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Brilliance and Horror
Posted at 10:44 AM on December 10, 2008
by Dale Connelly
(32 Comments)
Hello blog readers. Welcome to Radio Heartland.
I'm Dale Connelly, your host and author for a string of entries intended to give you a look behind the scenes at MPR's Morning Show and this new adventure called Radio Heartland. From there, I'll branch out to cover whatever interests me and appeals to you as we tumble into the future together as a group of linked explorers.
My professional biography is simple and surprisingly thin. I came directly to Minnesota Public Radio in 1976 after studying Radio and Television at Southern Illinois University.
I haven't left.
If you'd like to read more about my early years at MPR, you have too much spare time.
If you'd like to see a Morning Show timeline and hear audio from the past 25 years, help yourself.
Otherwise, let's forget all that and talk about the future.
Radio Heartland is an honest attempt to move the Morning Show's eclectic playlist and unique sensibility online. So many faithful listeners asked us to find a way to continue, we simply had to try something, and digital technology has made it possible to build a playlist and set it running so the program service can spin out 24/7 without a disc jockey in the studio. Producer Mike Pengra and I went into the library and started pulling discs by our favorite singer/songwriters, guitarists, string bands, jug bands, jazz bands, cowboys and crooners. Thousands of songs have been prepared. Friday, we'll hit the switch and hear how it sounds.
Expect moments of brilliance and horror.
But creating a jukebox isn't the goal, it's simply a place to begin.
I hope you'll have suggestions about what Radio Heartland can become.
The same goes for this blog. Every major new online effort is required to have a retinue of blogs - like an ocean liner coming into port surrounded by tugboats, or Snow White dancing through the forest with a cloud of dwarves.
This blog serves that purpose for Radio Heartland.
Rumor has it the name of the blog will be "Trial Balloon".
A trial balloon is an idea offered up specifically for the purpose of getting a reaction. Often, a trial balloon is "leaked" so the agency, politician or corporation testing the idea has deniability and can back away quickly if the notion falls flat.
So I'm not saying the blog definitely IS going to be called "Trial Balloon".
That's just what I've heard. Don't quote me on it. I don't have authority to speak on the topic. And the masthead up above with the big puffy bag of hot air?
That's not proof of anything, despite appearances.
Comments (32)
Brilliance and horror? Sure. But that's what I've come to expect - equal parts of both, but usually the horror is horror in a good way, and it often goes hand in had with the brilliance. Where else might I hear "Devil Went Down to Georgia" on what I recall was accordion again? Horror and brilliance all at once.
More eclectic music and a complementary blog for that music? That's an embarrasment of riches. Thanks for this!
Dale and Mike, Thanks for the wonderful memories but more importantly, thanks for morphing into something new and I might say exciting. Good Luck. Tim
First and foremost, a huge, heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Dale, Jim Ed, and Mike, for your spectacular work these many years!
I have to acknowledge that I understand that change is part of the human condition. That said, change is yucky - I still miss WCAL, Leigh Kamman, Don Menilde, Art Hoehn ... call me sentimental...
I am disappointed that some form of the Morning Show won’t remain on the “mainline” service, but I am hopeful that Radio Heartland can provide a platform for the evolution of the Morning Show and more.
A specific thing I enjoyed about the Morning Show is visits by like guests (both musicians and guest co-hosts), I hope that can continue. A less tangible thing I enjoyed about the Morning Show I enjoyed - as MPR has expanded into a national force - is the community-radio feel of the program. I hope that can be captured and also continued.
I'm so glad that Radio Heartland is starting this Friday. What a relief. My brand new HD radio is eager and waiting for the first broadcast.
Will there be any live broadcasts?
i went into best buy today to look for an HD radio component to go with my home stereo so we can listen to radio heartland. this item is not sold in the store yet (but is online). i explained to the salesgeeks that our favorite radio program is going off the air and recreating itself on HD radio and online. they told me how funny it is that folks would be so upset about a radio program because several people last and this week came in with the same issue! i told the youngsters (salesgeeks) that my daughter grew up listening to the morning show and being earlybirds, it's been the cream in our morning coffee for so many years. thank you.
i hope that you, dale, will be speaking between the songs...please, please, please....and sharing your wonderful commentary. also, can we listeners at least have both you guys back to do the state fair morning show?
on the practical side, will radio heartland be picked up on itunes as is the current - under eclectic? since i could not get the HD component immediately, i bought an RCA to ipod plug wires so i can hook my home sound system to my laptop. much cheaper.
best regards, sandra
Bring back the mouth pidgeons!
Thanks for the past and thanks, in advance, for the future.
I was sad to see the classical pieces disappear from the Morning Show when you went to the Current. Think about inserting the occasional classical bit. The wonderful mixture was what was so great about the Morning Show.
Otherwise, I hope to hear the melange of music, some fake commercials and other funny bits (pull in some of the unsung thespians from the MPR staff if you can't get Jim Ed to come back for those).
Best of luck. There are legions who will be pulling for you.
Lisa
Thank you for The Morning Show and for making my mornings so wonderful for the 15 years I've been listening!! My husband introduced me to the show when we met. He's been listening for about 25 years.
I am disappointed we can't have Radio Heartland on regular radio as I don't have an HD radio. But, even though Radio Heartland won't be on real radio, I'm very glad to see that there will continue to be some form of Morning Show. I guess I'll have to sit in my office and listen to the show on my computer. Not quite the same as slowly waking up to great music and commentary in my bedroom but I guess it will have to do.
I hope Radio Heartland will offer a great blend of music, pretend commercials and guest hosts. And I agree with Sandra, please, please, please continue talking between the songs and share your wonderful commentary with your listeners.
Best of luck.
Myrna
From commuter listeners when Garrison and Jim Ed did the morning show -- thanks for so many more great years, Tom and Dale! Aaaarrgh.... We'll be there in spirit at the Fitzgerald tomorrow.
I've got a Squeezebox Boom internet radio. It would be nice to disconnect from the computer when listening to Radio Heartland. Are there call letters or a specific search name I can program that will take me to Radio Heartland? I can find KNOW -- just the news channel right now. Will the new show be coming online? But by what call letters? The Squeezebox won't take spaces; eg, between KNOW and HD2.
Mahalo nui loa!
Bob, Susie & the pups
I'm so glad there'll be a place to go for this type of music. Sad to see something go, but onward and upward with what's new!
I'm in! I actually went out and bought another wireless music point for my kitchen so I can port my iTunes stream from the web into my existing kitchen radio!
Suggestions?
First, keep some skits going - find some young talent...there has to be some talented 20 something sound effects geek out there to team up with Dale! Then we have the next link in the chain for when Dale has to retire - "many years from now". Maybe you could do a talent search or talent show audition at the State Fair or the Fitz?
Second, I agree with Lisa above - part of the fun was being on the Classical station and playing Bob Dylan (and Marlena Dietrich doing Dlyan). I was bummed when you couldn't/didn't play Classical on the Current...they need it. But now, maybe you can mix it all the way up again.
Finally, just take it where the music goes and stay true to yourself. We'll be there with you all the way.
Best of luck to Jim Ed!
I'll be listening online from Richmond, VA. Good luck!
I'm the most tech-stubborn 33 year old I know, but Dale, you've caused me to think differently. I might have to learn a bit more about HD radio, and i tunes.
I started listening 12 1/2 years ago just before I walked down the isle with my husband. It's been a good marriage (please know it's not ending); my time with the wonderful music of the Morning Show and soon Radio Heartland. My husband and children will continue to cherish what you're willing to share.
Thank you so much. We love you.
Thanks Dale, Jim Ed, and Mike for the many years of many flavors and mood supporting music, conversation and humor.
It would be good to continue having live guests and providing air time for new artists and talents as well as new pieces by familiar artists. Music of all genres is good, including classical. Maybe some of this could also eventually be fed into the 24/7 programing.
An annual appearance at the State Fair would also be nice.
I know that sounds like not wanting change. It is more an adapting to change. It is like putting wine into new wine skins. Wine, music and humor are much the same as they were hundreds of years ago, though changing nuances and delivery methods reflect developments in news, science, fields of study and thought, and the arts.
The best to you all. Carry on.
I'm already going into withdrawal. I listened to the entire farewell show this morning, staying out in the parking lot a few minutes until the final applause was cut off. I know the show isn't coming back. Yet I keep circling back to the web site, hoping for fresh news, hoping to learn that the show is coming back. I know it isn't. I have to move on.
Thank you very much, Dale and the MPR powers, for making it possible for me to move on. I like the idea of a 24-hour playlist; in fact, the ready accessibility of this music I love will be a bonus. On the down side, I'll miss the spontaneity of listening to Dale and Jim Ed and your guests. I hope some skits can be recirculated, or you'll be inserting some sort of commentary. I would LOVE to be able to hear some studie sessions replayed, although it would be a small miracle if I just happened to catch that particularly haunting rendition of Ghost Riders in the Sky or the studio session with Rubayat that put me onto Persian music in the late '80's. Will there be some sort of listing of the playlist?
In listening to your interview yesterday on MidMorning, I finally understood why the tenor of the show had changed in what was, to me, an unpalatable way. Count me among those who were your audience, and not "The Current's audience. It was good finally to get the show back to its eclectic acoustic sound.
Good luck with the next venture, and thanks for all the good times of the past 25 years.
My husband and I were lucky enough to get into the live audience this morning. What a fine and moving show. Can MPR make highlights into a CD?
I've been listening to this show since the time I moved to the Twin Cities in 1977--when Jim Ed used to annoy Garrison Keillor with Guatemalan marimba music. My deep gratitude for thousands of enjoyable morning hours. I look forward to the Heartland program.
Elizabeth
I bought the last HD radio in Stillwater yesterday. I'll even be up at 6 am tomorrow so I can say I was there at the very beginning of the next great thing. Good luck, Dale!
The morning show was not just a radio program. To say that would be like saying that breathing is just a reflex. True, enough, but breath is so much more important than that. The morning show has become part of the fabric of our lives, as sure as the sunrise, and as anything we come to expect and depend upon, it's absence will require some adjustment.
No, the morning show was not just a program, it was the thing that we could always count on to be there, reliable and predictable in a world where relentless change, uncertainty, and and the unknown press more urgently upon us by the year.
The morning show was always there. It made no demands; it required no effort on our part. It was there, giving us that stable point upon which we could always turn, not matter what chaos raged in the world outside or in our lives. Like parents to a young child, the morning show seemed timeless and permanent, its presence a source of security and certainty that everything was in its proper order somewhere.
While the bustle of busy mornings could often threaten to overtake us, while we stumbled, half asleep across the kitchen to pour just one more cup of coffee amidst the morning smells of toast and bacon, the morning show was there--offering us a brief vacation from worry before we had to square our shoulders and stand to face the day.
The morning show was not just a radio program. It became part of the culture of our families in our little houses on the prairie. It spoke a language that carried meaning for members of every generation. A single point of agreement among our differences.
It became a center point in family traditions, and served to mark the important moments in private lives--births, the first loose tooth, the first day of school, graduations, marriages, anniversaries. . .the morning show, like a favorite aunt was where families turned for affirmation and celebration.
Its informality and accessiblity made the morning show a place where we felt comfortable. With the radio on before teeth were brushed or clothes put on. It was just too hard to hold much pretense or modesty when bumbling around in pajamas. And we all knew were were not along--our fellow listeners were also bumping around in pajamas. It helped us start the day with an understanding that we share much in our lives with the people we will never meet. We're all still half-asleep, and we all have an the unknown of the day ahead of us. The morning show kept us humble, and let us know that when times got tough there would always be a comfortable place to go.
We will miss the morning show. It is not just a radio show. It is part of our lives. Like our houses, when the children grow up and leave home, there will be a quietness that is disconcerting, a feeling of loss about what to do with the unfamiliar quietness. We know, of course, that life will be fine, but there will always be something missing.
I'm excited to find you able to continue programming the music that you and I both love, Dale. Garrison accompanied me through my childhood breakfasts and pushes out the door to school, and you and Jim Ed rousted me out of bed through adolescence and my first couple of decades of adulthood. Ushering in a new era, its good to have you online and that you've found a place on the radio, even if I don't have the radio to hear you there.
It was nice to have caught this morning, Dec. 12th, the songs you replayed that Peter Mayer and Ann Reed wrote for the Last Show, since I missed parts, getting ready for work. Peggy Lee's rendition of Black Coffee put a smile on my face (she stood up well to Ella Fitzgerald's version) and finally got me up to say Thank You to you and Jim Ed and Mike for the variety of music you were free to share and for the friendly banter between you on the show. Your partnership is unique and will stay close at heart.
Please continue to chat between pieces and have guests with you. If you're free to, bring back the occasional classical piece alongside West African, Zydeco, Afro-peruvian, the blues and jazz.
The Morning Show will be very much missed and treasured. Radio Heartland is much anticipated and appreciated.
Thanks to all of you who have been there and who continue to stay!
I don't have an HD radio yet so I can only listen via computer.
But I had this new program on first thing this morning and as soon as I returned from work.
It's radio nirvana!
Thank you thank you.
I turned to 89.3 out of habit Friday Am. Sadly, The Morning Show was not there. My commute was definitely less pleasurable. Fortunately Radio Heartland is here on line. I've made my donation and am off to find an HD radio.
We live in a valley that keeps out radio waves so I have listened in the car (when traveling outside of my valley) and online. What's on my christmas list? HD radio and an ipod.
My daughter-in-law is writing a dissertation that is focused on blogging and the aftermath of Katrina (she is a native of New Orleans). My personal experience of blogging was my knowledge of the focus of her study, and that's about it!
This is my first experience with blogging, I hope the balloon sails because I am looking forward to the ride...
It was fun to be involved in the blog during the final broadcast, especially the impressions of those experiencing the program from backstage.
I am increasing my support to MPR, and won't quit my dayjob!
Thanks!
Michelle Cochran
I'm getting a rather start-and-stop version of Radio Heartland on my computer right now, hopefully that will change when I download some of the newer software (I'm two steps away from being computer illiterate!). I'm noticing the playlists have a definite folksy/Americana taste. It's better than anything else on the radio, but I'm hoping you also play the weird and wacky...Ethel Merman and those Easter Island Heads, and the English music hall songs...and we can't forget "Little Yurt On The Prairie!!". Also it would be nice to hear some classical music again, and still hear some of my new favorites like AutoBody Experience, They Might Be Giants, Pink Martini, etc etc etc. From what I can hear, it's great, and worthy of support. I haven't been a member for a few years due to financial strains, but I think this is a worthy endeavor and I will probably re-join.
Well done. I already miss the morning show. It was the best, my kids grew up with it and it shaped our musical lives. And the humor was beyond fab. The music on RH is great, but do add the Irish stuff, Sharon Shannon, Mary Black, Delores Keane. How about a little Gaelic Storm? I also enjoy New Orleans music -- Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, Prof. Longhair. Keep it going. It is great!
Dale,
Your Radio Heartland is an exciting idea and endeavor! The eclectic music suits many of us who are eclectic personalities - guess that's everyone, eh? One of the plus sides is listening to the mp3 format I can view the song title and artist immediately. So far the show and station are very enjoyable so thanks for the wonderfully sound idea - pun intended!
Ohhhh, great version of "The Letter" by the amazing Eva Cassidy! Love your choices of music - you do good work!
Best of luck, Dale!
Minipats
Farewell to the old Morning Show,
it was grand but all things at last go.
Here we are, nonetheless,
heartland dreamers, I guess,
tangled up in the chords don't you know.
Best of luck to your new melody,
may it add to love's old harmony.
And may you still arrange
some surprises so strange
we can laugh--life's profound mystery.
____________
Carson Gardner, poet
White Earth Ojibwe Reservation
Would Mike like to take the Mike?
Dale, how about a guest DJ, selected from listeners to Radio Heartland? A couple of ways to do this:
a) Listeners submit a playlist along with the thoughts behind the selection and send to you for consideration.
b) Same as above but the "winner" gets to come to the station for an hour show with you and "guest DJ" with you, talk about their songs, memories, etc.
Perhaps challenge listeners to bring new songs, new content, maybe sprinkled with some favorites from the past.
I think the response to this would be incredible.
help... send that trial balloon over by helicopter
so, i have the same radio that you have dale
but all is well except cant get it over to hd2
life will remain unbalanced until we can get it right
spent 100 dollars that we dont have :-(
but it is all becuz our day is better with you
so,, any quick trick?
desperate in mpls 612.877.0530
barb
oh my gosh hd2 works
well, thx
eek eek eek i did it somehow!! oh my gosh
well, i guess is will just not turn it off
that is the strategy
thx for your moral support
sincerely, Barb Palmer
MPR has done it again!! Radio Heartland is great. I've connected the computer to my stereo and enjoy Heartland throughout the house. Good luck.
add a bit of zydeco music to warm all of us from new orleans in town for the holidays!
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