Programmer Featurette: Chris Buckridge

Each month, a member of our Programming Committee is interviewing one of our programmers. These “featurettes” will give you a glimpse into some of your favorite WGDR/WGDH voices and what they do when they aren’t on the air. Up first, Savannah Bailey, one of our newest programmers in 2024!

Programmer Featurette: Savannah Bailey

By John Dillon, Chair of the CVCR Programming Committee

Chris Buckridge, host of the Saturday show “Predictably Unpredictable,” was part of the group of new programmers who came on the air last spring. He’ll celebrate his first anniversary on the air next month.

Chris says he first started seeing – or hearing – himself on the radio when he lived in New Haven, Ct. in 2015 and became a fan of WPKN in Bridgeport, Vt. Like WGDR, WPKN is volunteer-driven and community-supported.

What follows is an interview with Chris, where he describes growing up in a music-infused household, playing turkey calls on the air, finding community in Vermont, and a very memorable show when his daughter Ramona was born.

CB: [At WPKN] I was really impressed by the diversity that was on the airwaves: A bunch of different characters helming their own shows making mistakes live. I fell in love with the dead air and all the ums. I thought it was such a beautiful thing.

I daydreamed about having a show there but hadn’t pursued it yet, but I was definitely attracted to it and started to see myself there. I saw myself reflected in it, in some shows and some people.

JD: So, it was sort of hearing other community radio offerings, and like you said hearing yourself there?

CB: Yes, it was a great place for other awkward weirdos. And you would listen and try to imagine what they looked like and stuff. It was great. I love it so much.

JD: Your show is called Predictably Unpredictable and you started [a recent show]  with the Ramones, then you had Artie Shaw and then there was a whole Twin Peaks thing. How would you describe your shows intent?

CB: Emptiness? [Laughs] I don’t know if there is an intent. I want it to work, I want it to sound good…  I guess it’s a real struggle to try to identify that because it changes so often. I don’t know that there is an intent, it just is.

JD: I think the title gives it an intent or at gives it at least a definition

CB: The title is more of a disclaimer, I feel like… The theme coming up this week it’s John Frusciante’s birthday, from the Chile Peppers, because there’s an anniversary of a record coming out. I’m a huge fan of his. I love him. I think he’s great. The whole show is Frusciante and Frusciante adjacent stuff and things that influenced him and snippets of interviews and stuff like that.

But it’s not going to be a birthday theme every week, although birthdays will enter into it sometimes. And it’s not going to be a theme every week at all. Some weeks will be a lot of jazz; some weeks it will be just be vinyl; Some weeks it will be just MP3s … It all changes week by week. It’s kind of whatever floats up for me and I kind of just pull from an interest in music and a knowledge of music. Whatever I have lying around in in my brain or in record collection could potentially end up in there.

I’ve done turkey calls before. Not me. I mean, I played a turkey call record. I mean anything is really fair game

JD: I do those in the spring but it’s usually to try to find a turkey.

CB: Yeah, I was kind of wondering if anybody would like turn their speakers out in their windows and see if they could summon any turkeys… I forget why I did that. I found it my collection and was really excited about it.

JD: How does your community, geographic as well as social and political, shape your perspective that you bring to the air.

CB: Well, my show is a reflection of myself and my own interests so when I do my show it’s just me it‘s really just me. It’s a direct connection between myself and my community. I wanted to live in Vermont for about 10 years before I moved up here, because of the social and political landscape and community up here. It’s been shaping me for a long time, but maybe not shapes, but harmonizes with, it is a better way of thinking about it for me, because the values around me and the work that’s being done around me for lack of better term is so completely right on for me, the gender representation of every conceivable gender on spectrum, the representation of different political viewpoints.

It’s made me feel safe in embracing my feelings on Gaza, hearing other programmers and other members of the community speak out about it, and having shows where they talk about it a lot.

To be less specific about, you could say it helps me feel brave, my community and the values around here, makes me feel brave and supported in bringing my beliefs and interests or whatever they are with me onto to the airwaves.

It’s such an inclusive place up here. I really feel like you’re welcomed and encouraged to do your own thing and you’ll be considered a good neighbor no matter what that is, as long as you’re not infringing on the people around you. And if you’re participating and supporting the people around you, you’ll find there’s a strong and resilient community web up here

JD: Where do you draw your material from?

CB: Whatever sounds good to me… At least once a month, I will try to pull from new music that the music department sends out, the dropbox files.

I feel like at least a slight obligation as a DJ, not an obligation but a responsibility, as a DJ to share new music. ... I don’t want to be necessarily stuck in a situation where it’s just and exclusively stuff that’s interesting to me and almost biographical to me because that would be predictable. It would converge like an 80s or 90s show. it would be appealing to people who are almost explicitly just like me. I would like to grow and the audience would like to grow so it’s important for me to share new stuff

I’m a huge music fan. I have a lot of records. I’m listening to music pretty much constantly or talking about or investigating music. And everything’s fair game. There’s nothing I’m not interested in.

JD How did that interest develop? Was there music in your house?

CB: I was lucky to grow up in Northeast Ohio. You can say a lot of things about Ohio, and a lot of them aren’t positive. But one thing you could reasonably say about the Northeast part is that it’s got a good quantity of like creative and smart people. It’s no coincidence that’s where Devo comes from... I grew up in Northeast Ohio and my parents were and still are only about 20 years older than me. So my parents were young. And I was an only child and so the people I hung out with were my parents. And they’re both counter-cultural and open-minded big, big music fans. And speaking of Devo, they bought like the first Devo record when it came out. I just grew up with that in the house. I grew up with a big record collection in the house. And my dad especially, is really, really into the minutiae of artists. You know who was playing with them, who they were friends with, what they were influenced by at the time. So like really doing close listening and deep diving into things was always around for me.

He's a musician too so there was always that. It just kept going once I got to high school. I was a musician and joined a bunch of bands. There was always music happening.

JD: Doing a live show in the studio in the studio is a solo event and a performance in a way. How do you imagine the audience, and what role do they play in the show?

CB: It’s tough to imagine an audience. In a way it’s a solo performance but I do cheat. My wife and baby daughter are in the studio with me. It’s a family event. Also, there may be no such thing as a solo performance. Whoever is listening is there to. So, it’s sort of like that John Cage idea that there’s no such thing as silence. Even with nothing playing you can still hear your heartbeat. But it is a performance. I get the same stage jitters. I try not to criticize myself, like transitions and things, when things get clunky…

I don’t really imagine more people listening than the people who are texting me during a show. So, it’s usually like one friend of mine who lives in Georgia, and my parents. And sometimes my in-laws will listen in… I know the audience is larger than that. I got a call from a guy in Hardwick who was really into what I was doing. I get calls from people. I know that it’s bigger and more widespread than I’m aware of. It really doesn’t…  It’s funny, it is like a performance, but my audience is the room.

JD: How has your show changed over time.

CB: I think it’s gotten more casual. I feel more casual on the microphone, like more conversational and less announcer-ey. I’ve gotten more comfortable in bringing in different formats, like CDs… Oh, I figured how long it takes me to run to the bathroom and back. So I’m not as worried about that. It takes me two minutes exactly to make it from the studio over to the bathroom and back again, so I’m not as worried about that.

JD: What was the funniest thing, or has there been anything funny that happened to you on the air?

CB: Well, it didn’t happen on the air. But my wife was due to have an induction for our daughter. And my show goes on at 10. At 9:57 we got the call from the hospital that they were ready for us to come up and do the induction.

I was getting my bag of records out. I had gone to the bathroom and was coming back and I could hear my wife on the phone. And that was a week that Rebecca was doing in Kitchen Permaculture… She came out and I told her I guess we’re leaving then. And I told Rebecca we’ve got to go we’re having a baby, and just let the robot go because I had an evergreen in. So, we got to listen to my show on the way to the hospital.

So the whole time we’re driving around in the car, going home, getting our bags together, checking all the boxes and stuff, I’m listening to my radio show. It was weird. I don’t know if that’s a funny thing. it’s just fun…

JD: That’s a great story. You won’t ever forget that day!

CB: No, if it had been four minutes later, I would have been on the air already. I would have had to stop what I was doing and then bring the evergreen in the middle of the song; it would have been super sloppy. But as it was, it was two minutes before I was supposed to go on and I was able to just let it play and just listen and enjoy it along with everybody else. I soundtracked our trip to the hospital basically.”

A Reuben Jackson Radio Remembrance

Tune in as we gather together through the power of the radio airwaves (a very Reu thing to do). We will take calls for folks to share memories, share stories from his friends and chosen family, play snippets of his radio shows and poetry readings, and create some celebration space for a life that has impacted so many near and far here in Vermont.

WGDR, Plainfield is where Reuben got his start in radio at just 18 years old as a student at Goddard. We are honored to help celebrate his life at, in his own words, "one of the greatest loves of my life (WGDR/radio)."

Hosted by Reuben's friend in nerdy radio, DJ Llu (and our station manager), with special guests and other tributes.

If you have a memory to share, please email Llu@WGDR.org to coordinate time in the show for airplay. We anticipate lots of interest!

The show will be live, 7-9pm, Saturday, March 9, broadcasting across central and northern Vermont on WGDR, Plainfield at 91.1 FM and WGDH, Hardwick at 91.7 FM and streaming everywhere at WGDR.org. We'll have it on the archives at WGDR.org for two weeks and then available for longer via https://www.mixcloud.com/wgdrwgdh/.

Read more about Reuben in the coverage of his life from Vermont Public and Seven Days.

Now Hiring: Underwriting & Sponsor Contractor for 2024

WGDR/WGDH’s Underwriting and Sponsor Coordinator (USC) is a new contracted position designed to help establish and grow this area of revenue for the station. This role largely entails engaging with potential community underwriters and sponsors in the community to encourage them to get the word out about what they do by using our airwaves or stream to do so.

By design this job able to be done in part remotely and in part out in the community helping us land new clients. It is an entirely 15-20% commission-based rate from all underwriting and sponsorship sales made by this role. A potential bonus percentage may be added if goals are exceeded. Work is estimated to be about 10 hours a week and can be done on an extremely flexible schedule. 

Read the full job description here and if interested, please apply by March 1. Include a resume and short explanation describing your interest in this position, past sales or fundraising experience, and anything else we should know. Email to Station Manager, Llu Mulvaney-Stanak at Llu@WGDR.org. No calls please.

Programmer Featurette: Savannah Bailey

Programmer Featurette: Savannah Bailey

By John Dillon, Chair of the CVCR Programming Committee

Each month, a member of our Programming Committee is interviewing one of our programmers. These “featurettes” will give you a glimpse into some of your favorite WGDR/WGDH voices and what they do when they aren’t on the air. Up first, Savannah Bailey, one of our newest programmers in 2024!

Programmer Featurette: Savannah Bailey

By John Dillon, Chair of the CVCR Programming Committee

Savannah Bailey is one of WGDR’s latest group of programmers, with a Wednesday morning, two-hour weekly slot starting at 6 am.

Savannah may be new to WGDR. But she is not new to the airwaves. Before moving to central Vermont in October, Savannah lived in Portland, Maine for three years where she had a show on Portland’s community radio station, WMPG.

Savannah grew up in central New Hampshire in a family-centered around music.

“I’ve always had music in my life,” she says. Savannah’s first radio experience came at age 12 when she visited the Plymouth State College radio station and got to play CDs on air. She remembers featuring the Beatles Norwegian Wood album which she had recently discovered by browsing through her dad’s album collection.

“It (the WMPG show) was called the Flip Side. It was a music show, mostly Indie Rock and I did a theme a week. Before that I also had a radio show in college…. One of my college friends was like, ‘Savannah, you love sharing your music with everyone and you always like to play your music in the car, why don’t you have a radio show?”

“So that (community radio) was the first thing I looked up in Portland. And when I moved here it was the first thing I looked up again. So, I’m so glad WGDR is here and I was able to get a show so quickly.”

Savannah is a staff scientist at Stone Environmental in Montpelier, with a background in geology, environmental science and landscape design. She works in the water quality department.

"So my two loves are music and the outdoors. Stewardship of the outdoors is also very important to me,” she remarked.

The following is a snippet of the conversation between John & Savannah, edited for brevity and clarity.

Your show is early morning?
“Yes, it’s going to be from 6-8 am. We’ll see how it goes. My show when I was in Portland 6:30-8 and when I first started there it was actually at 4 am. So, I’ve done early morning shows before. I work a normal office job and wanted to keep my weekends kind of free so it seemed like the morning was a good time.”

You mentioned that you like to share your music, is that what brought you to radio and what made you want to have a show?
“Yes, definitely. I’ve always loved music; my family is very musical and I kind of grew up with music. I’m like a deep listener to music, especially to lyrics. I love lyrics, and I love sharing my love of music and lyrics with other people. I try to listen to kind of less mainstream music and find more kind of unknown artist and promote them when I’m on the air.”

Where do you draw your material from, your playlists from?
“Well, in Portland at WMPG I did a theme for every week, so I got really into doing specific themes. (For example], one week it was all songs inspired by books, I would spend hours researching different songs that were inspired by books or whatever the theme was. And I would build a huge show that way. And I would spend hours putting a show together. But it took a lot of my free time doing that.

“Now with my new show I’m going to try kind of the opposite approach. I’m thinking of doing a very free form, just ‘listen to what I want to in the moment style.’ And I really love playing from the music the station already has. So, I’m kind of envisioning pulling a lot of CDs and vinyl at the station and going to the Dropbox (where WGDR has new releases) and doing some research there in the moment while I’m doing my show and deciding we’re going to listen to this CD now and seeing how it goes, see if I like it.”

How would describe your show’s intent, or how would you describe it just a few words?
“I guess my intent is kind of to be an alternative the algorithm (that is) coming up with suggested songs for you and instead just really trying to listen to broad swaths of music that aren’t listened to nowadays, or that people don’t take the time to search out new artists.
My music tends to be with women vocalists or queer artists so I try to focus on music that might not be heard otherwise.”

I love that: You could call it Alternative to the Algorithm!
How does you community geographically, socially, politically shape what you bring to the air?
“Oh, that’s an interesting question. I mean, I am part of the queer community so I always try to uplift those voices. And I’ve really found that community to be very welcoming in Vermont, which has been very exciting to me.

“In general, one of my values is local and community. And I feel like that is kind of what I’m getting at even though my show is not specifically local music, but just trying to play music of people who aren’t in a big marketing game to sell a lot of records, but they’re just playing music because they love it and they want to share it with the world. So that’s the music I want to be playing too.”

“At work today, I was listening to the new Dropbox music from January and so much of it is great music and I wouldn’t have heard it unless WGDR had put it in this Dropbox.”

Doing a live show is both a solo event and a performance. How do you imagine your audience listening? And what role are they playing in what you do?
“That’s a good question. When I first had my show in Portland, especially, because that’s a real
community station versus the college one which was very much just college listeners, I was very kind of nervous when I first started because I wanted to sound good on air and I was aware people in the community listening. But as I’ve been doing radio, I feel like that has not been a worry as much and it’s more that even though it’s broadcasting out and I know there’s an audience listening it’s also a time for me to connect with myself because I am alone in the station and I really just celebrate my love of music. And any time I get feedback, from someone listening it’s really, really validating and so exciting to know that other people share my joy of music too.”

Obviously, you haven’t had a show on GDR for long, but from your Portland experience, how has your show changed and developed over time?
“Like I said, I’m trying to put less pre-planning into my show now, and just having less kind of a rigid structure to the show but just kind of let it flow on how I feel in the morning. I love getting calls and requests from listeners, which would happen to me in Portland. And I really just love having the space to follow my interests in the moment so if I really like one artist, researching them in the moment and listening to other music of that genre. I really like that idea. I don’t think there is anything very radical that has changed about how I do my shows.”

Welcome to WGDR, Savannah! We’re so glad you’re part of our community.

“The most affordable way to get the word out.”

Did you know Central Vermont Community Radio has the most affordable way to get the word out? We know because we did the research and our underwriters and sponsors have told us this!

Do you need to reach Vermonters in our area? Consider underwriting or sponsoring the station. Our new 2024 rates and options aren’t only affordable, they can be customized to meet your needs for an upcoming event, seasonal businesses, or year-long run.

What’s the difference between underwriting and sponsoring?

Underwriting is a 20 second spot on the air that lets listeners know about your services, products, or mission. Unlike ads, they are not loud or flashy, they simply tell folks what you do, where you are, and where they can learn more. This has to follow FCC regulations. The rates start as low as $273 for a once a week mention for 6 months.

Sponsoring is also a 20 second spot, but on our livestream that tells listeners about your services, products, or mission, but with some flair! More like an ad, they tell folks why what you do matters, where you are, and where they can find you. Sponsorships are great for online retailers and the cannabis sector. These do not have FCC regulations. Slots are very limited for 2024, as each sponsor will get a full day sponsor of the stream starting as low as $1,000 for 6 months. With over 100 streamers a day, that shakes out to $1 per actual human listening (so much more reliable than social media ads and a far cheaper ROI compared to other local media options!).

See the full rates below.

If you are interested, please contact station manager Llu Mulvaney-Stanak at 802-276-0365 (you can text to) or email at Llu [at] WGDR.org.

These are a few of our underwriters and sponsors, thanks to all of them!

Bear Pond Books, Black Bear Biodiesel, Buch Spelier, CVEDC, East Hill Tree Farm, Galaxy Bookshop, Green Mountain Film Festival, Hardwick Community TV, Hunger Mtn Coop, Nelson’s Ace Hardware, Noyle Johnson Group, Onion River Animal Hospital, Onion River Campground, Queer Arts Fest, SolarFest, Talmo Hair Co., Vermont Arts Council, Woodbelly Pizza, Woodbury Mtn. Toys, and more!

More Local Shows in February

Here at CVCR, we’re excited to bring more and more of the community into the station. Starting in February, we’ll welcome 10 new programmers onto the air. Their shows will mostly be music shows, adding diversity to our playlists and making our weekends, middays, and early mornings even more “live and local.” 

These additions mean about 60 of your neighbors will bring you views, community connections, and musical selections across 50 eclectic shows every week.

This is a huge milestone for the station. Less than a year ago, only 30% of our main schedule was local. Now, 80% is locally made.

Continue reading for specific days and times for these new shows and the few additional changes to the schedule. 

As always, the Programming Committee is open to your feedback. Use our listener survey to tell us what you think and other thoughts on existing programming.

Thanks for continuing to listen and support your community radio stations of WGDR and WGDH and please help us welcome this new group of programmers in the coming weeks.

The 8 new local shows include:

Sundays

• 10am-noon: “Audio Ergo Sum,” a music show by Darien & Ruby McElwain, variety of music

• 4-5pm: “Swivel Radio,” a music by DJ Effery, variety of music

• 6-7pm: “The Tim Show w/ DJ For Now,” a music show with DJ For Now, indie rock, psych rock, and more

• 9-11pm: “Spiral Galaxy,” a music hosted by Tom McMurdo, psych rock, prog, jazz and more.

Tuesdays

• 6-8am: “Styrofoam Stereo,” a music show by Thomas Mattera, blues, rock, folk, roots and more (bi-weekly), alternating with Full Moon Hacksaw.

Wednesdays

• 6-8am: “Discoverances,” a music show by Savannah Bailey. Take your first listen to something new with DJ Savannah, who will be actively discovering new and old artists to love! Pulling from WGDR's extensive physical and digital music libraries, the name of the game is discovery, with a special focus on women musicians who did not get the airtime they deserved.

• 2-4pm: “Soul Joy,” a music show by returning programmer Jacquette Landrum, gospel and Christian music, and interviews

  Thursdays

  • 11am-noon: Talking Vermont,” a talk show about the prison industry in Vermont by Tim Burgess (bi-weekly show)

  To make room for these local shows, the following syndicated shows will move to these new slots: 

On Sundays:

12am-2am - Green Bubble Tea

2am - Café Chill

On Tuesdays:

6am - The five day airing of Background Briefing with Ian Masters at 6am will be reduced to just three days a week, Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.

9am - Peace Talks Radio

9:30am - Sprouts

11am - Rising up Sonali

2pm – Straight Up Soul (new syndicated music show)

3pm – First Voice Radio

On Wednesdays:

11pm-1am - Most Fluids (new syndicated music show)

On Thursdays:

12pm – Afrosonic Taxi

1pm – Rocking the Rez

4pm – Law and Disorder

On Fridays:

2am – Modern Jet Set

On Saturdays:

6:30am – Food Sleuth Radio

8am – Bike Talk

 A few existing local shows also have moved or changed:

• Country Sounds in Modern Times, with Barry Matthews is now just one hour, earlier on Wednesdays at 4pm.

• Woodwarbler’s Jazzgrass Show with Brian Aust is now live at 7pm on Wednesdays.

• The Jive Turkey Show with Turkey Joe is expanding to two hours on Fridays, starting at 11am.

• The Hoi Polloi with Damian Taylor will be retiring from the schedule.

• Bon Mot, with Rick Agran, is returning to live broadcast Sundays at 5pm

These changes also mean we have reached the point where we have limits in the schedule.

First, there are limited local slots for new programmers. This means late nights, a handful of slots during middays on weekdays, and early mornings will be where new folks will have a chance to start shows with us. We will also offer options for new applicants to become subs or be involved in the station in other ways while being on a waitlist for when more local slots open up.

These changes also mean we will be retiring a few syndicated shows Short Wave Radio, For the Wild, Write the Book, All Things Cage, Woodsongs Radio, and the Final Straw. These shows all can be listened to directly on their websites.