If you like indie artists, and you have a decent internet connection, you should check out WHOLE WHEAT RADIO, a really wonderful internet station that plays 100% indie music.  They broadcast from a 12x12 cabin in Talkeetna, Alaska. Where is Talkeetna, you might ask?  Go to their website and check out the map (I did):

 

 

I was originally introduced to WWR when a guy came up after a gig a few years ago and asked if I minded if he sent them a couple of my CDs.  Sure, I said.  Why not?  Get heard by indie-music-loving folks all over the planet?  Works for me.

 

Since then I’ve just enjoyed being included in their digital library.  One really cool thing about this station is that, as a service to artists, they send email updates about when an artist’s songs are played, what listeners have to say, stuff like that.  So recently when “Ordinary Life” was released I sent them a copy to add to the list.  I got an auto-response back saying thanks, and by the way, you can call and leave a message on our automatic message phone if you like, say something about the station, maybe thank listeners for tuning in?  I thought, why not?  I want folks to know that I like this station, that I appreciate them.

 

So, I pick up the phone and dial.  I don’t rehearse, or even really plan, what I am going to say, and what comes out is “This is Eileen Hemphill-Haley, and you’re listening to Whole Wheat Radio, where indie artists get the love and respect they desperately desire.”  Holy God, I think as I hang up, what did I say?  I hope they don’t use that one.  Just then I click on the internet connection, and hear Jim Kloss, owner and DJ of WWR, say there’s a new “wheat gram” coming through!  Then I hear my own voice, sounding a cross between stoned and asleep, speaking on the air.  Truth is, I’d had been writing alone without uttering a word for hours before making the call, and I guess I was in a rather sedate state.  I’m positively cringing as I listen, but then this funny thing happens, and it’s all so goofy that suddenly I don’t feel so bad.  Jim Kloss says oh my god, this is so weird, I can’t believe she just called.  There was only one song I had cued up to play to wrap up the set, and here it is, off the new CD by Eileen Hemphill-Haley!  Wow that’s so cool.  What’d she say? She sounds desperate.

 

Anyway, tune into Whole Wheat Radio and enjoy the indie music you’ll find there.  Those guys are great.