Ate the Sandwich – “It’s Not Jupiter”
    from: Fumbling / Danielle Ate The Sandwich / March 21, 2025
    [Fumbling by Danielle Ate the Sandwich, is the artist’s 8th full length release of original music. Produced by Fritz Hutchison, Alison Hawkins, and Danielle Anderson. Mastered by Ian Dobyns. Recorded in Kansas City, KS. Photography by Paul Andrews. Danielle Anderson: vocals, ukulele, guitar, banjo. Fritz Hutchison: drums, bass, banjo, guitars, keys. Alison Hawkins: vocals, keys, fiddle. Joy Zimmerman: vocals. Marco Pascolini: pedal steel. Alberto Racanati: trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet. Aryana Nemati: flute. Laurel Parks: violin. Sascha Groschang: cello. Community Choir on ‘Peace to You Brother’: Annie Kalahurka, Morgan Fender, Forest Kinsey, Mark Orr, Jamie Campbell, Jessica Campbell. More info at: http://www.danielleatethesandwich.com]

[Danielle Ate The Sandwich plays a FUMBLING album release show Saturday, March 29 at 7:00pm, at Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview Ave, KCMO Featuring Fritz Hutchison, Alison Hawkins, Michelle Bacon, and Marco Pascolini.. Info at: http://www.greenwoodsocialhall.com]

11:16 – More Interview with Danielle Anderson

Danielle Anderson performs as Danielle Ate the Sandwich. Danielle is a singer/songwriter, recording artist, and comedic performer based in KCMO. Danielle Anderson jois us to talk about her new album FUMBLING from Danielle Ate The Sandwich, released March 21, 2025. Danielle has released over 300 YouTube videos, conducts an annual community songwriting project called the 24 Hour Album, and has released 8 full length albums of original music. She has opened for Mumford and Sons, Jake Shimabukuro, and had the opportunity to write the soundtrack to the Emmy nominated HBO documentary, “Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson.” In 2023, Danielle was awarded a 2-year studio residency at the Charlotte Street Foundation, and was the recipient of an Inspiration Grant from ArtsKC in 2024. Danielle Ate The Sandwich plays a FUMBLING album release show Saturday, March 29 at 7:00pm, at Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview Ave, KCMO. Info at: http://www.greenwoodsocialhall.com

Danielle Anderson, thank you for being with us on WMM.

We just heard another track from Danielle’s 8th full length album Fumbling.

Danielle had the honor of working with IX Film Productions to create a new music video for the title track of the new album, Fumbling. The result is a beautiful one shot video that takes Danielle through the chaos of life, growing up, making choices, and fumbling through it all.

The video was filmed in Kansas City, MO, by Patrick Poe & Lolo Loren, with production design by Amber Joy. The video features lots of amazing local talent!

Starring:
Ellie DeShon – Mom
Thomas Smith – Dad
Amber Joy – Sister
Jerry Mañan – Friend/Groom
Tiffany Michelle – Friend
Stephanie Stevens – Friend
Forest Kinsey – Priest/Partygoer
Gideon Madison – Partygoer
Ace Lovelace – Partygoer
Lily Gojcevic – Partygoer
Mykah Mleek – Partygoer
Mason Vietti – Partygoer
Liam Chewning – First AC
Isabelle Torri – Hair & Makeup
Bob Colladay – Car

Danielle on Fumbling Tour Dates around the US!

FUMBLING TOUR DATES
March 29th | Kansas City, MO
April 12th | Warrensburg, MO
May 31st | Lawrence, KS
May 10th | Denver, CO
June 12th | Littleton, CO
June 15th | Fort Collins, CO

WEST COAST FUMBLING TOUR
September 11th | Reno, NV
September 12th | Roseville, CA
September 13th | North Bay, CA
September 14th | Sunnyvale, CA
September 20th | Los Angeles, CA
September 22nd | Sun City, AZ
September 23rd | Phoenix, CA

Last summer at the KC Fringe Festival, Danielle presented THE GREATEST GARAGE SALE EVER a one woman comedy cabaret featuring original characters and songs by Danielle Anderson with five performances July 20 thru Sat., July 27 The Bird Comedy Theater, 103 West 19th, KCMO.

On February 23, 2024, Danielle Ate The Sandwich released the single, “Turtle by Jer” – Written by Jerry “Jer” Slougherman and Danielle Anderson. Performed by Jer. Mixed by David Bashford

On January 14, 2024 Danielle Ate The Sandwich released the 6-track release, “2024 (The 24 Hour Album)”.

On February 20, 2022 Danielle Ate The Sandwich released the 7-track release, “Continued Curfew (24 Hour Album 2022)”.

Danielle Ate The Sandwich released the 7-song album, 24 HOUR ALBUM (2021), on April 25, 2021. The 7 songs on this album were written and recorded in 24 hours on April 24th-25th, 2021, during Danielle Ate the Sandwich’s 6th annual 24 Hour Album.

On May 28, 2021 Danielle Ate the Sandwich released, It’s Not a Burden (Original Songs from the Documentary Film) on Youngest Daughter Records. It’s Not A Burden is a powerful and brilliant film about the joys and pain of raising elderly parents. The songs are produced by Joanna Katcher.

Danielle Ate The Sandwich released the single, “A Weight, A Wall” on June 1, 2021.
Danielle Ate The Sandwich released the single, “Goodbye to You” on August 22, 2021.
Danielle Anderson, thank you for being with us on WMM.

11:25

13. Danielle Ate the Sandwich – “Not Easy To Do”
    from: Fumbling / Danielle Ate The Sandwich / March 21, 2025
    [Fumbling by Danielle Ate the Sandwich, is the artist’s 8th full length release of original music. Produced by Fritz Hutchison, Alison Hawkins, and Danielle Anderson. Mastered by Ian Dobyns. Recorded in Kansas City, KS. Photography by Paul Andrews. Danielle Anderson: vocals, ukulele, guitar, banjo. Fritz Hutchison: drums, bass, banjo, guitars, keys. Alison Hawkins: vocals, keys, fiddle. Joy Zimmerman: vocals. Marco Pascolini: pedal steel. Alberto Racanati: trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet. Aryana Nemati: flute. Laurel Parks: violin. Sascha Groschang: cello. Community Choir on ‘Peace to You Brother’: Annie Kalahurka, Morgan Fender, Forest Kinsey, Mark Orr, Jamie Campbell, Jessica Campbell. More info at: http://www.danielleatethesandwich.com]

[Danielle Ate The Sandwich plays a FUMBLING album release show Saturday, March 29 at 7:00pm, at Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview Ave, KCMO Featuring Fritz Hutchison, Alison Hawkins, Michelle Bacon, and Marco Pascolini.. Info at: http://www.greenwoodsocialhall.com]

11:28 – Underwriting

15. The Fur and the Fang – “Mr Lorry”
    from: EP 4 /The Fur and the Fang / December 17, 2024
    [Zachary Hodson (formerly of Dolls On Fire) on vocals, guitars, keys, percussion; Valerie Schurman on vocals, kazoo, percussion; Seann McAnally on vocals, bass; Joe Frogge on vocals, ukulele. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Drei Katzen Studios. All music and lyrics by Zachary Hodson. Performed by the Fur and the Fang except Bad Gospel music and lyrics written by Seann McAnally performed by the Fur and the Fang. Album art generated by DJ Flickster. The Fur and the Fang are Campfire acoustic singalong meets sweaty barnstomping hootenanny. More info at: http://www.thefurandthefang.bandcamp.com]

[The Fur and The Fang play The RINO, 314 Armour Rd, North KC, on Friday, March 28, at 7:00pm with The Village Prairie and Cee Dee Vee. http://www.therinokc.com]

11:33 – Interview with Zach Hodson, Valerie Schurman and Joe Frogge

Joining us in our 90.1 FM Studios is KC music veteran Zach Hodson, formally of the critically acclaimed Dolls On Fire. Zach’s new band is The Fur and The Fang where Zach on sings, plays guitars, keys & percussion; also joining us in the conversation is: Valerie Schurman who sings, plays kazoo & percussion; and Joe Frogge who sings and plays ukulele. Seann McAnally on vocals & bass is also in the band. The Fur and The Fang describe their sound as: “A campfire acoustic singalong meets sweaty barn-stomping hootenanny.” The band released, EP 4 on December 17, 2024. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Drei Katzen Studios. All music and lyrics by Zachary Hodson. More info at: http://www.thefurandthefang.bandcamp.com

The Fur and The Fang play The RINO, 314 Armour Rd, North KC, on Friday, March 28, at 7:00pm with The Village Prairie and Cee Dee Vee. http://www.therinokc.com

Zach Hodson, Valerie Schurman and Joe Frogge thanks for being with us on WMM

The Fur and The Fang is:
Zach Hodson on sings, plays guitars, keys & percussion;
Valerie Schurman who sings, plays kazoo & percussion;
Joe Frogge who sings and plays ukulele.
Seann McAnally on vocals & bass is also in the band.

The Fur and The Fang describe their sound as: “A campfire acoustic singalong meets sweaty barn-stomping hootenanny.”

The band released, EP 4 on December 17, 2024. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Drei Katzen Studios. All music and lyrics by Zachary Hodson.

11:41

16. The Fur and the Fang – “Bad Gospel”
    from: EP 4 /The Fur and the Fang / December 17, 2024
    [Zachary Hodson (formerly of Dolls On Fire) on vocals, guitars, keys, percussion; Valerie Schurman on vocals, kazoo, percussion; Seann McAnally on vocals, bass; Joe Frogge on vocals, ukulele. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Drei Katzen Studios. All music and lyrics by Zachary Hodson. Performed by the Fur and the Fang except Bad Gospel music and lyrics written by Seann McAnally performed by the Fur and the Fang. Album art generated by DJ Flickster. The Fur and the Fang are Campfire acoustic singalong meets sweaty barnstomping hootenanny. More info at: http://www.thefurandthefang.bandcamp.com]

[The Fur and The Fang play The RINO, 314 Armour Rd, North KC, on Friday, March 28, at 7:00pm with The Village Prairie and Cee Dee Vee. http://www.therinokc.com]

11:44 – More Interview with Zach Hodson, Valerie Schurman and Joe Frogge

Joining us in our 90.1 FM Studios is KC music veteran Zach Hodson, formally of the critically acclaimed Dolls On Fire. Zach’s new band is The Fur and The Fang where Zach on sings, plays guitars, keys & percussion; also joining us in the conversation is: Valerie Schurman who sings, plays kazoo & percussion; and Joe Frogge who sings and plays ukulele. Seann McAnally on vocals & bass is also in the band. The Fur and The Fang describe their sound as: “A campfire acoustic singalong meets sweaty barn-stomping hootenanny.” The band released, EP 4 on December 17, 2024. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Drei Katzen Studios. All music and lyrics by Zachary Hodson.

The Fur and The Fang play The RINO, 314 Armour Rd, North KC, on Friday, March 28, at 7:00pm with The Village Prairie and Cee Dee Vee. http://www.therinokc.com

Zach Hodson, Valerie Schurman and Joe Frogge thanks for being with us on WMM

The Fur and the Fang Discography
The Fur and the Fang released the 4-track EP, EP3 on December 17, 2024
The Fur and the Fang released the 5-track EP, EP3 on July 23, 2024
The Fur and the Fang released the 4-track EP, EP2 on August 25, 2023
The Fur and the Fang released the 4-track EP, EP1 on February 28, 2023
The Fur and the Fang released the 6-track EP, A Furry Fangy Holiday 2023 Dec 20, 2023

The Fur and the Fang released the single, “The Horrors We Don’t Know” on Oct 31, 2023.

Zach Hodson, Valerie Schurman and Joe Frogge thanks for being with us on WMM

The Fur and The Fang play The RINO, 314 Armour Rd, North KC, on Friday, March 28, at 7:00pm with The Village Prairie and Cee Dee Vee. http://www.therinokc.com

11:54

17. The Fur and the Fang – “I Could Never Tell A Lie”
    from: EP 4 /The Fur and the Fang / December 17, 2024
    [Zachary Hodson (formerly of Dolls On Fire) on vocals, guitars, keys, percussion; Valerie Schurman on vocals, kazoo, percussion; Seann McAnally on vocals, bass; Joe Frogge on vocals, ukulele. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Drei Katzen Studios. All music and lyrics by Zachary Hodson. Performed by the Fur and the Fang except Bad Gospel music and lyrics written by Seann McAnally performed by the Fur and the Fang. Album art generated by DJ Flickster. The Fur and the Fang are Campfire acoustic singalong meets sweaty barnstomping hootenanny. More info at: http://www.thefurandthefang.bandcamp.com]

[The Fur and The Fang play The RINO, 314 Armour Rd, North KC, on Friday, March 28, at 7:00pm with The Village Prairie and Cee Dee Vee. http://www.therinokc.com]

18. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
    from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

NEXT WEEK, on April 2 – Fallestine “Fally” Afani of I Heart Local Music and the Lawrence Music Alliance joins us as Guest Producer for SPOTLIGHT ON PALESTINIAN ARTISTS a special presentation for Arab American Heritage Month featuring music from Saint Levant, Elyanna, DAM, and More!

Big THANK YOU TO THE FABULOUS 44 PEOPLE WHO DONATED in support of Wednesday MidDay Medley for KKFI 90.1 FM’s during our On-Air Winter Fund Drive! With the help of my amazing co-hosts, we raised $2,693.00 toward our goal of $2,685.00. We achieved 100% of our goal for KKFI 90.1 FM. Thank you Betse Ellis, Rachio Head, and Mikal Shapiro and J Kelly Dougherty and all our fabulous donors and listeners!

THANK YOU to our incredible KKFI Staff; Director of Development & Communications – J Kelly Dougherty, Volunteer Coordinator – Darryl Oliver, Chief Operator – Chad Brothers and Shaina Littler – Office Manager Book Keeper

This radio station is more than the individual hosts of each individual radio show. Instead it is about a collective spirit of hundreds of hardworking people, unselfishly setting aside ego, to work for the greater good of community building and the gigantic goal of keeping our airwaves free, non-commercial, and open to all! Congratulations and thank you to all programmers & volunteers who went the extra effort to keep our station alive.

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

Wednesday MidDay Medley in on the web:
http://www.kkfi.org,
http://www.WednesdayMidDayMedley.org,
http://www.facebook.com/WednesdayMidDayMedleyon90.1FM

On your local radio dial 90.1 FM or
STREAMING LIVE at: kkfi.org

Show #1088

Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

WMM presents: RADIO-TRANS-MISSION

1. “Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks”
   from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979
   [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]

2. Electric Orchids – “Transmission (2021)”
   from: Plastic Heart (2021 Remix) / Electric Orchids/ May 13, 2021
   [Electric Orchids originally released their first full-length L.P. album, Plastic Heart on May 13, 2016. All Songs 2016 by Electric Orchids, All Rights Reserved. Produced by Electric Orchids. Recorded, mixed and engineered by Matt Mitchell at Mitcholm Castle. Co Produced by John Granger. Additional sounds courtesy of Sven’s Space Place used with permission. http://www.svengrahn.pp.se // Mastered at Landr.com // Cover art by Val Engholm. // The band remixed Plastic Heart for a special release on May 13, 2021. //Electric Orchids is an Indie-Pop band from Kansas City, Mo. // Electric Orchids are: Marc Thomas on drums, Chris Hutchings on bass, Val Engholm on vocals & keyboards. and Matt Mitchell on Guitar.]

3. Hot Chip – “Transmission”
   from: War Child Presents Heroes / Astralwerks / February 16, 2009
   [War Child Presents Heroes is a 2009 charity album devoted to the War Child charity’s aid efforts in war-stricken areas, such as Iraq, Uganda, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. With a theme of “placing faith in the next generation,” the concept of the album is to have music legends select a track from their own canon and nominate an artist from the next generation to create a modern reworking of that song. // The album was recorded over six months in London, Manchester, Paris, Berlin, New York, and Los Angeles, and mastered at Abbey Road Studios in North London. Previous War Child charity albums include The Help Album (1995), 1 Love (2002), Hope (2003) and Help: A Day in the Life (2005). // Hot Chip is an English synthpop band formed in London in 2000. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for live performances and studio recordings. The group primarily produces music in the synth-pop and alternative dance genres, drawing influences from house and disco. // Hot Chip began as a bedroom recording project for Taylor and Goddard, who met while students at Elliott School, Putney; their earliest lineup included Smoughton as their drummer. After completing two EPs, Mexico (2001) and San Frandisco (2002), the group released their debut album, Coming on Strong (2004) and added Doyle, Clarke, and Martin to their lineup. The band’s second album, The Warning (2006), was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Their follow-up, Made in the Dark (2008), included the single “Ready for the Floor”, which was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. The band have subsequently released the albums One Life Stand (2010), In Our Heads (2012), Why Make Sense? (2015), A Bath Full of Ecstasy (2019), and Freakout/Release (2022). // Outside of Hot Chip, the band members, individually and in partnership with each other, are active in other musical acts and occasionally perform DJ sets. // “Transmission” is a song by English post-punk band Joy Division. Originally recorded in 1978 for the band’s aborted self-titled album, it was later re-recorded the following year at a faster tempo and released by record label Factory as the band’s debut single. // “Transmission” was released on 7″ vinyl on November 16, 1979 by record label Factory. It was re-released as a 12″ single with a different sleeve on 20 February 1981. The single charted twice in New Zealand, debuting at number 2 in September 1981 and re-appearing again at number 24 in July 1984. // The song was performed once by the band on television, for the BBC Something Else programme. Twenty seconds of the song is shown in the movie Control (2007), directed by Anton Corbijn, a film based on the biography of Ian’s wife, Deborah Curtis’s Touching from a Distance. // Greil Marcus has a chapter on this song in his book The History of Rock ‘n’ Roll in Ten Songs. According to Marcus, “‘Transmission’ is not an argument. It’s a dramatization of the realization that the act of listening to the radio is a suicidal gesture. It will kill your mind. It will rob your soul.” Marcus also quotes the band’s bassist Peter Hook about the importance of this song: “We were doing a soundcheck at the Mayflower, in May, and we played ‘Transmission’: people had been moving around, and they all stopped to listen. I realized that was our first great song.” // In May 2007, NME magazine placed “Transmission” at number 20 in its list of the 50 “Greatest Indie Anthems Ever”, one place below “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. In 2016, Pitchfork placed “Transmission” at number 10 in its list of “The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s”.]

10:06 – Intro / Pledge Break #1

Thanks for tuning into WMM on 90.1 FM KKFI.

I’m Mark Manning. Today we present RADIO-TRANS-MISSION a special show in honor of the fierce courage of our Trans, Non-Binary, & Queer artist friends we’ve regularly featured on this show. We’ll spin music from: Ivory Blue, Cassie Taylor, Cuee, MellowPhobia, Chase Horseman, The Creepy Jingles, June Henry, The Black Creatures, Eve Sheldon, Collidescope, Babydoll, Ingrid Ingram, Shamir, Flamy Grant, Laura Jane Grace, Moses Sumney, Lyra Pramuk, Sam Smith, John Cameron Mitchell, and we started the show with Electric Orchids and Hot Chip.

PLUS, we’ll play more tracks from the non-profit Red Hot Organization‘s new release: TRAИƧA, (that we’ve been featuring this season). TRAИƧA is a spiritual journey across 8 chapters and 46 songs w/ over 100 artists contributing & collaborating with this incredible collection. This 6-LP Box Set spotlights many of the most daring, imaginative trans & non-binary artists working in music today. Many of the artists in this collective we have been featuring on WMM since our inception as a radio show. More info at: https://redhot.org/

We’re living in an age when an entire Political Party, a President, his entire cabinet, the U.S. Congress & Senate, The Supreme Court, Kansas & Missouri State governments are eliminating equality, civil rights, jobs, healthcare, & legal protections for our Transgender, Non-Binary & Queer friends. The recent Presidential election brought out cruel campaigns on every level, that blanketed our media with venomous bigotry, manufactured misinformation and lies, while commercial television & radio profited from the hate.

90.1 FM is non-commercial. We are Community Radio. We are different! It is our mission to give evidence of the humanity that is put at risk by these irresponsible campaigns of hate. Throughout WMM’s 20 year history we’ve been the first to present recordings, live performances and interviews with Ivory Blue, Mitzi McKee, Jocelyn Olivia Nixon, Tillie Hall, Chase Horseman, Cuee, Ingrid Ingram, The Black Creatures, Collidescope, Flamy Grant, Remy Styrk, Calvin Arsenia, Stephonne, Al Hawkins, Kat King and many others.

We bring you this special show as part of our KKFI Winter Fund Drive. And this is where YOU can be involved! We’ll take a few short breaks each hour, to encourage YOU to call us at 888-931-0901 or http://www.kkfi.org to make a donation in support 90.1 FM KKFI.
Joining me in the studio, we have some very special co-hosts:

Betse Ellis. Originally from Fayetteville, Arkansas, Betse received her Bachelors of Arts in Music and a Bachelors of Arts in English, from the University of Missouri – Kansas City. For over 40 years she has been playing the violin and fiddle professionally and also working as a teacher of music. Betse was a founding member of the acclaimed internationally known band, The Wilders. Betse has released two acclaimed solo records, and records & performs with the band Little Miss Dynamite, and The Starhaven Rounders and with her husband, multi-instrumentalist Clarke Wyatt, as the internationally known, Betse & Clarke.

Betse Ellis, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Also with us is Rachel Christia a Kansas City born tech-girl, afro-futurist, vocalist, actress and landlocked mermaid. She has performed with notable MidCoast bands such as Hearts of Darkness; an eclectic collective influenced by 70s afrobeat, and the Denver based powerhouse Pink Hawks; pulling funky polyrhythms from West Africa and South America. More recently, she enjoys collaborating with her favorite Kansas Music legends or concocting fully improvised audience led musicals with The Maestro’s – Kansas City. She is perfectly aligned as a Kansas City Folk Fest Board member as her primary directive is to build community by lovingly blurring the lines between art and activism.

Rachel Christia, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Also with us is Mikal Shapiro the creator and co-host and producer of Siren Song, Saturdays at 11:00 AM on 90.1 FM KKFI Kansas City Community Radio. Mikal is also the co-founder of River Trade Radio on 90.1 FM. Mikal Shapiro is the coordinator of the annual Kansas City Folk Fest. They are also founder of State City Films creating documentary and experimental filmmaking practices. A third generation storyteller, they draw inspiration from their travels, love life, and the state of the Union. Mikal studied Film History, Film, & Writing at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. They received their MFA in Film/Video/New Media/Animation from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2012. Artist, filmmaker, puppeteer, ring-leader, Mikal Shapiro is a KC songwriter whose musical influences span popular songs, psych rock, lounge, classic country and old time spirituals. They have toured extensively across the United States and have recorded 5 critically acclaimed albums. Mikal records and performs with their band The Musical. They also perform with Shapiro Brothers, and Monta At Odds.

Mikal Shapiro’s The Musical plays a Dinner Matinee on Friday. March 7 , at 7:00 to 9:00 PM, at The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, KCMO.

Mikal Shapiro, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

90.1 FM KKFI Kansas City Community Radio is Non-Commercial, and that means that three times a year, we interrupt our regular programming, to ask our listeners, to help us continue our unique, 24-7 programming. For 37 years 90.1 FM KKFI has been on the air. While the spirit of this station is kept alive by hundreds of volunteers who passionately donate their time and abilities to keep the transmission of our 100,000-watt-signal alive. We are a operated by a not-for-profit organization, incorporated over 40 years ago, called The MidCoast Radio Project. We are a non-profit, with a dedicated paid staff of four incredible individuals, and hundreds of volunteers, who donate thousands of hours every year, producing radio shows, training new hosts & producers, developing new radio shows, serving our vast community landscape with music and news, information and stories that reflect the many communities we serve.

90.1 FM KKFI is “Radio Powered By Diversity” For 37 Years our Kansas City Area Community Speaks Through our Airwaves and this Program.

In 2024 on WMM we conducted over 119 interviews with 152 special guests: Michelle Bacon, Adee Dancy, Lonnie Fisher, Tara Fisher, Katie Gilchrist, Erin Keller, Mitzi McKee, Katie Gilchrist, Rod Parks, Jennifer Roe, Janice Woolery, David Luther, Kelly Dougherty, Buck Moon, James Carter, Julia Othmer, James T. Lundie, Flamy Grant, Malek Azrael, Alisön Hawkins, Fritz Hutchison, Betse Ellis, Trecen Peeler, Carlos Nunez, Joelle St. Pierre, Kat King, Elaine McMilian, DJ Thundercutz, Jasmine Majors, Nico Gray, Sarah Bradshaw, Michael Byars, Chris Haghirian, Manuel Abarca, Kim Stanton, Kris Bruders, Paul Wenske, Nancy Meis, Chris Wenske, Isaac S. Cates, Claire Adams, ALBER, Rick Truman, Sondra Freeman, Mara Williams, JM Banks, Jen Owen, Brad Cox, D. Rashaan Gilmore, Anson The Ornery, Shaun Crowley, Chris Kinsley, Sid Sowder, Josh Thomas, Justin Brooks, James Capps, Chris Smead, Jeremiah James Gonzales, Scott Hrabko, Beth Watts Nelson, Jocelyn Olivia Nixon, Lauren Krum, Mike Stover, Brenton Cook, Mikal Shapiro, Stephonne, Chad Brothers, Calvin Arsenia, Ivory Blue, Klaartje Van Lue, Kasey Rausch, Maria Vasquez Boyd, Necia Gamby, Clarke Wyatt, Danny Santell, Miki P., Rachel Lovelace, Peregrine Honig, Izzy Vivas, Krystle Warren, Ashlee Fairchild Jones, Jean Fabien Dijoud, Dan Parsons, Aaron Rhodes, Ethan Payton, Nicolette Paige, Zee Underscore, Charlie Colborne, Bill Belzer, Tommy Capps, Dirk Liebert, Graham Stone, Audrey Crabtree, MusicbySkippy, Lone Stranger, Adam Phillips, Danielle Ate the Sandwich, Scott McCaughey, Kristina King, Lincoln Dreher, Tom Mardikes, Glenn Robinson, Ayron Alexander, Noah Cassidy, Kole Waters, Cameron Thomas, Scott Easterday, Kyle Dahlquist, Bill Sundahl, Bryan Redmond, Ryan Wurtz, Nick Carswell, Fally Afani, Lava Dreams, Hillary Watts, Chuck Whittington, Just Angel, T.A. Rell, Duff Thompson, Josh Mobley, David George, Tucker Slough, Nathan Reusch, Mark Ronning, Lori Raye Erickson, Jessica Dressler, Jen Frank Klenke, Adria Patterson, Alex Kimball Williams, Michael McQuary, Paris Williams, Jesse Kates, Christina Graves, Brandon Graves, Sandra Draper, Beth Barden, Rachel Christia, Miguel Carabello, Daniel Cole, Paul Seiz, Scott Heidemann, Ken Petti, Sondra Freeman, Destiny Atkinson, Kate Hall, Damron Russell Armstrong, Brock Wilbur, Nick Spacek, Bill Brownlee, Rachel Ytyurralde

10:15

4. Ivory Blue – “Rhythm of the Radio”
   from: “Rhythm of the Radio” – Single / IVORY BLUE / January 31, 2025
   [Written and dedicated to RADIO STATIONS, DJs all over the world. What IVORY says about this song: “I really wanted a song to express how scared I was for the future. But I also wanted a positive message to lift myself up. I realized in the process of writing it that this song was getting me through my emotions and I felt that all music really does just that. It helps us in our darkest times. This song is officially dedicated to all the radio stations that continually change people’s lives through the power of music and to the artists that continue to write out their deepest personal experiences through their own ideas. Let’s make the future a unifying happy place for all!” // IVORY BLUE released the single “Exiled” on November 29, 2024. IVORY BLUE released the single “Olé!” on October 4, 2024, Breathing Underwater” on August 9, 2024, “Bad Dreams”on June 7, 2024, “Batter Up” on April 22, 2024, “Flashback” on March 15, 2024, “Howl” on Feb. 16, 2024. // IVORY BLUE released their second full length album, STARLIT LOVE CHILD, on Nov. 17, 2023. The 10-track album was in the top five of WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2023, and in the “Best of” lists at 90.9 The Bridge and other radio stations around the world. For STARLIT LOVE CHILD, IVORY BLUE served as songwriter, producer, & vocalist. // On October 27, 2023 IVORY BLUE released the single “Ghost of Life.” This single followed IVORY’s previous releases,”In A World Like This” from September 22, 2023, ”The Best of Life” from August 4, 2023 and “Control” from May 26, 2023. IVORY released the single “All Outta Love” on February 24, 2023. // IVORY BLUE released the single “Starlit Love Child” on Oct. 28, 2022, “Red Light” on July 29, 2022. // IVORY BLUE released their full length debut album COMPOUND LOVE on Feb. 25, 2022. COMPOUND LOVE was in the Top 10 of WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2022. For COMPOUND LOVE, IVORY BLUE served as songwriter, producer, vocalist and played all instruments with the exception of: Lester Estelle on drums, Klaartje Van Lue on piano, Craig Kew on bass, Lennon Bone on drums, and Marco Pascolini on pedal steel guitar. Nick Poortman served in mixing, with Kurt Festge who also served in mixing & Mastering. // IVORY BLUE released the single “Good Changes” on Oct 26, 2021. Ivory Blue released the singles: “Heavy,” “Bad Weather,” “It Must Have Been Me,” “Compound Love,” and “The Start” on December 14, 2021. // IVORY BLUE’s debut EP, Ready Get Set was released in June 2015. While the EP helped spread the word and give IVORY BLUE attention from regional radio and TV stations, a big break would come in 2017. In 2017 Ivory was among 1800 artists/bands that competed in neXt2Rock. Ivory won local & regional challenges and advanced to nationals in Los Angeles to win the top prize. // IVORY BLUE
   has played with The Band That Fell to earth, Boulevardia, Crossroads Music Festival, The Middle of the Map Festival, The Westport Roots Festival, the KCPT Screening of “Real Boy” at The KC Public Library, and Kauffman Stadium. // Ivory Blue was born in 1986 in Peoria Illinois, as Devin James Miclettet. Ivory’s birth mother put them up for adoption at the age of four. Ivory speaks about how it was difficult to find trust in people offering their home to someone denied it for so long, Ivory lived with eight different families, before running away at 15. // Ivory has talked with us about how in their life they have turned to music to express pain. Ivory spent most of their childhood looking for a family. In 2010 Klaartje Van Lue saw Ivory performing in a YouTube video and contacted them, flying Ivory to Kansas City, and adopting Ivory into the Van Lue family. In 2011, Ivory settled in the Kansas City, MO area. During the past 10 years Ivory came out as “Non-Binary Transgender”, and then later as Trans-Female. // As a multi-instrumentalist, Ivory began refining their performance style, using digital looping pedals to stack harmonies and guitar parts live on stage, giving their solo shows the feel of a full band. More info at: http://www.ivorybluemusic.com]

5. Cassie Taylor – “DEADNAME (Find You) (feat. Cuee & Dante Foley)”
   from: DEADNAME (Find You) (feat. Cuee & Dante Foley) – Single / Former Child / 6-6-2024
   [“Taylor’s new song “DEADNAME (Find You)” tells the story of a trans man coming into his own and finding love. // The story was inspired by people in Taylor’s life that transitioned during the pandemic as well as the artist coming to terms with her own queer identity. // The single works as an anthem of acceptance and a musical form of resistance. \ Cassie Taylor told Luis Xavier De Pena of Watermark online, “For people to have the ability to show up as themselves, I think it’s going to make the fight more sustainable,” Taylor says. “I think to be queer and to lean into joy is a protest.” // It took over two years from concept to execution between issues with label managers not wanting to release a song about trans issues to finding an authentic voice on the record. Releasing the song was no easy feat but the hard work paid off. // Taylor says the single has received overwhelmingly positive support since it release. For Taylor, it’s important to normalize the discussions around transitioning and gender-affirming practices as almost everyone is prone to do the latter. // “I don’t think that there’s a single celebrity, model, human being on Earth that isn’t participating in something to affirm their gender. I think that the thing that catches people up, especially in the conversation about trans rights and inclusivity, is that we’re all doing that,” Taylor says. // Taylor has recently been back in the studio recording new music that speaks on LGBTQ+ topics. The artist says fans can expect new music to drop sometime this summer. // Cassie Taylor was born in 1986 in Boulder, Colorado. They are an American singer-songwriter and blues musician. She started her career in the early 2000s touring as a bassist for her father Otis Taylor, a trance blues musician. Taylor released a positively received solo album, Out of my Mind, in 2013, which infused traditional Delta blues with genres as diverse as electronica, indie rock, and psychedelia. Based in Kansas City, Missouri as of 2013, they are also a model and fashion designer. // Cassie Taylor was raised by her parents Carol Ellen Bjork and blues musician Otis Taylor. They have one younger sister. Despite being born during a period when her father was on hiatus from the music industry, he did expose her to blues music and teach her piano when she was young. She only became aware of his previous career around age 8 or 9. At around age 12, Taylor began playing electric bass, impressing her father with a rendition of “Hey Joe.” // When Taylor was 16, their father asked them to tour as the bassist in his band. Since his usual bassist Kenny Passarelli had a conflicting schedule, she joined his summer tour, playing for twenty dollars per gig. According to Taylor, her father didn’t build her up as a prodigy, but rather “I think I was just cheap child labor. Plus, he knew I wasn’t going to get drunk on the road or go missing. Some people have the fear of God in them. I had the fear of Otis.” // Cassie toured multiple countries with the band, picking up vocals and keyboards as well and went on to appear in eight of his albums, SSWD including lending bass and vocals to his 2007 album Definition of a Circle. Taylor was also on the board of directors for the Blues Foundation. // By 2009, Taylor quit the band to work on her own demo recordings. Frustrated with the process, she moved to Memphis with her then-boyfriend and stepped back from music. They began working in retail, started studying fashion design, and began a modeling career. She later started her own company, Moorhead Apparel, with a focus on men’s clothing. Taylor has made appearances in a number of studio and student films. They now also work as a photographer and videographer. // In June 2023, Taylor met drag queen Trixie Mattel backstage during a performance of Mattel’s in Kansas City. After Taylor posted photos with Mattel in a Playboy jacket on Instagram, they were scouted by Playboy and became a Playboy Bunny for Playboy’s online platform, Centerfold. // Taylor rededicated herself to music in 2010, beginning to work on her debut solo album, Blue, where she wrote all the tracks. Released in 2011, The New Yorker called it a “solid collection of original songs, with occasional nods to her father’s trance blues.” // During this time she formed the trio Girls With Guitars with musicians Dani Wilde and Samantha Fish. They released an eponymous album in 2011, afterwards beginning to tour. While she mostly writes her own material, Taylor has also reworked songs by artists as diverse as Nine Inch Nails and Muddy Waters. // By 2012, Taylor had moved to Kansas City, Missouri and started and started mixing tracks for her second album. Originally financed through the proceeds of her husband selling his car, she was signed by Yellow Dog Records during the production process. Most of the recording took place at Immersive Studios in Boulder, where she had previously worked. // Taylor wrote, arranged, produced, and sang all tracks, also providing bass guitar, piano, Hammond organ, and theremin. The band she formed for the album and live performances includes Larry Thompson on drums and Steve Mignano on guitar, as well as Jon Gray on trumpet. The 12-track album, Out of my Mind, was released on May 7, 2013. // A music video for the first track, “That’s My Man,” was shot in Memphis early in 2013. About the video, which she dedicated to friends in the modeling industry who were LGBTQ, “In the video there are four different ‘males.’ There are the muscle cars, which represent the personification of the traditional male, a man, a transgendered (female to male), and a drag queen. All of them represent different forms of male, whether it be mental, physical or spiritual.” // Reviews were positive, earning sound comparisons to Diana Ross and the Supremes, Janis Joplin, and Gladys Knight, with one review calling the album a “mesmerizing, nuanced, and imaginatively arranged collection of blues-inflected originals.” Also, “Her writing is both intelligent and moving, with exceptionally strong melodies and challenging rhythms, and her production is vivid and adventuresome.” “Taylor’s original compositions here all have to do with heartbreak, but she expresses her pain so exquisitely that it’s a pleasure for the listener to bear.” About her vocals, Premier Guitar wrote “Taylor floats through her melodies with a relaxed, sassy vibe and none of the melismatic tinsel that plagues many contemporary female singers.” // Out of my Mind merges traditional Delta blues with electronica, indie rock, psychedelia, and other modern genres. According to Taylor, “I use a lot of different influences …from West African psychedelic rock, to classic rock, to industrial metal.” About combining genres, “For me, the blues is the root of all American music, and I love each individual genre of American music. It would be dishonest to not use all of the things that I’ve been exposed to because I love them so much.” // Taylor was married to Chuck Haren in late 2012 until their divorce in June 2023. // Taylor came out as bisexual and ambiamorous in June 2022.]

6. Cuee – “Proud Boi”
   from: “Proud Boi” – Single / Cuee / June 1, 2023
   [Cuee released the (3-song Single) “With Love” including the track “See You Tonight” on February 14, 2023. Before that Cuee released the (3-song Single) “Coming Out” on June 24, 2022. // Lawrence/Chicago based hip-hop artist Cuee is a rapper with a Master’s Degree. Cuee received his Master’s Degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Kansas. Cuee is also a graduate of Artist Inc. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Cuee has wowed audiences with exciting live performances. And since 2017 Cue has released several critically acclaimed albums, an EP, multiple singles. We last talked with Cuee on March 3, 2021 and on May 5, 2021 and before that, on August 12, 2020, when he released the single “Who’s Back.” and before that on May 29, 2019. Cuee released the single: “Ain’t Goin Backon May 7, 2021, “Gravity (Feat: Lindsey Alderman)” on April 29, 2021 and part of GOSPEL the album. In 2020 Cuee’ track, “Shook” landed on an official Spotify playlist dedicated to transgender, non-binary and gender-fluid musicians across the globe including Kim Petras and Lex Allen. Spotify sent out a note said, “Hey Cuee you hit a high note this month.” Cuee said he didn’t even know what that meant, and he looked up to discover he had over 24,000 listener during the month of June on Spotify. I was trying to figure out what happened. I did a little research, I logged onto my instagram account, I was starting to get a flood of followers. I was just tracing it back and I landed on a Spotify playlist, it was an editorial playlist so he couldn’t find out who put him on there. “Someone found me.” Cuee made three trips home to Chicago to record the record. For the new album GOSPEL Cuee explained that this term can have biblical connections but it also means ‘the truth.” The video for “Ain’t Going Back” takes place in a church, and is a declaration of freedom, and identity, while also paying respect. Cuee talked us about how the track was created in the studio and translating the song into a video that was shot in a church. Last time we talked with Cuee he shared his thoughts about ‘”Queerness in a church,” Cuee said, “you know, is very…different, I mean I wanted to bring that into that space, and freedom into that space, allow that space to be seen and heard by other people who traditionally wont take up that space.” Along with getting his Master’s Degree, Cuee has released around 30 different musical tracks, legally changed his name, and has transitioned physically and vocally. The song “Ain’t Going Back” features Cuee’s friend Joel Leoj who is originally from Florida, but after moving to Chicago, became friends with Cuee in school, and recently moved to Lawrence to make music and collaborate on recordings with Cuee. Cuee explained that they have known each other since high school, that they “started a Hip Hop culture club in our high school, to bring music, kinda having a place to chill after school, write music together as a community. That’s how we started.” “I moved out here to Kansas, to go to school, he stayed back in Miami, and then we kind of connected back, maybe about two years ago, and hit it off really strong. We decided we wanted to pursue this music thing together. We decided let’s just do this. So he said he was going to move to Lawrence. I didn’t believe him at first, until he showed up on my doorstep, and I was like, Wow, you are here, let’s do this.” Joel Leoj released the album, JOEY IN WONDERLAND on January 31, 2021. Cuee is a featured guest emcee on the tracks “Eden” and “No Debate.” More info at: http://www.officialcuee.com]

7. MellowPhobia – “Finding It Hard”
   from: The Act of Loving In Return / Jackal And Hide Records / May 15, 2024
   [Based in Kansas City, Kansas, MellowPhobia is an alt-rock band that brings a lively and dynamic sound to the music scene. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the band relocated and recorded their debut EP, “Is This Seat Taken?” released in 2021. Their single, “Jackal” later gained attention, leading to performances at festivals and indie venues. Notable highlights include sharing stages with national touring acts such as The Greeting Committee, the Regrettes, The Velveteers, Colony House, and more. By 2024, “Jackal” had surpassed 40,000 streams and the band continues to grow its fan base. Looking ahead, MellowPhobia is gearing up for new releases, each contributing to their evolving sound. // From I Heart Local Muaic., May 15, 2024 written by Fally Afani: “ It’s been a while since we’ve had a really well-produced local indie album come our way, but MellowPhobia continues to check all our boxes. // The Act of Loving in Return is a masterclass in youthful angst. It kicks off with the frustration-laden “Finding It Hard,” setting the tone right away for the album with angsty lyrics over guitar tantrums. From there, the band continues to share their dissatisfactions with us, all while treating their listeners to fantastically-written melodies. We’ve noticed that their bridges are always a moment for quiet reflection before diving back into their noisy airing of grievances. We love it. The frontperson certainly has the vocals for this mood. // We’ve said before that this is a great band live. However, they’ve been garnering a lot of attention online for their recorded work as well. The single “Jackal” is a popular one at shows, but it’s racked up thousands of streams on Spotify. There’s a great vintage vibe for songs like “Scholars” and “Therapy.” “Los Angeles” breaks our hearts, and closer “Breaker Waves” is absolutely stunning. // MellowPhobia is great therapy for today’s young fans. Their live sets are already a blast, but The Act of Loving in Return seals the deal with solid indie rock songwriting. The sheer innocence of it all is enough to leave us emotionally wrecked. We hear these songs and just want to hug them (or shake them) and say “You have your whole lives ahead of you! It’s going to be ok!” If nothing else, this is a perfect Summer album released at just the right time. // MellowPhobia played Lawrence Pride on June 1, 2024.]

10:27 – Underwriting

10:29 – Pledge Break #2

Our WMM Winter Fund Drive Team: Betse Ellis, Rachel Christia, & Mikal Shapiro

Timothy Finn in KC Star named WMM “The Best Place to Hear Local Music on the Radio.” and the Best Place to hear area musicians talk about their music.

Last year on May 15, 2024 – WMM celebrated 20 Years on the radio w/ LIVE performances from: Calvin Arsenia, IVORY BLUE, Stephonne, Julia Othmer, Kasey Rausch and guests Marion Merritt, Maria Vasques Boyd, Nico Gray, and Necia Gamby.

As of this week WMM has done 1085 weeks equaled 2170 hours of radio, 14,105 hours of preparation, over 2800 Interviews, 2500 guests, and over 20,000 songs, from thousands of musical artists. We have made it our mission to mix musical genres, playing with themes, diversity, equality, free speech, connecting artists and venues and listeners and communities. Wednesday MidDay Medley has proudly endeavored to help tell the story of our growing Kansas City area music community, “The Midcoast Sound,” as we like to call it. We have dedicated a majority of our programming to New & MidCoastal Releases.

WMM has presented new formats in radio, with our “A Story In A Song” series, our shows featuring: Apocalypse Meow, Juneteenth, Power to The People Fest, Crossroads Music Fest, Folk Alliance International, Manor Fest, The Outer Reaches Festival, Boulevardia. KC Fringe Festival, Waldo Folk Series, Shuttlecock Music, The Folly Theatre, Owen Cox Dance Group, Bach Aria Soloists, KC Pride, our annual tribute shows to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., David Bowie, Iris Dement, Pioneers of Punk, LGBTQIA Themes, Black Lives Matter and interviews with Tommy Ramone, Iris Dement, Laurie Anderson, Lily Tomlin, Regina Spektor, Holly Near, Sam Harris, Sweet Honey in The Rock, Regina Carter, our annual 4-week special: WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of the Year.

To say this WMM has been inspired by the KC music community, is an understatement. The KC music community is fueled by a collaborative and generous heart that is beating in so many of the artists we’ve met while doing this show.

We are inspired by the Fearless Women who created radio on 90.1 FM long before us: our friend April Fletcher who plays bass professionally in Los Angeles, and hosted Mix Well Before Serving on 90.1 in 1988 on KKFI’s first year of broadcast, and last year returned after 35 years to host and produce WMM.

And our friend Anne Winter, who left us in 2009, and reminded us how we’re all connected. At Anne’s funeral we realized that we are connected to hundreds of other people who Anne had touched with her gentle, wise, guidance and had nudged into taking a job, going out on a stage, organizing an event, doing a radio show. We were all connected, she had loved us all and supported us, and some of us made a pact to do just a little bit of what Anne did, if we all did a little we could continue her work to help build our community, that is how we keep Anne alive in our heart.

And through collaboration, and shining a light, like Abigail Hope Henderson, who we lost in 2013, but not before she ignited a movement to create the Midwest Music Foundation supporting heath care needs and mental health care for the music community. I’m inspired by the diverse , intelligent, motivated, listeners, looking for place on the dial, where they can connect to the stories & music & voice of our community.

Today we celebrate the pure idea of community radio, free form radio, radio that tells the story of the people who live here, the artists, the writers, the teachers, the performers.

We celebrate 1085 weeks of WMM, the show that has brought us together, at this time, on this frequency, in these community airwaves. Thanks for listening.

Donating to 90.1 FM KKFI is investing in your community.

KKFI’s Mission Statement: KKFI is the Kansas City area’s independent, noncommercial community radio station. We seek to stimulate, educate and entertain our audience, to reflect the diversity of the local and world community, and to provide a channel for individuals and groups, issues and music that have been overlooked, suppressed or under-represented by other media.

KKFI’s Philosophy Statement: KKFI is committed to diversity in programming and discourse and seeks to create a climate of mutual respect and collaboration among volunteers and staff.

10:37

8. Chase The Horseman – “Silver Liner”
   from: “Silver Liner” – Single / Chase The Horseman / October 25, 2024
   [Silver Liner drums and additional engineering by Ian Dobyns, Additional vocals by Heidi Gluck. Mastered by Anthony Puglisi. Written, produced, performed and mixed by Chase Horseman at Element Recording. // Chase Horseman has composed music for over 40 films and as musician and producer collaborated with Clairaudients, Teri Quinn, Heidi Lynne Gluck, KD Kuro, Nan Turner and more. Chase The Horseman film composer, band leader, multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, & producer. They have composed music for over 40 films and as producer collaborated with Teri Quinn, Heidi Lynne Gluck, KD Kuro, and Nan Turner. On April 2, 2024 Chase released the 22 track Original Sound Track for Headcount, a feature film fro the Burghart Brothers, priduced by Continuance Pictures, Methoid Media, and Shout Factory. Chase created the music for two feature-length episodes of the Blum House Films and Hulu original series, “Into the Dark.” In February 2020 Chase released “Poor Song,” a cover of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs track by Karen O Chase played Sequential Circuits Prophet 600, Dave Smith MiniMopho, Korg Minilogue Xd, Moog Grandmother, Roland Alpha Juno 2, Mellotron, Guitar, Drums, Vocals pall erformed by Chase Horseman. Recorded at Element Recording Studios and Winky World. Mixed by Chase Horseman. Mastered by Joel Nanos Chase the Horseman is a band, film composer, multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, & producer. On May 1 Chase released, a quarantine cover of “Midnight, The Stars and You” written by Harry M. Woods, Jimmy Campbell & Reg Connelly Stanley. The most famous version was recorded in 1934 by Ray Noble & his Orchestra with an uncredited Al Bowlly on vocals. This was used in the ballroom scene and closing of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror film The Shining based on the novel by Stephen King. All of the profits of this single will be donated directly to service industry workers in Kansas City and Midwest Music Foundation on a 50/50 basis. http://www.chasethehorseman.bandcamp.com. They have composed music for over 40 films and as musician has collaborated Teri Quinn, Heidi Lynne Gluck, KD Kuro, and Nan Turner. Chase The Horseman released Disinformation Blues EP on July 12, 2019. One of WMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. Chase released the single “U Martyr U” June 19, 2018, and the single “Modern Ruins” on Oct 4, 2018.]

9. The Creepy Jingles – “Love Like You”
   from: “Love Like You” – Single / High Dive Records / July 14, 2024
   [The was #1 in WMM’s 50 Favorite Singles of 2024. This was the third of four new singles released by The Creepy Jingles in 2024. The band released “Repeat After Me” on April 19, 2024. The band released “When Things Go Wrong” on February 23, 2024. The Creepy Jingles are a Kansas City based, rock and roll band that both honors and defies convention. Led by singer / song-writer Jocelyn Olivia Nixon, a transgender wordsmith who charms with razor wit and dazzles with her lyrical acrobatics. // Song (lyrics/melody/chords) written by Jocelyn Olivia Nixon. Mixed and Recorded by Paul Malinowski and recorded at Massive Sound Studios in Shawnee, Kansas. Mastered by Zack Hames. Jocelyn Nixon on lead vocals & rhythm guitar, Will Van Doorn on lead guitar & backing vocals, Andrew Woody on bass & backing vocals, Nick Robertson on drums & bait. // The Creepy Jingles released their album, TAKE ME AT MY WORDPLAY on March 25, 2022 through High Dive Records. Paired up with lyrics centering on themes of identity, strained relationships, social media madness, meme magic, pandemic paranoia, paid off political pundits, backyard bullies and barking up the wrong tree. Everything and the kitchen sink or swim. No stoner left unturned. The Creepy Jingles released their Debut EP on High Dive Records on May 3, 2019. The release was in the top ten of WMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. The Creepy Jingles released their Debut EP on High Dive Records on May 3, 2019. The Creepy Jingles played Apocalypse Meow 17 on Saturday, November 2nd at recordBar,]

10. Moses Sumney + Lyra Pramuk + Sam Smith – “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”
    rom: TRAИƧA / Red Hot / November 22, 2024
    [One of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by the storied activist and music production non-profit Red Hot, TRAИƧA is a spiritual journey across eight chapters and 46 songs with over 100 artists contributing. The album spotlights the gifts of many of the most daring, imaginative trans and non-binary artists working today. // Dust Reid, who led production on Red Hot’s 2014 tribute to Arthur Russell, and Massima Bell, an artist and activist based in Los Angeles, began tracing the contours of what would become TRAИƧA together in 2021. The two producers originally met at a video shoot in upstate New York, and immediately bonded over their shared love of Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s music, as well as a common devotional connection to nature. // The passing of SOPHIE, the pathbreaking electronic producer who died in January 2021, galvanized the producers and focused their work. “We started talking about all the gifts that trans artists have been giving to the world, and wanted to create a Red Hot project that centered and celebrated those gifts,” says Reid. “We hoped to create a narrative that positions trans and non-binary people as leaders in our society insofar as the deep inner work they do to affirm who they are in our current climate. We felt this is something everybody should do. Whether you identify as trans or non-binary or otherwise, if you took the time to explore your gender, get in touch with the feeling side of yourself, maybe we would have a future oriented around values of community, collaboration, care, and healing.” // Bell and Reid began conceiving of the album as a spiritual journey in eight chapters, a mirror of the original eight-stripe rainbow pride flag. The narrative begins at the earliest awareness of consciousness; moves through awakening, trauma, and grief; and arrives at liberation and continual reinvention. “One thing trans people do all the time is turn grief into possibility,” says Bell. “Living under the ongoing Western binary system, trans people reveal maps of possibility for everyone. It’s something that we can all learn from – expanding the possibility of human life.” Each chapter begins with a “chapter track,” kicking off a collection of songs that speak to that chapter’s theme. // As the producers began inviting musicians to contribute to TRAИƧA, the political climate in the United States and across the world started to foment an acute reactionary streak. Legislation denying trans people the hard-won right to medically transition proliferated across the country. Book bans rained down on libraries, stamping shut crucial apertures into trans and queer lives. The necessity of TRAИƧA’s presence in the world started to crystallize. // “The stakes have never been higher,” notes Bell. “We’re seeing a rise in anti-trans hate and vitriol that is particularly being spewed in the United States. I am a trans person from Iowa, one of the states that signed into law a bill that prohibits access to gender-affirming care. It is clearly, materially, a terrifying time.” // TRAИƧA FEATURED ARTISTS:Adrianne Lenker * Ahya Simone * Alan Sparhawk (Low) * Allison Russell * Am Taylor * Anajah * Ana Roxanne * André 3000 * Anjimile * Arthur Baker * Asher White * AV María * Babehoven * Bartees Strange * Belina Rose * Benét * Beverly Glenn-Copeland * Bill Callahan * Blake Mills * Bloomsday * Calvin Lauber * Caroline Rose * Cassandra Croft * Cassandra Jenkins * Christian Lee Hutson * claire rousay * Clairo * CLARITY * Cole Pulice * Dave Longstreth * Devendra Banhart * Eileen Myles * Eli Winter * Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland * Ezra Furman * Faye Webster * Fleet Foxes * Frankie Cosmos * Gary Gunn * Gia Margaret * Green-House * Grouper * Hand Habits * Heart Shaped * Helado Negro * Hunter Schafer * Jamal Shakeri * Jay Dee Daugherty * Jayne County * Jeff Tweedy * Jlin * Joy Guidry * Julianna Barwick * Julie Byrne * Julien Baker * Kara Jackson * Kathi Wilcox * KB Brookins * Kelela * Laraaji * Laura Jane Grace * Lauren Auder * Lee Ranaldo * Lightning Bug * Lomelda * Lucy Liyou * Lynn Avery * Lyra Pramuk * L’Rain * Mary Lattimore * MIZU * Moor Mother * More Eaze * Moses Sumney * Nico Georis * Niecy Blues * Nina Keith * Nsámbu Za Suékama * NYC Trans Oral History Project * Pepper MaShay * Perfume Genius * Pharoah Sanders * Quinn Christopherson * Rachika Nayar * Sade Adu * Sam Smith * Sharon Van Etten * SKY * SOAK * Soft Rōnin * Sparkle Division * Taryn Blake Miller * Teddy Geiger * Time Wharp * Wendy & Lisa of the Revolution * Yaeji * Yaya Bey // Moses Sumney was born May 19, 1992 and is an American singer-songwriter. His self-recorded EP, Mid-City Island, was released in 2014. He released another five-song EP in 2016, titled Lamentations. His first full-length album, Aromanticism, was released in September 2017. His second studio album, Græ, was released in 2020. Sumney has performed as an opening act for James Blake, Solange Knowles, and Sufjan Stevens. // Born in California, Sumney was raised by pastor parents, and moved with his family back to Ghana at the age of 10. He described his childhood as “Americanized” by this age and had difficulty adjusting to the culture of Ghana, especially the rural nature of his new environment. There he grew up on a goat farm in Accra and commuted by public bus to school. His family returned to Southern California when Sumney was 16, settling in Riverside. // He did not learn to play any instruments until he was older, writing a cappella music for years instead. Sumney did not perform his musical compositions publicly until he was 20. // After high school, he moved to Los Angeles in 2010 to attend the University of California, Los Angeles. He majored in creative writing and studied poetry, which helped him improve his songwriting. // Lyra Pramuk fuses classical vocalism, pop sensibilities, performance practices and contemporary club culture in what can best be described as futurist folk music. // Lyra Pramuk released her debut album, Fountain through Bedroom Community on March 20, 2020. It was part of WMM’s 120 Best recordings of 2020. Lyra Pramuk’s debut explores a post-human, non-binary understanding of life. Lyra fuses classical training, pop sensibilities, performance practices and contemporary club culture in what may best be described as futurist folk music. The American opera-trained vocalist and electronic musician releases her album via Iceland’s Bedroom Community label. Created entirely from her own voice, although often shaped and structured by electronics, Fountain is an emotional, sensual, and devotional journey. The title is derived from her family name, Pramuk, which translates from Czech as ‘well spring’ or ‘fountain.’ Often wordless, these songs evoke a new wholeness sustained by the ritual force of drowning, immersion, cleansing, and bathing – also referred to in the album artwork by acclaimed visual artist Donna Huanca. Fountain plays with the perception of music, rhythms, speech, body, and the relation between technology and humanity, exploring a post-human, non-binary understanding of life and the fragile ecosystems it depends on. The work documents a healing that is still in process, and a full circle-moment that reunited Lyra with her sound engineer twin brother, Ben, for the final mix, which they completed in tandem. As a vocal activist and member of the queer community, Lyra moved to Berlin in 2013, following her degree at the Eastman School of Music in New York. Since then, she has also been awarded residencies at Elektronmusikstudion EMS Stockholm, Open Port Club Residency in Tokyo and Sapporo, and Future Music Lab of the Atlantic Music Festival in Maine. Her interests also encompass writing, poetry, and fashion, where she is sometimes called upon as a model. As a performance artist, she has collaborated extensively with Donna Huanca and at events such as Glasgow International and the Rochester Fringe Festival. Music composed and produced by Lyra Pramuk. Vocals recorded by Lyra Pramuk and Ben Pramuk in Berlin and at EMS Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm. Mixed by Ben Pramuk in Berlin. Mastered by Valgeir Sigurðsson and Francesco Fabris at Greenhouse Studios. // Samuel Frederick Smith was born May 19, 1992. Sam is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they[a] rose to prominence when they featured on Disclosure’s breakthrough single “Latch”, which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart. The following year, they featured on Naughty Boy’s single “La La La”, which became a number one single in the UK. // Smith’s debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour (2014), was released through Capitol Records UK and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. The album’s lead single, “Lay Me Down”, was released prior to “La La La”. The album’s second single, “Money on My Mind”, became their second number one single in the UK. Its third single, “Stay with Me”, was internationally successful, reaching number one in the UK and number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, while subsequent singles “I’m Not the Only One” and “Like I Can” reached the top ten in the UK. The album won four awards at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Pop Vocal Album, Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. // Smith’s song “Writing’s on the Wall” served as the theme for the James Bond film Spectre (2015), and won Smith a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Smith’s second studio album, The Thrill of It All (2017), debuted atop the UK and US album charts. The album’s lead single, “Too Good at Goodbyes”, reached number one in the UK and Australia and number four in the US. Following the 2018 single “Promises” (with Calvin Harris), which peaked at number one in the UK, Smith released “Dancing with a Stranger” (with Normani) in 2019, which peaked within the top ten in the UK and the US, also receiving a nomination for Song of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards. The singles, along with “How Do You Sleep?”, would precede the release of their third studio album, Love Goes (2020). In 2022, Smith’s single “Unholy” (with Kim Petras), would become their first number one single in the US and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The song would precede their fourth album, Gloria (2023). // Smith’s numerous accolades include five Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, and an American Music Award, as well as a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. On the UK Albums Chart, In the Lonely Hour was the best-selling debut album of the 2010s and the sixth best-selling album of the decade, while collectively Smith’s albums spent the fourth-most weeks at number one in the 2010s, behind Ed Sheeran, Adele and Eminem. Smith is the first openly non-binary musician to both release a song that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and to win a Grammy Award. // “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” is a song by American disco/R&B singer Sylvester. It was written by James Wirrick and Sylvester, and released by Fantasy Records as the second single from the singer’s fourth album, Step II (1978). The song was already a largely popular dance club hit in late 1978, as the B-side of his previous single “Dance (Disco Heat)”, before it was officially being released in December. It rose to the number one position on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. Music critic Robert Christgau has said the song is “one of those surges of sustained, stylized energy that is disco’s great gift to pop music”. // In 2019, the song was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. In 2023, Billboard ranked it among the “500 Best Pop Songs of All Time”. // The song was originally recorded as a mid-tempo piano-driven gospel song; however, after producer Patrick Cowley saw a rehearsal of the song at San Francisco’s City Club, he offered to remix the song. The result was one of the pioneering disco records using some electronic instrumentation and effects, following closely on “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer which heavily used electronic instrumentation ahead of its time. These 1970s songs using electronic instrumentation would have an influence on 1980s and 1990s dance music, which in turn, would have an influence on dance music in the next century. // The song was Sylvester’s first top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in October 1978. In Sylvester’s home country, the single was his second top 40 hit, peaking at No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1979. The song also reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart. A 12″ single was released in 1978, with “Dance (Disco Heat)” as the A-side and “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” as the B-side, and these two extended dance mixes proved to be very popular in dance clubs at the time. The two songs held down the top spot on the Billboard Dance/Disco chart for six weeks in August and September 1978. These two songs helped to establish Sylvester’s career as a noted disco and dance music performer, both in the US and abroad. // Sylvester James Jr. (September 6, 1947 – December 16, 1988), known simply as Sylvester, was an American singer-songwriter. Primarily active in the genres of disco, rhythm and blues, and soul, he was known for his flamboyant and androgynous appearance, falsetto singing voice, and hit disco singles in the late 1970s and 1980s. // Born in Watts, Los Angeles, to a middle-class African-American family, Sylvester developed a love of singing through the gospel choir of his Pentecostal church. Leaving the church after the congregation expressed disapproval of his homosexuality, he found friendship among a group of Black cross-dressers and transgender women who called themselves the Disquotays. Moving to San Francisco in 1970 at the age of 22, Sylvester embraced the counterculture and joined the avant-garde drag troupe the Cockettes, producing solo segments of their shows, which were heavily influenced by female blues and jazz singers such as Billie Holiday and Josephine Baker. During the Cockettes’ critically panned tour of New York City, Sylvester left them to pursue his career elsewhere. He came to front Sylvester and his Hot Band, a rock act that released two commercially unsuccessful albums on Blue Thumb Records in 1973 before disbanding. // Focusing on a solo career, Sylvester signed a recording contract with Harvey Fuqua of Fantasy Records and obtained three new backing singers in the form of Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes – the “Two Tons O’ Fun” – as well as Jeanie Tracy. His first solo album, Sylvester (1977), was a moderate success. This was followed with the acclaimed disco album Step II (1978), which spawned the singles “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and “Dance (Disco Heat)”, both of which were hits in the US and Europe. Distancing himself from the disco genre, he recorded four more albums – including a live album – with Fantasy Records. After leaving this label, he signed to Megatone Records, the dance-oriented company founded by friend and collaborator Patrick Cowley, where he recorded four more albums, including the Cowley penned hit Hi-NRG track “Do Ya Wanna Funk”. Sylvester was an activist who campaigned against the spread of HIV/AIDS. He died from complications arising from the virus in 1988, leaving all future royalties from his work to San Francisco-based HIV/AIDS charities. // During the late 1970s, Sylvester gained the nickname of the “Queen of Disco” and during his life he attained particular recognition in San Francisco, where he was awarded the key to the city. In 2005, he was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame, while his life has been recorded in a biography and made the subject of both a documentary and a musical. // During the late 1970s, Sylvester gained the moniker of the “Queen of Disco”, a term that continued to be given to the singer into the 21st century. The English journalist Stephen Brogan later described him as “a star who shined brightly. He only happened once. He was a radical and a visionary in terms of queerness, music and race.” Reynaldo Anderson of Harris-Stowe State University described Sylvester’s influence upon disco and subsequent electronic dance music as “incalculable”. He added that Sylvester’s songs “Dance (Disco Heat)”, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”, and “Do You Wanna Funk” represented “anthems of disco aficionados for a generation”, while also expressing the view that Sylvester himself “personified the excesses of the 1970s and the experimentation that characterized [the decade’s] changing social norms” within the United States. // Sylvester has been described as having a “flamboyant and colourful” public persona, wearing both male and female gendered clothes as part of his attire, with his biographer Joshua Gamson opining that for Sylvester, “gender was an everyday choice”. Sylvester described his public persona as “an extension of me, the real me”. Sylvester’s friend and publicist Sharon Davis described him as “a quiet, often thoughtful, caring guy, who put others before himself, and was generous to a fault, having little regard for money. His policy was you only live once, so enjoy!” She also noted that he could be “unpredictable”, being “stubborn as a mule” and “always speak[ing] his mind”. Sylvester was considered to be a prima donna by members of the Hot Band and could be temperamental and difficult with those with whom he worked. He found it difficult saving the money that he earned, instead spending it as soon as he obtained it, both on himself and on his lovers, friends, and family. // Sylvester was openly gay, with Gamson noting that he tended to enter into relationships with men who were “white, self-doubting and effeminate”. In 1978, he entered into a relationship with a young white model named John Maley; Sylvester later devoted the song “Can’t Forget the Love” from his Too Hot to Sleep album to his young lover. Maley ended the relationship to move to Los Angeles, later recollecting that Sylvester “was a lovely man, and I owe him a lot”. In 1981, Sylvester entered into a relationship with a slim brunette from Deep River, Connecticut, named Michael Rayner, but unlike his predecessors, he did not move into Sylvester’s house. Their partnership ended when Rayner admitted that he had not fallen completely in love with Sylvester. Sylvester’s next major relationship was with Tom Daniels, a hairdresser whom he met in 1982, but their romance ended after six months when Daniels discovered that Sylvester had been having sex with other men while on tour. The singer’s final partner, the architect Rick Cranmer, was a six-foot two blond, and the duo moved into a house together in the hills. Cranmer died of AIDS-related complications in 1987, the year before Sylvester succumbed to the virus. // In 1985, Sylvester’s boyfriend, Rick Cranmer, became aware that he had become infected with HIV. With no known medical cure, his health deteriorated rapidly and he died September 7, 1987. Sylvester was devastated, and although recognizing that he too was probably infected, he refused to have his blood tested, only noticing the virus’ first symptoms when he developed a persistent cough. Beginning work on an album that would remain unfinished, he moved into a new apartment on Collingwood Street in the Castro, and tried his best to continue performing in the Bay Area, even though he became too ill to undertake a full tour. Eventually diagnosed with AIDS, he was hospitalized for sinus surgery in late 1987, and upon returning to his apartment, he began to be cared for by his mother and Tracy, before being hospitalized again in May 1988, this time with pneumocystis pneumonia. Returning to his flat, he gave away many of his treasured possessions and wrote his will. // Having lost a lot of weight and unable to walk easily, he attended the Castro’s 1988 Gay Freedom Parade in a wheelchair, being pushed along by McKenna in front of the People with AIDS banner; along Market Street, assembled crowds shouted out his name as he passed. The subsequent 1988 Castro Street Fair was named “A Tribute to Sylvester”, and although he was too ill to attend, crowds chanted his name to such an extent that he was able to hear them from his bedroom. He appeared at the Dreamland nightclub (now The Vendry), watching the dancers from the second floor balcony, and DJ Steve Fabus put together an impromptu set of Sylvester songs. When he waved weakly goodbye, the dance floor erupted in stomping and shouting “We love you!” He continued to give interviews to the media, being open about the fact that he was dying of AIDS, and sought in particular to highlight the impact that the disease was having in the African-American community. In an interview with the NME, he stated, “I don’t believe that AIDS is the wrath of God. People have a tendency to blame everything on God.” // For Thanksgiving 1988, his family spent the holiday with him, although he had developed neuropathy and was increasingly bed-ridden and reliant on morphine. He died in his bed on December 16, 1988, at the age of 41. Sylvester had planned his own funeral, insisting that he be dressed in a red kimono and placed in an open-top coffin for the mourners to see, with his friend Yvette Flunder doing his corpse’s makeup. He wanted Tracy to sing at his funeral, accompanied by choirs and many flowers. The whole affair took place in his church, the Love Center, with a sermon being provided by Rev. Walter Hawkins. The event was packed, with standing room only, and the coffin was subsequently taken and buried at his family’s plot in Inglewood Park Cemetery. An album titled Immortal was posthumously released; it contained Sylvester’s final studio recordings and was compiled by Marty Blecman.]

10:48 – Pledge Break #3

Our WMM Winter Fund Drive Team: Betse Ellis, Rachel Christia, and Mikal Shapiro

Today on WMM we present RADIO-TRANS-MISSION a special show in honor of the fierce courage of our Trans, Non-Binary, & Queer MidCoastal Artists we’ve regularly featured on the show. 90.1 FM KKFI’s non-profit organization and governing body is the MidCoast Radio Project. The MidCoast is where we are, on the coasts of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers with a music community that spans the Kansas City Metro region and west to Lawrence and Topeka and south to Olathe and east to Columbia and North to St Joseph. The reach of our community extends beyond the 40 mile reach of our 100,000 watt signal.

WMM and KKFI are committed to featuring artists under-represented in other media, and that includes the music community that lives within the radiance of our 100 watt signal. The story of KC’s Arts & Music Community is a primary focus on WMM, where for 20 years we’ve shined a light on the artists, the labels, recording studios, and music venues.

Wednesday MidDay Medley 90.1 FM was the first radio show to ever play the recordings of: The Black Creatures, Ivory Blue, Cuee, MellowPhobia, Chase Horseman, The Creepy Jingles, June Henry, Eve Sheldon, Remy Styrk, Collidescope, Babydoll, Ingrid Ingram, Shamir, Flamy Grant, Calvin Arsenia, Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, Krystle Warren, KD Kuro, The Shy Boys, The Salvation Choir. We were the first to interview many of these artists live on the radio and bring their music to a wider audience.

We’re living in an age when an entire Political Party, a President, his entire cabinet, the U.S. Congress & Senate, The Supreme Court, Kansas & Missouri State governments are eliminating equality, civil rights, jobs, healthcare, & legal protections for our Transgender, Non-Binary & Queer friends. The recent election brought out cruel campaigns that blanketed our mainstream media with venomous bigotry, misinformation and lies, while commercial television & radio profited from the hate.

90.1 FM is non-commercial. We are Community Radio. We are different! It is our mission to give evidence of the humanity that is put at risk by these irresponsible campaigns of hate. Throughout WMM’s 20 year history we’ve been the first to present recordings, live performances and interviews with Ivory Blue, Mitzi McKee, Jocelyn Olivia Nixon, Tillie Hall, Chase Horseman, Cuee, Ingrid Ingram, The Black Creatures, Collidescope.

On Feb. 21, 2024 we interviewed Flamy Grant LIVE in our 90.1 FM Studios. Flamy Grant also played live. In 2023 Flamy released BIBLE BELT BABY, the world’s first contemporary Christian music album recorded by a drag performer. Flamy Grant’s single “Good Day” was released September 6, 2023 and is the first song by a drag performer to reach #1 on the iTunes Christian charts. It also debuted at #20 on Billboard’s Christian digital sales chart. // Last year Flamy Grant released her second album, CHURCH which climbed onto the iTunes Country chart and was part of WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2024.

One of my favorite tracks from Flamy Grant is “Fortune Teller.”

The great design of our world is built on a solid foundation diversity, a vast spectrum, a balance of living creatures, in a beautiful chaos of birth and death and new life from ashes

As a Queer human this song reminds me that Queer, Gay, Lesbian, Non-Binary, Transgender, Bisexual, humans were raised in a world where they had to develop an extra sensitivity simply to survive.

The ability to immediately read a room full of strangers.

Finding safety in public places, community centers, schools, churches, taverns, grocery stores. If you didn’t read the room correctly you could be hurt, or even killed.
This extra sensitivity, developed through difficult circumstances is actually a gift, and we Queer people are willing to share it with everyone… if you let us.

10:57

11. Flamy Grant – “Fortune Teller”
    from: “Fortune Teller” – Single / Glam & Glory Records / October 24, 2023
    [Produced by Ben Grace. Sound engineer and electric guitars by Daniel Shearin. // Flamy Grant is winner of 2023 Kerrville New Folk Competition; and the 2023 San Diego Music Award nominee for Best Pop Album for BIBLE BELT BABY, the world’s first contemporary Christian music record by a drag performer. With influences from gospel, blues, folk & rock, hines light on queerness, faith, and overcoming spiritual trauma so often endured by LGBTQ+ people and others who grow up in conservative religious spaces. // Flamy’s iconic roots-rock sound is influenced by singer/songwriters like Natalie Merchant, Tracy Chapman, Over the Rhine, and Amy Grant. Her art shines a spotlight on the queer spiritual journey, telling stories of resilience and recovery from religious trauma. With a bold lip, a big lash, and a blistering voice, Flamy is here to rewrite the rules when it comes to faith-based entertainment, demanding a reckoning for an industry that for too long has silenced and shut out its LGBTQ+ artists and fans. // Flamy’s single “Good Day” released 9/6/23 is the first song by a drag performer to reach #1 on the iTunes Christian charts. It also debuted at #20 on Billboard’s Christian digital chart. Flamy Grant played an Official Showcase the 2024 Folk Alliance Intern. Feb 22.]

Fortune Teller (Lyrics)

I’m a medium, I’m a fortune teller
I know every word you’re gonna say
I’m a headstrong, lifelong city dweller
I can take you where you’re going by the fastest way
It’s gonna be okay

I traveled time, I’m here from the future
I can show you how this all turns out
I can save you with the data in my computer
We can flourish in the flood and avoid the drought
Yeah, we’re gonna make it out

You feel it in your bones 
But your head is moving slow

I’m a scientist, I got a method and a measure
For observable, reliable, repeatable fact
I’m a decorated educator in the field of pleasure
I’ve learned a lot of lessons I can reenact
Yeah, I been keeping track

You sense that I am true
But your heart is split in two

I’m a prophetess, singing my story
A dressed-up, effervescent, ethical fraud
But this world ain’t ready for an allegory, no
We’re still waiting on a literal god
I just smile and nod

You have intuition
And it’s telling you the story isn’t done

11:00 – Station ID

12. June Henry – “sega dreamcast”
    from: The Exhumation of Princess Pavement / June Henry Nation / ]=February 14, 2024
    [June Henry is a 20-year-old is a Lawrence KS. Based, freak folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.. Her music explores themes of mental illness, queerness, and growing up. // Prior to her official debut, Henry had collected her music in a Google Drive folder, shared only with a small group of friends. Bedridden in 2022, she was convinced to release this music in her first official album Class Pet. // It’s not really something I know how to do, as much as something I have to do to stop myself from exploding,“ from June Henry’s Spotify bio. // Since her debut, she hasn’t gone more than a couple months between releases- creating a niche audience and some of her most popular songs, such as Void-Adjacent and Excoriation. // In 2024 she has released 9n singles, two 4-song EPs., the 11 track album, The Exhumation of Princess Pavement, released February 14, 2024, the 14 track album Between Singles and One-Offs, exclusive CD comprised of singles and EP tracks released May 27, 2024, the 17 track album Podium, released June 30, 2024. // June Henry released the single “method act” on December 16, 2023. // June Henry released the single “fall into” on December 2, 2023. // June Henry released the 3-track EP “the light I SPIT OUT” on November 14, 2023. // June Henry released the single “vampire song” on November 3, 3023. // June Henry released the 5-song EP “flat earth romcom” on September 22, 2023. // June Henry released the 11-track album “something friend” on June 20, 2022. // June Henry released the 15-track album “class pet” on March 15, 2022. // June Henry released the 7-track album, “SOUTH RAMP” through Lotuspool Records when she was “a gay boy in high school (released as August Henry.) // June Henry has been posting a bunch of tunes on bandcamp! These are official releases along with things that have been archived from streaming platforms, AND many demos and voice memos from long ago. Her personal favorite is “the trouble i made”, which features five tracks written and recorded in high school. The first one, “straight boys, was recorded when June was fourteen. Check http://www.junehen.bandcamp.com for even more releases from June Henry.]

13. Eve Sheldon – “My Beautiful Self”
    from: Recorded in one-take from a facebook request / Eve Sheldon / May 20, 2018
    [Originally recorded by Foolish Sad Robot and 1990s band made up of Tom Livesay and Eve Sheldon. On Sunday, May 20, 2018, early in the evening Eve Sheldon asked Facebook humans to request a song of her’s and she would record four of them on the couch and post them. She ended up recording 10 songs in an hour or so, and she wrote to Tim Finn that it “was a fun freakin snapshot of her singing life.” Friends chose songs from Foolish Sad Robot, The Wilders, and a Trouble In Mind rap. Eve wrote, that the recordings represent her “mellow vocal stylings of this century, and the VERY FIRST song she ever wrote.” (She was 14.) Eve Sheldon called out other singers to ‘get down with this…imagine some 90s cats layin’ down some of their old tunes…and new cats laying down new tunes. i wanna hear!” Eve called out: Mark Smeltzer, David Regnier, Lauren Krum, Betse Ellis, Howard Iceberg, J Ashley Miller…the list is endless…”sing for us, y’all!”. // Eve Sheldon (they/them) is originally from a small rural town in southern Missouri with a population of 128. Eve received a B.A. in vocal performance from William Jewell College in 1989. After college Eve was in the bands Young Johnny Carson Story, My Childhood Hero, and Foolish Sad Robot in the Kansas City. Eve was a professional internationally touring musician for 10 years with their band, The Wilders. // Eve now lives in Frenchtown, NJ. Eve has worked as a Music teacher at River Valley in several musical capacities since 2016, including being the musical director for the middle school musical every year since then. They were the full-time music teacher for the 2017-2018 school year as well as the accompanist for eurythmy and the choirs for several years since 2016. In addition, since 2015, Eve has played in the parent band Moonshine & Millet for many fundraisers, as well as accompanying the River Valley Parent Choir. Eve attended the Waldorf music educators conference in Wisconsin in 2017. // Eve shared thoughts on the nature of inclusivity greatly valued at River Valley. “As a member of the trans community, I hope to be someone kids can look to and see someone who doesn’t fit into society’s ‘traditional’ roles, yet has found a way to thrive and succeed in this world. I also hope they will also see that gender identity is just a part of who you are, and that it doesn’t have to define your life, but rather enhance it.” Eve loves reading, driving, and playing music. They have had a close relationship to the school since their child enrolled there in 2013, sharing, “I’ve worked in many capacities and I’m just honored to be able to lend my help and skills and love for music to a school and students that I believe in.” // Eve Sheldon played The Folly Theatre for KKFI’s 30th Anniversary Celebration, June 30, 2018]

14. Shamir – “The Beginning”
    from: Homo Anxietatem / Kill Rock Stars / August 18, 2023
    [Shapeshifting Philadelphia-via-Vegas artist Shamir shares a sentimental third and final single & video “The Beginning”from Homo Anxietatem the 9th album & debut for Kill Rock Stars out August 18, 2023. “The Beginning” dives into the missteps of a relationship gone by, while feeling emotionally trapped as time barrels forward. Opening with a jolting record scratch, then seamlessly flowing into a driving guitar strum, the building chorus evokes a nostalgia akin to the soundtrack of a coming-of-age film. With playful lyrical snacks like “I wish I could turn back time, just like Cher” to the painful reality check “we’re so caught up on having a happy ending…we forgot the beginning” – you can’t help but dance & cry along to Shamir’s ever poignant songwriting. The new track follows healing first single “Oversized Sweater”, bittersweet “Our Song”, and surprise release “Crime” featured in HBO’s Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York. // Shamir (he/she/they) directed the hometown video filmed in Bartram’s Garden with musician friends, including members of the band Friendship and Accidental Popstar Records’ own Ladifa, saying “’The Beginning’ is a song I wrote when I was 14 years old and had never experienced love, yet I was already inundated by all the typical tropes. Even back then I realized a happy ending was contingent on a healthy beginning. The video represents the healing power of being around friends after a break up.” // Homo Anxietatem releases August 18, 2023 . For the 9th Shamir album in eight years, and his debut for the legendary Kill Rock Stars label, the shapeshifting songsmith tries on yet another shade of perfect popcraft. After a run of critically acclaimed heavy rock and industrial-tinged records, Shamir forms his literally unforgettable tunes into alternately subdued and soaring alt-pop. For a 28 year-old, Shamir’s amassed a huge body of work. His live show and recorded output are more closely aligned than ever, holding close to guitar-bass-drums combos. The songs are elemental, yet flawless in their own Shamir-ness. And with the studio polish provided by Hoost (Rina Sawayama, VC Pines), the barebones songwriting becomes the foundation for Shamir in a more introspective mode. This is what happens when one of the most prolific songwriters of a generation calms down a bit: the search for meaning becomes mundane. What happens when someone who lives a chronically unstable life finds solid ground? Well, out comes a perfect pop-punk-rock record. // All songs Written by Shamir Bailey with the exception of “Appetizer” written by Grant Pavol. // All songs Produced by Justin Tailor with the exception of “Appetizer” Produced by Grant Pavol and Justin Tailor and “Words” produced by Teddy Thompson. // All guitar, bass, and live instrument performed by Shamir Bailey and Justin Tailor with the exception of “Appetizer” guitar, bass, and drums performed by Grant Pavol and “Words” bass by Teddy Thompson. // All songs Mixed by Charlie McClean // Mastered by Amy Dragon.]

11:09 – Pledge Break #4

This is WMM’s Winter Fund Drive Show w/ Betse Ellis, Rachel Christia, & Mikal Shapiro

Where can I find out about what is happening in my community?

We need KKFI Now More Than Ever. LGBTQIA, Urban Issues, Black Lives Matter, Labor Rights, The Environment, The Kansas City Visual & Literary Arts , The Performing Arts, Stadium Campaigns, Women’s Issues, Native American Issues, Jazz, Blues, Reggae, Classical, Hip Hop, Folk, Women’s Music, Indie Rock, Pop, Electronica, Punk…the answer is KKFI 90.1 FM Kansas City Community Radio.

KKFI is an Independent, non-commercial radio station!

Now, more than ever, Independent, Community Media is important for our world. We are here to listen to you, to share your concerns, and offer resources and information. Along with our National Public Affairs shows like Democracy Now and Alternative Radio we offer more locally produced public affairs programs than anywhere else on the dial.

We offer programs for women, the LGBTQIA Community, Native Americans, Black Public Affairs, Labor & Worker’s Unions, Middle Eastern Music & Information, Latino Programming, prison population & justice system, environmental programming, Visual & Performing Arts, KC Tenants, Economics for the People, Understanding Isreal Palistine.

Just remember what you don’t have to hear when you are tuned to 90.1 FM KKFI! – No commercials, we do have brief underwriting announcements, recognizing those who financially contribute to support non-profit community radio.

At KKFI there is no automated robot playing the same 40 songs in a “rotation,” based on a formula, created by a singular programmer of the robot. KKFI is the opposite of a robot.

There is almost always a human on the end of the phone line when you call 816-931-KKFI.

90.1 offers 100 different radio programs. 85 of these programs are locally, produced, hosted, engineered and written by over 100 different people, who create content, and personally handcraft each show, each week. There are 64 local music shows and 21 locally produced News, Public Affairs, Arts & Talk shows.

There are 140 hours each week of locally produced handcrafted programs.

You will not find this kind of representative diversity anywhere else on your radio dial. Or from any singular source on your computer. It is very special. It needs to be nourished and kept alive in a world of corporate, nationally owned, commercial or religious broadcasting.

Not only do we bring the most diverse and unfiltered news and information, but our musical playlists are deep, and comprehensive. In one week you can hear over 2000 different songs played, in Blues, Jazz, Folk, Hip Hop, Reggae, Classical, World, Americana, Southern Soul, Fusion, Soul, Rock, New Wave, Electronic, Native, Local, Old Timey, Rockabilly, Women’s, Children’s, Gospel, and Experimental.

With all of this, you hear the voices from the hundreds of KKFI volunteers, and thousands of guests from the community, who share their stories, broadcast live from our non-commercial, midtown studios, at 39th & Main, in the center of our metro, across two states, a collective of communities, and thousands of listeners. What is this worth to you?

11:17

15. The Black Creatures – “The Weight of Worth”
    from: By Thy Hand / Center Cut Records / August 12, 2022.
    [By Thy Hand was #1 on WMM’s 120 Best Rercordning of 2022. This new album follows their singles: “Criminal” on June 24, 2022, “Loud For Nothin” on May 27, 2022, and “True Friends” on September 17, 2021. After being signed to Center Cut Records the label remastered and reissued their album WILD ECHOES in 2020 and was named Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine. the original 2019 release of WILD ECHOES was #2 in WMM’s 119 Favorite Releases of 2019 (Albums & EPs). The Black Creatures fuse dark-pop hip-hop, soul, jazz, and electronic music with elements from science fiction to tell inter-dimensional stories of love, community, life, culture, history. Xavier & Jade have made an impression in the KC music community with their live shows in clubs, galleries, record stores, and area music festivals. The Black Creatures released their debut single “Mouth 2 Mouth” June 5, 2016. // Jade Green & Xavier Martin of The Black Creatures began working together in 2013. The Black Creatures blur the boundaries of hip-hop, dance, R&B, soul, and EDM, telling stories of real life, and the struggle for equality. Jade’s incredible vocals reveal their background in opera, and their honest lyrics are both personal and political. Jade can interpret soul, jazz, hiphop, and pop. Xavier Martin started music as a violinist, and has transitioned into a co-songwriter, producer, beat-maker, keyboardist, vocalist, engineer, and style maker. // From Center Cut Records Promo Materials: The Black Creatures blend contemporary styles of pop, hip-hop, dance, R&B, EDM and soul with cinematic and storytelling sci-fi/fantasy elements and themes. With the complex and creative approach The Black Creatures take to their art, a diverse audience regularly flocks to their gripping and intensely enchanting performances. // Representing the strange land of Kansas City, Missouri, Jade Green and Xavier began working together around the end of 2013 after meeting on-line talking about cosmetics. After Jade stumbled upon Xavier’s SoundCloud, they asked if they could put their vocals on it, and this led to future collaborations with no more than the intention to dabble. They couldn’t stop and eventually dubbed the project The Black Creatures. // Both Jade & Xavier write and perform vocals, with Xavier at the helm of production and composition. Jade Green has a vocal background in opera and a penchant for theatrics, and both are the foundation of their ever-evolving approach to writing and performing in The Black Creatures. While the instrumentals may set the tone for the show, Jade’s voice captivates the audience from beginning to end. Originally a violinist, Xavier unfurled into a producer and vocalist, maintaining the same air of intrigue and mystery throughout his compositions and performances in The Black Creatures. // After releasing Wild Echoes in the fall of 2020, and receiving Album Of The Year from The Pitch Magazine, high praise came from around the world for the four released singles and accompanying videos. “Wretched (It Goes)” was featured in the NPR Live Sessions “Songs For Change” when The Black Creatures were selected as one of 12 national artists, and included in 90.9 The Bridge’s Top 100 singles along with their song “D’ummm” which was in heavy rotation in the winter. Nuance Magazine wrote, “The Black Creatures take their musical talents and use them in such a way that forces listeners to not only tap their foot to a catchy tune, but pay attention and feel something about what is going on in the world around them. Tackling fascism, police brutality, and the deep-rooted effects of slavery in a rhythmic fashion is one thing. Simultaneously making it a good listen is another. However, The Black Creatures make it happen.” // Mark’s brief review: “Being named “Album of The Year” from The Pitch Kansas City was the recognition this young band deserved, because there is really no other band in Kansas City creating incredibly beautiful and painful protest songs in multi genre styles of beats, vocal styles, textures. The immediate personal and poetic lyrics of Jade Green and tribal, dance floor and soulful beats and melodies of Xavier bring the listener into a multicultural, mixed, gender fluid, soul celebration of life and an honest indictment of the racist, homophobic, and sexist world they are navigating through to survive. Listen carefully to these young music makers, they are wise beyond their years. They sound beautiful and speak the truth to power. They are beautiful. They are The Black Creatures.” Charlotte Street Foundation announced that the recipients of the 2022 Generative Performing Artist Awards are The Black Creatures and Calvin Arsenia Scott. Jade and Xavier completed performances in the world premiere of Christian A. Walker’s “What Came With Spring” for the Owen/Cox Dance Group October 7, 8, and 9 at City Stage Theatre, Union Station, 30 W Pershing Rd, KCMO ]

The Black Creatures Discography
The Black Creatures “Mouth 2 Mouth” – Single, June 5, 2016.
The Black Creatures released their debut album, See No Evil, Dec. 6, 2017.
The Black Creatures “Elements” – Single, February 14, 2018
The Black Creatures “Silver Tears” – Single, June 19, 2018 with additional voices provided by AniMal (Ana Marcela Maldonado Morales) , Barbara Solomon , Kassidee, Quaranta , Adres Va Cortas
The Black Creatures “Dare” (Gorillaz Cover)” – Single, August 8, 2019
The Black Creature – Wild Echoes – September 30, 2019
The Black Creatures – “Turn” – Single, October 30, 2019
The Black Creatures – “Quartz (Twilight)” – Single, November 13, 2019
The Black Creatures – “SHINE” – Single, December 11, 2019
The Black Creatures- “Ghost Bustin’ Dead Prezidentz” – Single, January 8, 2020
The Black Creatures – “To Whom It May Concern” – Single, January 22, 2020
The Black Creatures – “Arcade Love” – Single, February 5, 2020
The Black Creatures – “Run Up” – Single, February 19, 2020.
The Black Creature – Wild Echoes – September 30, 2019
The Black Creatures – “wretched (it goes)”- Single [Center Cut], July 17, 2020 [remastered]
The Black Creature – Wild Echoes – Album (Remastered] August 28, 2020 [Center Cut]
The Black Creatures – “Negative Zero” – Single/Video [Center Cut]
The Black Creatures – “FRIENDS” – Single/Video [Center Cut]
The Black Creatures – BY THY HAND – album August 12, 2022

16. Collidescope – “Dodo Bird”
    from: FunHouse / Collidescope / June 2, 2023
    A col·lide·scope [kəˈlīdəˌskōp] is a group of butterflies…and is the electronic experimental music outfit of musicians Hadiza Sa-Aadu (Hadiza.) and Madison Monroe (Babydoll). United in music and in intersections from their individual queer experiences, the pair as of late have been leaning into heavier and darker soundscapes providing backbone to the words that are most often sung, sometimes screamed, and least often spoken. Words that point crosshairs at power structures while opening an escape route through fantasy and surrealism. // In June 2023, the pair followed up their first two EPs DEEP TAPE and Systemic, realising their first full length album Funhouse on Bandcamp (and everywhere else). // Tim Harte: Production and mixing on 4 // Dekota (Hop) Trogdon Drums on 1, 4, 6, 8, 10 // Victoria Falls Stillwater: Add’l Vocals on 4 // Les Izmore: Vocals & Add’l Vocals on 9 // Gavin Neves: Engineering, mixing, mastering, production on all tracks; beats on 5, 7, and 9 // Collidescope is Hadiza: Vocals & Synth and Madi Monroe: Guitar, Bass, Synth, Beats, Production, Add’l Vocals on 1 and 9 // Cover art by Hadiza. // We dedicate this album to those we’ve lost. // Special thanks to the number one babies ever Dougie Jones and D’angelo Babycat for the constructive criticism and emotional support. // On December 31, 2020 Collidescope released their 7-track album DEEP TAPE. DEEP TAPE includes Victoria Falls Stillwater on addition sound production and vocals, and was mixed and mastered by J.Ashley Miller. DEEP TAPE is a follow up the band’s debut EP SYSTEMIC released December 16, 2017. Hadiza also released her solo album SHADOW WEIGHT on Nov. 22, 2019. More info at: http://www.hadizaisnothere.bandcamp.com or http://www.acollidescope.bandcamp.com]

17. Babydoll – “Flamethrower”
    from: “Flamethrower” – Single / Babydoll / April 7, 2021
    [Babydoll is the alternative musical project of Madison Monroe on guitar, bass, beats, synthesizers, mixing & vocals. Flamethrower also includes Hadiza on background vocals. with mastering by Jametatone. “Flamethrower” was released as a single with the track “Wet Noodle”. all rights reserved.]

11:29– Underwriting

11:31 – Pledge Break #5

This is WMM’s Winter Fund Drive Show w/ Betse Ellis, Rachel Christia, & Mikal Shapiro

Last year we offered Live in studio performances from: True Lions, Lonnie Fisher, Mitzi McKee, Calvin Arsenia, Ivory Blue, Stephonne, Kasey Rausch, Julia Othmer, Kasey Rausch, The Swallowtails, Danny Santell, Krystle Warren, MusicbySkippy, Lone Stranger, Just Angel & T.A. Rell, Christena Graves

We have made radio shows that cover: The Kansas City Rep, Outer Reaches Fest, Owen/Cox Dance Group, No Divide KC, The Folly Theatre, recordBar, Lawrence Arts Center, Manor Records, The Rino, KC Blues Society, KC Star, Lawrence Music Alliance, MixMaster Music Conference, Midwest Music Foundation, KC Gift, Juneteenth, Power to The People Fest, The Record Machine, Lemonade Park, Crossroads Music Festival, The Ship, The Black Box Theatre, Amplify Lawrence, Quindaro Ruins, Queer Narratives Fest, Art in the Loop, The film: “I’m So Glad” documenting the KC Gospel Music, Fringe Festival, Make Music Day, Boulevardia, Arts in The Park, UMKC Conservatory of Music, The Crossroads Hotel, High Dive Records, Greenwood Social Hall, KC Folk Fest, Manor Fest, Center Cut Records, KKFI Band Auction, Charlotte Street Foundation, Women’s History Month!, University of Missouri at Columbia, Lawrence Public Library, I Heart Local Music, Black History Month, Bach Aria Soloists, Folk Alliance International, Martin Luther King Jr., Tribute to David Bowie, Tribute to Iris DeMent.

11:39

18. Ingrid Ingram – “Just Joking”
    from: Worried / Ingrid Ingram / March 8, 2020
    [Ingrid Ingram joined us live on our March 18, 2020 WMM. Ingrid Ingram is a trans-femme musician who uses samples and traditional instruments to create erratic and dreamy soundscapes. On March 8, 2020 Ingrid released her debut full length album, “Worried,” where she explores glam-punk, touching on themes of paranoia, addiction, narcissism and commodified identity in a capitalist society. Ingrid Ingram also plays bass in the KC based band The Creepy Jingles. Prior to “Worried,” 26 year old Ingrid Ingram released three singles from “Worried,” plus her EP “Inside Outside” from January 2017, and “Noises And People” from February 2016. Many of the sounds used in these earlier two releases were recorded on a phone during a two-year period of travel around the United States and stitched together on friend’s laptops. Our first question to Ingrid was, are you worried? She immediately, and bravely identified herself as having BDP, Borderline Personality Disorder. About 1.6% of people have BPD in a given year, with some estimates as high as 6%. Women are diagnosed about three times as often as men. It appears to become less common among older people. Up to half of people improve over a ten-year period. There is an ongoing debate about the naming of the disorder, especially the suitability of the word borderline. The disorder is often stigmatized in both the media and the psychiatric field. When we asked Ingrid Ingram about her musical influences and she told us about Micachu and the Shapes. The UK band was formed by Mica Levi, born February 2, 1987, also known by her stage name Micachu. She is an English singer, songwriter, composer and producer. Micachu and the Shapes includes Raisa Khan on keyboards and Marc Pell on drums. The band signed to Accidental Records. With the Shapes, Levi’s focus has been on experimental pop music. Most of this music prominently features an acoustic half-guitar with various non-standard tunings, extensive distortion, and use of noise and found-object elements, as well as occasionally unusual time signatures. Despite these experimental leanings, the artist categorizes her output with the Shapes as pop music. Ingrid Ingram met Jocelyn Olivia Nixin of The Creepy Jingles when she was working at Succotash, Beth Barden’s restaurant at 2601 Holmes, in KCMO. Ingrid told us about jumping into an already established band that have been playing together for several years and that is was especially fun because Ingrid was a big fan. On WMM, over the past 7 years, we’ve been watching the growing number of brave trans-artists opening us and coming out in the collective Kansas City music communities. Ivory Blue, Eve Sheldon, Ada Brumback, The Creepy Jingles, Mazzy Mann, Cuee, HellKat, True Lions, Chase The Horseman, are many of the artists we’ve had as guests on Wednesday MidDay Medley and have featured their recordings. Ingrid said that she has found acceptance in the KC music community, especially in early DIY spaces, that we can’t mention on the radio. Ingrid grew up in Raytown, Missouri and was home-schooled. She talked about the irony of being home-schooled in relationship to her current job, as the “lunch lady” at an elementary school in Gladstone. Ingrid Ingram is a trans-femme musician who uses samples and traditional instruments to create erratic and dreamy soundscapes. On”Worried,” she explores glam-punk, touching on themes of paranoia, addiction, narcissism and commodified identity in a capitalist society.]

19. Hedwig & The Angry Inch – “Tear Me Down”
    from: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Hedwig & The Angry Inch / Hybrid / 2001
    [Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask and a book by John Cameron Mitchell. The musical follows Hedwig Robinson, a genderqueer East German singer of a fictional rock and roll band. The story draws on Mitchell’s life as the child of a U.S. Army major general who once commanded the U.S. sector of occupied West Berlin. The character of Hedwig was inspired by a German divorced U.S. Army wife who was Mitchell’s family babysitter and moonlighted as a sex worker at her trailer park home in Junction City, Kansas. The music is steeped in the androgynous 1970s glam rock style of David Bowie (who co-produced the Los Angeles production of the show), as well as the work of John Lennon and early punk performers Lou Reed and Iggy Pop. // The musical opened off-Broadway in 1998, and won the Obie Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. The production ran for two years, and was remounted with various casts by the original creative team in other US cities. In 2000, the musical had a West End production, and it has been produced throughout the world in hundreds of stage productions. // In 2014, the show saw its first Broadway incarnation, opening that April at the Belasco Theatre and winning the year’s Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. The production closed on September 13, 2015. A national tour of the show began at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Theatre in October 2016 before closing at the Kennedy Center in July 2017.]

11:45 – Pledge Break #6

WMM’s Winter Fund Drive Show w/ Betse Ellis & Rachel Christia & Mikal Shapiro

KKFI offers 24-7 programming, and YOU (the listener), basically get all of this amazing programming for “free.” I, for one, love that I can turn on my radio, or computer device, and tune into the 90.1 FM’s 100, 000 watt, crystal-clear signal, and hear the music, information, news, entertainment, events, and stories, that I really cannot find anywhere else. 90.1 is my comfort, my special companion, my interesting friend, introducing me to all kinds of new & local music, as well as the news & information without the intrusion of commercials. It is radio brought to YOU by real people, who create these shows out of love, and are guided by KKFI’s noble mission that “seeks to stimulate, educate and entertain our audience, to reflect the diversity of the local and world community, and to provide a channel for individuals and groups, issues and music that have been overlooked, suppressed or under-represented by other media.”

Driving in your car, at the office, at the gym, in your garage, in your cubicle, in your artspace, on your iPod, at your construction site, in your kitchen, in your barn, YOU can take 90.1 with you, as your companion. 90.1 FM is generally a good date. Good for a few laughs, fun to dance with, always interested in good conversation. Isn’t 90.1 FM KKFI worth a few dollars a day, or a week? So many people tune in to http://www.kkfi.org everyday, but studies show, that less than 1 percent actually donate to keep this miracle of broadcasting alive. Your support means that you will help bring this programming to folks who could not donate at this time, for whatever the reason.

Please help keep this part of our public airwaves alive for our community to enjoy, free from commercials, free from religious sermonizing, free from extremely conservative and slanted right wing “talk radio,” and free from corporately “owned and cloned” robotic affiliates that play the same 15 songs everyday at the same time. YOU deserve better. YOU deserve radio that really reflects our great city, and tells the story of our great music scene, and performing arts scene, and labor rights, and women’s issues, and LBGT information, and programming specifically produced for Latinos and African Americans, working people, Jazz lovers. Support the free-form spirit that is 90.1 FM KKFI!

Mikal Shapiro’s The Musical plays a Dinner Matinee on Friday. March 7 , at 7:00 to 9:00 PM, at The Ship, 1221 Union Avenue, KCMO.

For Betse Ellis, Rachel Christia, Mikal Shapiro, I’m Mark Manning. Thanks for listening!

11:53

20. Laura Jane Grace –“Surrender Your Gender (feat. Lee Ranaldo, Jayne County, Kathi Wilcox, Jay Dee Daugherty & Am Taylor)”
    from: TRAИƧA / Red Hot / November 22, 2024
    [Originally written by trans icon Jayne County. // One of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by the storied activist and music production non-profit Red Hot, TRAИƧA is a spiritual journey across eight chapters and 46 songs with over 100 artists contributing. The album spotlights the gifts of many of the most daring, imaginative trans and non-binary artists working today. // Dust Reid, who led production on Red Hot’s 2014 tribute to Arthur Russell, and Massima Bell, an artist and activist based in Los Angeles, began tracing the contours of what would become TRAИƧA together in 2021. The two producers originally met at a video shoot in upstate New York, and immediately bonded over their shared love of Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s music, as well as a common devotional connection to nature. The passing of SOPHIE, the pathbreaking electronic producer who died in January 2021, galvanized the producers and focused their work. “We started talking about all the gifts that trans artists have been giving to the world, and wanted to create a Red Hot project that centered and celebrated those gifts,” says Reid. “We hoped to create a narrative that positions trans and non-binary people as leaders in our society insofar as the deep inner work they do to affirm who they are in our current climate. We felt this is something everybody should do. Whether you identify as trans or non-binary or otherwise, if you took the time to explore your gender, get in touch with the feeling side of yourself, maybe we would have a future oriented around values of community, collaboration, care, and healing.” // Bell and Reid began conceiving of the album as a spiritual journey in eight chapters, a mirror of the original eight-stripe rainbow pride flag. The narrative begins at the earliest awareness of consciousness; moves through awakening, trauma, and grief; and arrives at liberation and continual reinvention. “One thing trans people do all the time is turn grief into possibility,” says Bell. “Living under the ongoing Western binary system, trans people reveal maps of possibility for everyone. It’s something that we can all learn from – expanding the possibility of human life.” Each chapter begins with a “chapter track,” kicking off a collection of songs that speak to that chapter’s theme. // As the producers began inviting musicians to contribute to TRAИƧA, the political climate in the United States and across the world started to foment an acute reactionary streak. Legislation denying trans people the hard-won right to medically transition proliferated across the country. Book bans rained down on libraries, stamping shut crucial apertures into trans and queer lives. The necessity of TRAИƧA’s presence in the world started to crystallize. // “The stakes have never been higher,” notes Bell. “We’re seeing a rise in anti-trans hate and vitriol that is particularly being spewed in the United States. I am a trans person from Iowa, one of the states that signed into law a bill that prohibits access to gender-affirming care. It is clearly, materially, a terrifying time.” // Laura Jane Grace (born Thomas James Gabel; November 8, 1980) is an American musician best known as the founder, lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me!. In addition to Against Me!, Grace fronts the band Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers, a solo project she started in 2016. Grace is notable for being one of the first highly visible punk rock musicians to publicly come out as transgender, which she did in May 2012. She released her first solo studio album since transitioning, Stay Alive, in 2020, followed by Hole in My Head in 2024.// Grace experienced feelings of gender dysphoria from a young age, citing them as her “earliest memories”. Grace publicly came out as a transgender woman in May 2012 in an article to Rolling Stone. Grace announced plans to begin transitioning. Having been inspired to come out after meeting a transgender Against Me! fan, Grace had informed the rest of the band that February. In 2012, she began publicly using the name Laura Jane Grace. “Laura” is the name her mother would have chosen had she been assigned female at birth, “Jane” was selected simply because she thinks it’s pretty, and “Grace” is her mother’s maiden name. On continuing to perform in Against Me!, Grace said, “However fierce our band was in the past, imagine me, six-foot-two, in heels, fucking screaming into someone’s face.” // In her 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, Grace revealed plans to take hormones and undergo electrolysis. She said she was also considering surgery. She expressed apprehension about chondrolaryngoplasty and bottom surgery, saying, “I don’t give a fuck if I lose my penis. It’s just fucking scary because of the surgery. I’ve needed to have my wisdom teeth removed for five years, and I still haven’t.” She said that she would live as a woman and undergo psychotherapy for a year before considering gender-affirming surgery: “Right now, I’m in this awkward transition period. I look like a dude, and feel like a dude, and it sucks. But eventually I’ll flip, and I’ll present as female.” In 2015, Grace stated, “I think it’s perfectly valid [for a trans person] to never undergo bottom surgery”. // In response to Grace’s announcement, a number of figures in the punk community voiced their support, including musicians Brian Fallon, Brendan Kelly, Franz Nicolay, and Mike Shinoda; cartoonist Mitch Clem; and professional wrestler CM Punk. Herndon Graddick, President of GLAAD, hoped that Grace’s public profile would increase public awareness and acceptance of trans people: “[Laura] is displaying extraordinary courage by coming out as transgender after already establishing herself as a rock star. For many of the band’s fans, this may be the first time they’re actually thinking about transgender people and the bravery it sometimes takes in order to be true to yourself.” // Grace confirmed in January 2019 that she underwent facial feminization surgery in December 2018 as part of her transition. // Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth; Jayne County who was born Wayne Rogers, on July 13, 1947 and is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer whose career has spanned six decades. Under the name Wayne County (inspired by Wayne County, Michigan), she was the vocalist of influential proto-punk band Wayne County & the Electric Chairs; Kathi Wilcox who was born November 19, 1969, and is an American musician. She is the bass player in Bikini Kill and guitar player in the Casual Dots. She was also a member of the Julie Ruin and the Frumpies; Jay Dee Daugherty was born March 22, 1952 and is an American drummer and songwriter most known for his work with Patti Smith. As a member of the Patti Smith Group, he has been nominated twice to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Moving to New York City in 1974, Jay Dee Daugherty co-founded the Mumps with high school friends Lance Loud and Kristian Hoffman; & Am Taylor – Amy Louise Taylor is an Australian musician and activist from Mullumbimby, Australia. She is known as a songwriter and lead vocalist of the ARIA Award winning rock band Amyl and the Sniffers based in Melbourne, Australia.]

21. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
    from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

NEXT WEEK, on March 12 we welcome Shanté Clare, Seth Davis, Evan Verploegh(ver-ploo) and Benjamin Bake of The Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society. ALSO Seyko Groves joins us to talk about her solo music and her work with The Freedom Affair, and we’ll have many new releases from Ghosty, Kat King, Birdie, They’re Theirs, Til Willis & Erratic Cowboy, Lee Walter Redding, and more

THANK YOU to our incredible KKFI Staff; Director of Development & Communications – J Kelly Dougherty, Volunteer Coordinator – Darryl Oliver, Chief Operator – Chad Brothers and Shaina Littler – Office Manager Book Keeper

This radio station is more than the individual hosts of each individual radio show. Instead it is about a collective spirit of hundreds of hardworking people, unselfishly setting aside ego, to work for the greater good of community building and the gigantic goal of keeping our airwaves free, non-commercial, and open to all! Congratulations and thank you to all programmers & volunteers who went the extra effort to keep our station alive.

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

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http://www.WednesdayMidDayMedley.org,
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Show #1085