WMSE celebrates 28th Anniversary on St. Patrick's Day
| Published: 02/22/2009 |
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WMSE program hosts will play 28 straight hours of local music to commemorate the station's 28th Anniversary. The local music marathon begins at midnight on St. Patrick's Day, and will feature historic and recent material from Milwaukee artists. The anniversary is also being celebrated with a special St. Patrick's Day concert at Turner Hall featuring the rambunctious Irish revelers known as The Tossers. The show begins at 8 p.m. and tickets are $14.
"We've been at the heart of the local music scene, playing and featuring local acts nobody else would play or feature since the BoDeans were a basement band in Waukesha. That tells you how long we've been, and how committed we are to, building and growing interest in local music," said Tom Crawford, WMSE station manager. "We're finally starting to see other stations devote more prominent portions of their programming to local music, and we feel immensely proud to have been at the forefront of believing in what this city has to musically offer."
Throughout the station's history, WMSE (91.7FM, WMSE.ORG) has consistently given a greater voice to local bands and artists than any other station on the dial, highlighted (but not limited to) their Tuesday night Local/Live segment featuring a live in-studio performance and interview with a different Milwaukee-area artist each week. Over 100 artists perform live at the WMSE studios each year, most of which are filmed and posted on the station's website video archive, WMSE.ORG.
Also of interest is why WMSE's anniversary falls on the St. Patrick's Day holiday. A little-known fact is that St. Patrick was the Patron Saint of Engineers, making the holiday a celebrated day in his name for engineering colleges and universities throughout the world. WMSE is a community-powered broadcast service of the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), and throughout the university's recent history, MSOE has centered major dedications, building openings and yes, even the birth of WMSE 91.7FM, around the St. Patrick's Day holiday.