The Top 500 Desert Island Songs Countdown List!

A Vote to Defund Public Radio Will Happen TODAY in Congress!  

Please call your Congressional Representitive and let them know how you feel about federal funding for WTMD and Public Broadcasting!
Contact Information


You dreamed about being stranded on a Crackberry free Desert Island...a stress free living! Just fishing, cracking coconuts and spelling SOS in the sand.  Here's the music you all voted to be the music that you would need to survive on the island without seeing that smoke monster, that hatch or the big guy who won the Lottery!

Click Here For The List!

WTMD to send you to Hangout!

MAKE YOUR GIFT HERE!

Win a Trip to music paradise just by supporting WTMD with a membership contribution.  One lucky listener/member will drawn to receive airfare, accommodations and two tickets to the warmest, most beach-iest music experience in America.

From Paul Simon the My Morning Jacket, there are dozens of bands, warm sand and cool ocean breezes as you sip Pina Coladas and look for that Lost Shaker of Salt (sorry, we don't think Jimmy will be there!).

Everyone who makes a phone or web pledge through 2/20/11 will automatically be entered into the drawing.  You can enter without making a contribution on the pledge page as well.

You rely on WTMD to bring you music and programming you depend on commercial free every day.  Ensure the station's future by making a membership today.  Thanks for loving them music as much as we do!

Make Your Gift Here!

See You AT WTMD's Desert Island Birthday Party Concert!

Hey everyone, come join WTMD for a great concert celebrating eight years of quality music and programming in Baltimore!

We're thrilled to bring one of the most danceable, energetic and LARGE bands to Baltimore. The 11-piece Kings Go Forth headline with their rhythm and soul direct from their first European tour.

Baltimore's bad boys of Ska and Reggae open the show--Can't Hang has a long history entertaining audiences into a near hypnotic trance and we're all proud of their success and their album Ride the Lightrail.

Wednesday-February 16th-7pm

Recher Theatre

Cupcake Toast - Snacks - And Some Dirty Soul between sets!

$25 and supports WTMD's Music and Programming Fund

Tickets will be available at The Recher Theatre Tonight!

Call To Action! WTMD and Public Broadcasting to Loose Federal Funding This Week?

This week, Congress will debate the Elimination of Federal Funding for Public Broadcasting.  Yes-ELIMINATE IT!

While some believe that Federal Funding for Public Broadcasting is no longer needed, we at WTMD, along with many others, believe that it's a very worthy investment of federal dollars. Ultimately, the decision rests with you. 

As you have heard during our fund drive, listener financial support is the largest component of our funding. WTMD listener contributions are leveraged by 6% and WTMD receives a grant of just over $115,000.  This funding cut would be difficult to absorb without reducing our programming services and limiting our mission of supporting local musicians and providing meaning community events.

Also, many of our colleague stations in rural or economically hard-hit areas depend on federal funding for their very survival.

We hope you will call your Members of Congress – and tell them what you think of public broadcasting and the proposed cuts. Congress could take action on these cuts in the next few days, so please act now.

Here is a list of Maryland Congressional Representitives

House of Representitives:

• Bartlett, Roscoe
  Maryland-6th, Republican
  2412 Rayburn HOB
  Washington, DC 20515-2006
  Phone: (202) 225-2721


• Cummings, Elijah
  Maryland-7th, Democrat
  2235 Rayburn HOB
  Washington, DC 20515-2007
  Phone: (202) 225-4741


• Edwards, Donna F.
  Maryland-4th, Democrat
  318 Cannon HOB
  Washington, DC 20515-2004
  Phone: (202) 225-8699


• Harris, Andy
  Maryland-1st, Republican
  506 Cannon HOB
  Washington, DC 20515-2001
  Phone: (202) 225-5311


• Hoyer, Steny H.
  Maryland-5th, Democrat
  1705 Longworth HOB
  Washington, DC 20515-2005
  Phone: (202) 225-4131


• Ruppersberger, Dutch
  Maryland-2nd, Democrat
  2453 Rayburn HOB
  Washington, DC 20515-2002
  Phone: (202) 225-3061


• Sarbanes, John P.
  Maryland-3rd, Democrat
  2444 Rayburn HOB
  Washington, DC 20515-2003
  Phone: (202) 225-4016


• Van Hollen, Chris
  Maryland-8th, Democrat
  1707 Longworth HOB
  Washington, DC 20515-2008
  Phone: (202) 225-5341

US Senate:

• Cardin, Benjamin L. - (D - MD)
  509 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
  (202) 224-4524
  Web Form: http://cardin.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm


• Mikulski, Barbara A. - (D - MD)
  503 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
  (202) 224-4654
  Web Form: http://mikulski.senate.gov/contact/

Pledge Once - Get Entered Twice!

Pledge Now

First--Everyone who makes a membership contribution today, - Thursday February 10, 2011 - by phone or on line, will be entered to win one of 16 $50 gift cards to one of eight Baltimore Restaurants! So if you haven't made Valentine's Day plans yet--you might solve that problem by making a pledge of support as we fund WTMD for the next several months.


Here's a list of the restaurants you could wina $50 gift card! Just make a membership gift on the first day of Desert Island Fund Drive!

Red Brick Station, White Marsh, 410-931-7827, redbrickstation.com
Clementine., Hamilton, 410-444-1497, Bmoreclementine.com
Brewers Art, Mt. Vernon, 410-547-9310, Thebrewersart.com
Hamilton Tavern, Hamilton, 410-426-1930, Hamiltontavern.com
Carry Out Menu.Com, 410-772-1072, 410-560-1566, Carryoutmenu.com
The Rumor Mill, Ellicott City, 410-461-0041, Therumormillrestaurant.com
Woodberry Kitchen, Baltimore, 410-464-8000, Woodberrykitchen.com
13.5% Wine Bar, Baltimore, 410-889-1064, 13.5winebar.com

PLUS.....

Everyone who pledges by phone or on line during the drive will also be entered to win a trip for two to the Hangout Festival on the warm beaches of Gulf Shores Alabama. You'll fly down, have your own accommodations and have two tickets and see Paul Simon, Widespread Panic, Cee Lo Green, The Flaming Lips and many, many, more! See the line up.

No contribution is required to enter the drawings, but we hope you'll support the music and programming you rely on. You can enter without contributing at the pledge page as well.

CD of the Week: Intoxicating Iron and Wine

The clouds part and a heavenly chorus of winged Brian Wilsons float into your ears.

The fuzzed out sweet intensity of opening  track "Walking Far From Home" on WTMD's CD of the Week, Kiss Each Other Clean from Iron and Wine sets the tone for Sam Beam's expanded obsession with sonic experimentation that made his last album The Shepherd's Dog such a treat.

The second track, "Me & Lazarus" rolls along with a funky bass groove and a Kind of Blue-like sax, taking Beam's minimalist folk out for a late night crawl.

The other tracks combine out-of-tune whistles, female doo-woops, xylophones, electric pianos, and Beam's warm, multi-tracked voices for a warm, earthy 70's FM radio feel, a long way from Beam's  hushed, acoustic confessionals from those early Iron and Wine records.

Enjoy tracks from Kiss Each Other Clean all week on WTMD and catch Iron and Wine at Rams Head Live April 20th.

The Bridge Debut New Dance Move

The Bridge clean up pretty good in the video for "Rosie" from their latest album National Bohemian.

And if you think the Baltimore band, known for it's improvisation, is tightening things up with the ties, focus in on Kenny Liner's interpretive dance. Debbie Allen, eat your heart out!

CD of the Week: Eulogies Mourn a Young Life With Joyful Music

In May of 2008, Eulogies frontman Peter Walker's son was born. But elation for the first time father was short lived when just a week later he learned his good friend , business partner and Dangerbird Records founder Jeff Castelaz would face an unspeakable battle: his young son Pablo had a rare and fatal form of cancer called bilateral Wilm's Tumor.

Walker stood by Pablo's bedside in 2009 when he took his last breath at the age of only six.

While WTMD's CD of the Week, Tear the Fences Down pays tribute to a brave soul and deals with loss and healing in general, the jubilant guitars, bass and drums and Butch Walker production casts a less somber tone than the name of the band would suggest .

In fact, the single "You Hide" is as catchy and as positive sounding as anything you'll hear this year, and even the closer, "Little Else to Say," with the line, "You're gone, but you live on," sounds joyful and celebrates a young life cut way too short.

Listen all week long to track from Eulogies, Tear the Fences Down, WTMD' S CD of the Week.

What's up this Weekend?

Remember to vote for your Top 10 Desert Island Songs before heading out to one of these events going on around town.

Weekend on the Radio Recap

Every Thursday morning at 6:20 a.m. and 8:20 a.m. Sam Gallant of the Creative Alliance shares with you all the cool happenings around town on Weekend on the Radio. In case you missed a detail about a specific event, here's the list for this week.

Thursday, 1/27:

• Literary Death Match, Creative Alliance 8 p.m.

Friday, 1/28

• Mondawmin Song and Story Hour, Mondawmin Mall 4-5 p.m.
• Sowebo Members Show, Sowebo Gallery 6 p.m.
• Self Portrait as Rock Star opening reception, Current Gallery 7 p.m.

Saturday, 1/29

• Polar Bear Plunge, Sandy Point State Park 8 a.m.
• Baltimore Oriole Fanfest, Baltimore Convention Center 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  
• Airplane!, AMC Owings Mills 12:30 p.m.
• Baltimore School of Rock, Recher Theatre 1 p.m. (Also on Sunday)
• Egg Babies Orchestra, The Ottobar 9 p.m.

Sunday, 1/30

• Mad Hatter's Tea Party, Baltimore Clayworks 2 to 4 p.m.
  

WTMD to Countdown Your 500 Desert Island Songs

Desert Island Songs are the ones you can't live without.  They may not be the best or most important songs--but they are deeply personal choices.  They keep you sane in insane times!  Vote your 10 Desert Island Songs and this February, we'll tally up the votes and come up with a list any WTMD listener should have if their plane crash lands on a remote island with a hatch and a smokey black cloud monster.

CD of the Week: Amos Lee's Desert Soul

Out of the Desert Southwest city that produced such turbulent and tragic headlines recently, comes some beautiful, soothing, soul-searching sounds from Amos Lee.

Joey Burns of Calexico produced WTMD's CD of the week, Lee's fantastic Mission Bell.

A chance meeting led to Lee packing his bags for Tucson to join Burns and John Convertino (whose drum rolls stand out on the TMD favorite, "Windows are Rolled Down") at Calexico's Wavelab Studios (where Neko Case recorded some of Middle Cylcone)

The Philly-native simply strummed, minimalist songs breathe with wide-eyed added dimension thanks to Burn's expansive brushstrokes of mandolins, pedal steel, organs, horns and other earthy instruments.

Lucinda Williams, Sam Beam of Iron and Wine and Greg Leisz lend their talents, as does the great Willie Nelson, whose comforting, nasal croon graces the closing song, "El Camino (Reprise)."

A fine album for a desert highway, or maybe even a desert island, listen all week long for tracks from Mission Bell.

Weekend on the Radio Recap

Every Thursday morning at 6:20 a.m. and 8:20 a.m. Sam Gallant of the Creative Alliance shares with you all the cool happenings around town on Weekend on the Radio. In case you missed a detail about a specific event, here's the list for this week. Sam was out of town this week, so Erik was joined by The Creative Alliance's Megan Hamilton.

All Weekend Long:

• The BSO goes Robustly Russian, The Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Thursday 8 p.m. and Saturday 3:15 p.m.
• 12: An aerial performance for 12 actors, MICA Blackbox Theatre, check website for details

Thursday:

• Midnight Sun Happy Hour, The Don't Know Tavern 7 p.m.

Friday:

• The National Rifle; Eureka Birds; The Ugly Club, Charm City Artspace 7 p.m.
• Yo La Tengo, 9:30 Club 9 p.m.
• Wild Gypsy Dance Party, Creative Alliance 8 p.m.

Saturday:

• Crowded Streets: A Tribute to Dave Matthews, Rams Head Live 7 p.m.
• 4 Hours of Funk!, The Wind-Up Space 10 p.m.

Sunday:

• Cinema Sundays at The Charles: Today's Special, The Charles Theatre 9:45 a.m.
• The Footworks Dance Ensemble, The Smith Theatre at Howard Community College 2:30 and 4:30 p.m.
• Steve Kraemer, The Fells Point Waterfront 4 to 8 p.m.

Tour Dates canceled For STS9

After their performances at Mayan Holidaze (Jan 20th -24th) this weekend, STS9 will be forced to cancel their upcoming tour dates thru March and possibly further. One of the bands members, David Murphy, better known as Murph, has been diagnosed with cancer. The group has more information and a letter written from Murph himself on their website. www.sts9.com Our thoughts go out to Murph and the entire STS9 family. Get Better soon Murph!!

WTMD's CD of the Week: Allman's Joy of the Blues

"Lord I felt sure like was dying" an unnerved Gregg Allman  growls on Sleepy John Estes' 'Floating Bridge," which opens his mostly covers record and first solo release in 14 years, Low Country Blues.

Far from a last will and testament- he recorded WTMD's featured CD of the Week just before his liver transplant last June- the Estes song and producer T-Bone Burnett's, almost, supernatural way of "getting" him somewhat spooked the Allman Brothers singer and keyboardist. And so did Burnett's fondness for keepng first takes!

The dark piano rolls of Dr. John (who gets credited with his real name Mac Rebnnack),  Doyle Bramhall II's rock guitar brushstrokes and some seductive brass add an uptown sophistication to Allman's homage to rural blues heroes like Skip James and Muddy Waters.

But, it's Allmans' commanding, redemption-seeking voice and Hammond B3 prowess that's not to be missed. Listen all week to hear more tracks from WTMD' CD of the Week!

Check out a live version of the opener, with Allman giving some heartfelt thanks for a second chance.





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