Battle of the Bands!

Battle of the Bands is coming March 26th right after Centenary's Big Event 4! We've been partnering with the Big Event since its inception and it's been greater.

Check back with the blog as well as our Twitter and Facebook Page to find out where and by when to submit your band for awesome money prizes!

We hope to have the line-up announced March 1st!

For questions, email ksclbotb@gmail.com!!

Happy Birthday, KSCL!

It's March and you know what that means! KSCL is a whopping 33 years old. We'll be going through a midlife crisis before you know it. Maybe then we'll get a better ride...

Here's some updates for you kiddos!

KSCL will be hosting a two day event we like to call "South By Drive By." It's our way of bringing SXSW to you! Have Gun Will Travel will perform Tuesday, March 17th and TxRx will play Wednesday, March 18th, both at 8pm in the Shell. For other SXSW bands performing in Shreveport that week, check out Flentge Productions (sadly not in cahoots with KSCL's venture, maybe next year?).

But it is that time of year again. Battle of the Bands is looming ever closer! And tonight we managed to narrow down a list of 16 bands to 8! And boy was the competition tough. I hate to disappoint, but I'm gonna withhold the finalized list for a few more days. It's just to make sure that the list won't change dramatically. But hey, it gives me a reason to have to post! Right right?
I should be doing it anyways...

But just to remind you:

BATTLE OF THE BANDS
MARCH 21ST
2PM
THE SHELL

It's a free event open to everyone! Students, faculty, staff, community members, animals, and your parents. We're gonna have awesome raffle prizes, great music, and probably even some food provided by the folks running the Big Event! Please make it a point to come out and support your fellow students or community members or musicians.

6th Annual Battle of the Bands!

Hey kids, guess what? It's that time of year again. Time for Battle of the Bands! This year's contest will be March 21st at the Hargrove Amphitheatre (aka The Shell) and will take place in conjunction with Centenary's 2nd Big Event!

A lot of the specifics are yet to come, but keep your ears and eyes open!

However, I have come to tell all you bands that we are taking submissions. Now! If your band would like a chance to perform and win some money (and maybe other prizes?), please submit some tracks for review. You can either send mp3s to us at ksclbotb@gmail.com or snail mail a CD to us at the following address:

KSCL
ATTN: Battle of the Bands
2911 Centenary Blvd
Shreveport, LA 71104

The deadline for submission is March 11th, so make it snappy!

Peace and love, all you kiddos. Keep checking back with us for more information about Battle of the Bands and other upcoming Centenary events!

picture courtesy of Centenary College

Poet and Rock & Rock Mother[blank] to Receive 19th Annual Corrington Award

Paul Muldoon is a rock-and-roller, a Pulitzer-Prize winning Poet, a professor and now the 19th Annual Corrington Award recipient. The Centenary College English Department will award Muldoon Thursday, January 22th, at 7pm in the Whited Room located in Bynum Commons. The event is free and open to the public, and will entail a reading from the author.

Muldoon currently wears the crown of the Howard G. B. Clark '21 Professor in the Humanities at Princeton University where he is Chair of the Lewis Arts Center and Chair of the Fund for Irish Studies, as well as the current Poetry Editor for the New Yorker.

The Northern Irishman will be on campus to sit in with classes and meet with students (and hopefully with someone from KSCL to get an interview!)

The John William Corrington Award for Literary Excellence is presented annually by the Department of English on behalf of the Centenary student body and faculty to an established writer who has earned the critical esteem of readers who distinguish artistic accomplishment from commercial success. The first recipient in 1991 was Eudora Welty and last year's recipient was Alice McDermott, author of Child of My Heart.

Photo courtesy of I Am New Jersey

Procrastination of Historical Proportions

I sit on the floor of my dorm room, precariously located next to the illegal space heater. I'm procrastinating on my Radio Broadcasting reading in order to take care of KSCL business (I figure it makes it okay). Emails have been sent out about Thursday's DJ interest meeting. Our Twitter has finally made a tweet. This semester has barely just begun and I'm making sure I don't fall behind on any of my work. I'm also composing a blog. Shocking, I know!

However, at the moment I'm operating under "Reading be damned, full speed ahead!" I might regret this, oh say, on Friday when we have a quiz.

Today was a historical day no matter how you want to look at it. As a student of history, it's worth noting the significance. I'm sitting on my warm floor on the eve of a revolution of thought and action. Revolutions are what intrigue me the most. While I was far from a rabid Obama support during the election, I'd rather not bring politics into a politics fight, so to speak.

I sat in the Whited Room today with my friends, faculty members and guest speakers to watch history happen. The history part was heavily underlined by the guest speaker, AP Tureaud, who became the first African American admitted (begrudgingly) to LSU as an undergrad. Look forward (hopefully) to a podcast interview with this man soon.

In other not as hope-inspiring news (cue the John Williams score), less significant history will be made on the 22nd when Centenary students will no longer be contactable by their @centenary.edu email addresses. For all further KSCL correspondence, please contact your favorite staff member by changing the ending of their address to @my.centenary.edu!

Failure in a Few Ways

I'm a bad, bad Station Manager. I don't update this blog nearly enough. I could give a lot of excuses, one being that I'm still settling into my dual life as student and manager extraordinaire. Honestly, I just can't find time to sit down and blog and when I do have time, I'm always doing a hundred different things I need to be doing. But here it is, the long awaited Thanksgiving Break! I have time, finally. But I also have something to blog about...

Monday November, 24th, 2008 KSCL will be off-air. Don't freak out. Centenary is doing work on electrical conduits (what that mean, no one really knows) so power will be out for most of the campus. No one is clear how long these repairs will last, but there is a possibility that the power will still be out on Tuesday. Unfortunately there's nothing much we can do other than wait it out.

We've dealt with power outages before (both expected and unexpected) and luckily we've had more than a days notice this time. Unfortunately, it's hard to get word out to the listeners. I know we'll probably get a million phone calls (that no one, including the answering machine, will answer).

Now, I can promise to update more regularly, or I can promise to keep the station trucking along. In all honesty, I can make sure I can do the latter. The former, I'll try. Please don't hurt me!

Oh Gustav...

Well, classes have been canceled through Wednesday for us lucky students here at Centenary. Most of us have spent all day preparing for the worst by evacuating or sand-bagging when appropriate. Since classes have been nixed, most everything else will be delayed. Plans were to have our first DJ interest meeting this Thursday; however, with the possibility of 20 inches of rain I think we might have to postpone it.

Here's hoping for the best from NOLA to Shreveport. If the power goes out that probably means KSCL will be off-air. What happens will happen and there's not anything much we can do about it.

Stay safe kids. Try to have a little fun if possible.

Don't You Dare Miss Rhythmic Gymnastics

No, don't worry faithful readers, the KSCL blog isn't dead! It's just these past few weeks have been blisteringly uneventful. Summer broadcasting has plodded along and will come to an end this Saturday. The target date for starting Fall Broadcasting is currently set as September 15th. Sorry to all those listeners who found some favorite new shows over these past few months. With any luck, most of your favorite DJs will be returning soon enough.

Centenary begin a new term on August 25th and all the new first years have started to flood the campus. I'm excited at the wealth of new DJs our little station could possibly have. The name of the game is recruiment and it goes into action this Sunday at the Organization fair.

Like I said before, not much has happened as of late (aside from that whole "Jon leaving" bit). Fear not, however, more posts will come as more stuff occurs. For now, go enjoy the last week of summer and the last week of the Olympics.

PS - Curbside recyling started on Monday. A cry of "Finally" was issued from those of us who filled up the can in the first week.

Let the Good Times Roll

In approximately two weeks I, your faithful station manager, will depart on another part of my life's journey.

I'm leaving Centenary at the beginning of my junior year to attend the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. It's a decision upon which I've spent a considerable amount of time. Contemplating. But it's official, I've signed a lease and registered for classes, so I'm off to a new land.

My college career has been stressful, in short, much like any student's. Whatever the present circumstances, our radio station kept me strong and alive. Through KSCL I've met hundreds of groovy individuals, experienced amazing live music, and achieved goals I never dreamed possible.

Fear not! There are more good days ahead for Centenary Radio. Kelly Dunnigan will take over the post, running it as only she knows best. I'm down in the history books, just like everyone before me. It was a good run, and it'll be even better for you, the listener.

My last week in town will be spent editing our projects, finishing the website, and training the staff for life without Jon. I imagine the future will be just fine, just as it has in the past.

I would like to extend my gratitude to all the individuals who've helped me on my journey. There were some bad days. And god knows there were some good.

We Didn't Start the Fire!

The fire in the electrical manhole that is.

If you're trying to figure out why KSCL is off-air right now, well, it's because there was a bit of a mishap on campus. If you tuned in to the Top 30 show around 3:30ish you might have heard Zakk, Cazes and I proclaim that the lights were flickering on and off. This started right as I walked into the lobby, which means that at first, it must have been my fault. We managed to start an Alkaline Trio song before the power went out for good. Zakk called Jon. I called DPS. We went to explore the damage.

All the power was out on the third floor of the SUB, only half on the second, and the basement level (with the post office and student life) had full power. We headed back upstairs, but it was clear that we couldn't do anything. So we headed down to the second floor where Cazes and his friend Danny played some ping pong and then chair jousted. I made a sign which I later hung in the lobby. Check it out if you're ever up there.

Then Zakk, Cazes, Danny and I all proceeded to call Cha Cha, a service which will answer any question to the best of their abilities. Yes, real people answer you too! We had a variety of silly stupid questions along with a few important ones. Like "How many licks to the center of a toostie pop?" The answer: 364. I kid you not. Ask Cha Cha.

We discovered the source of the power outage was a fire in an electrical manhole right outside Rotary. Electrical Manhole. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Best band name ever. Cazes called dibs on it though. Someone told us the power would be back on soon... we waited and waited. In Centenary Speak, "soon" means "eventually" and "eventually" means "not today, or maybe today if we get around to it." However, since it's after 5, they probably said, "Time to go home, we'll fix it tomorrow."

I guess it's a waiting game. Though I have no idea how we'll find out when the power comes back on unless we're there.

Maintain radio silence, dearies. Until next time.

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby

We here at KSCL are always about the newest and hippest things. And I'm posting now to tell you about the newest, hippest thing that will bring the public closer to station. No, it's not online streaming (it's coming! I promise!). It's a little website called Spinitron.

Before I explain, a brief history lesson about KSCL (sorta): Did you know that we have paper playlists from all the way back in the 90s? No, well I'm sure a lot of people don't know this, because the public never gets to see these playlists. For every show, a DJ writes down the song he or she plays recording band name, album name, and sometimes record company. Up until now, these playlists have only been useful to the music director.

Well not anymore. Spinitron is a playlist management website that will connect our lovely audience to the DJ shows in a whole new way. DJs will be able to update their playlists automatically while on air. Not only can the public see what's being played, they can also go back and find out what song was being played at what time during a certain show.

Currently Spinitron is in a testing phase for us at KSCL. For now, only staff shows will have live playlists with the older DJs soon to be trained. Hopefully all summer DJs will be accustom to using Spinitron instead of written playlists by the end of the month.

And for the second time this summer, I manage to be the first to do something. My show on June 8th was the first official show of summer programing and today I was the first staff member to put Spinitron to use. You can check out The Sound and the Fury's first online playlist here!

New KSCL Homepage

We've just launched our new website. It's clean, smooth, and incorporates some social networking, but it has some problems that need to be addressed. We're also looking into expanding it, I'll detail that information here.

First, I apologize for the history section. I'll be working on expanding it as soon as I get back from my trip. For now, we'll just have to live without the history section. I'd also like to improve the navigation (especially with images), but I can't get my head around it. Maybe a light will click soon.

There are several things we'd like to add in the future, including DJ playlists, instant messaging with DJs, internet streaming, and a section for underwriting. Suggestions are open! Feel free to drop me a line via email. I feel confident in the current site, hoping it will draw attention to our blog. My goal is to incorporate all of KSCL's digital lives into one. So you, the listeners, can get in touch with us easier.

Anywho, stay tuned to new web developments. The website is a one-man team, with lots of staff input.

Calling all KSCL Alumi!

Literally!

Today was a good day for the staff here at KSCL. We had a meeting with Kathy Fell and Fred Landry to help us figure out ways to raise money and discuss the on going growth of the station. We decided to pump fundraising into overdrive. With the end of the fiscal year approaching, both Kathy and Fred hope we can garner some support from our alums through a phoneathon-type deal. So if you're a KSCL alum, don't be surprised if you get a phone call soon.

After the meeting, Tyler and I made a stab at cleaning around the station. We managed to move all the vinyl into the "Vinyl Frontier" closet and in doing so, I now have a whole new area to put cds! That means I won't have to get rid of as many cds as I had thought. Soon I can start reorganizing everything and the library will be truly awesome. The picture to the left is the closet that is filled to the brim with vinyl. Unfortunately, it's not in any sort of order, but that's least of my worries right now.

After digging around some more, Tyler and I nicknamed the closet, the "History Closet." As you can see, the old board is now living there, along with a case of 8-tracks and old 78s we found.

I believe the rest of the week will be devoted to figuring out the new logistics of the cd library and training to call all the alums. Summer Springboard starts next week and KSCL will have a table set up during the resource fair. Hooray for recruiting the first-years before they even officially start!

Now if it wasn't so blasted hot.

Top 30 Domination?

If you tuned in to the Top 30 this week, you must know the number one album of the week. That's right, Death Cab for Cutie with their new cd "Narrow Stairs". Right now, Death Cab for Cutie seems to be what the DJs, the community, and the listeners want to hear, but did Death Cab for Cutie really dominate the other bands on our chart? Their competition this week were as: Mates of State at number 2, Happy Anarchy at number 3, The Royce at number 4, and Gnarls Barkley at number 5.


(#2) Mates of State's new album "Re-Arrange Us" features more piano and organ unlike their previous albums. Even though "Re-Arrange Us" has pretty melodies and sing-along choruses, their lyrics talk of losing fights and cold sweat. This album is all around good giving it an album star rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

(#3) Happy Anarchy's new album "Reset" has an alternative rock style. Some of their influences have been Radiohead, Modest Mouse, and The Flaming Lips. What makes Happy Anarchy a fascinating band is their combinations of the ever-present guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard mix with some trumpet, sax, violin, congas, and group vocals that creates a type of symphony sound. This album had a drop in last week's Top 30 countdown, dropping from number 2 to 3.

(#4) The Royce's new album "Burn Out Bright" has been tearing it up on our charts. This band uses muscular guitar, driving grooves and solid songwriting blend to present a powerful delivery. This week The Royce climbs the chart to number from #6 last week to #4 this week.

(#5) Gnarls Barkley's new album "The Odd Couple" has the same type of genre like the last album, that great funk mix to it. All this cd makes me want to do is dance my socks off. With the great beats and amazing vocals the music pulls you like taffy. This week they jump up two spots on our countdown to #5.


Each one of these bands have climbed to the top at a fast pace, but will they be able to beat Death Cab for Cutie for the number 1 spot on our next top 30? Tune in on Wednesday from 3-6pm with your DJs Caz and Zakk to find out who wins this epic battle!

This is Your Captain Speaking...

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but the new board is up and running! You know what that means? Shows are back! No more silly automation 24/7. Some DJs have already started their shows up again, and with a round of training tomorrow, even more new and returning DJs will be having shows throughout the week. The schedule is already pretty packed (there are shows back-to-back on Sunday from 12pm to 12am!).

Today I dropped by the station while Cazes and Zakk were testing out their Top 30 show. The premise is pretty simple, they play one song from each of the Top 30 albums off the chart Zakk makes every week. Even though the music is great, the entertainment provided by these two guys is enough to make me want to tune in. You can catch their Top 30 countdown Wednesdays from 3pm to 6pm.

In case you weren't aware, I'm the station's new librarian. While I was at the station today, I began to grapple with my task of fitting more and more cds into our already gigantic library. Since we can't magically accrue more space to stick stuff in, my only option is to get rid of cds. But then the question becomes which cds to get rid of? Do we really need music that came out back in the 1990s? Or cds with horrible reviews? What about the ones with two or three tracks?

Recently Jon sent me a link to a blog about a station out in California that is digitizing its entire music library. This route is probably nothing but a pipe dream for us at KSCL, but it's definitely an option to consider in the future. I have a bunch of ideas that'll probably get brought up at the next staff meeting. It's my goal this summer to at least get a handle on the space issue. Having such a vast library that does go back in the years is awesome, but so is having more and more new music.

Oh the conundrum!

Saturday Links

Sadly, our board still isn't completely installed. I'm getting so stressed out about it. Good thing, Tyler, Zakk, Nadine, Liz, and (now) Kelly are working hard on their ends. We have some awesome things going on this summer, but it's all sortof hinging, on, erm, the board getting installed. Soon.

While we all wait around patiently for the board, let's do some linkin'.

Mark Flentge's Dignan show is tonight.
I'm gonna be there, I've saved up the dough. Will I see you? Remember to bring a camera.

Chris Brown has some great "Shreveport Music" photos on his Flickr.
I just found them the other day and am excited about the idea of a larger group with photos from more people. Maybe some Flickr-er wants to create a group for this purpose?

Kathryn Usher interviewed me for KTBS's "Neighborhood News Team" special.
I talked about Twitter, which is an amazing application, connecting people of like minds through 140-character posts. Have you seen Kathryn's blog? It's a great portrayal of life in Highland and downtown Shreveport. She was so nice to buy me coffee!

Music Blogging through college
Two guys from Massachusetts and Kentucky run the mp3-blog named "i guess i'm floating". They post news and music from the underground music scene. I get a lot of my own personal tunes from there. I've entertained the idea of spinning off a ksclmp3 blog for us, but now we're just too busy.

Polyvinyl Records is having a sale.
Dude, you know, like Mates of State, Aloha, Headlights, and of Montreal. Their sale will end on June 2nd, and they still have the entire discography from of Montreal going for $70USD. Every time I've ordered something from Polyvinyl I'm always surprised at the extra goodies they include in the box.

Jennifer Waits, a fan of college radio, blogs the scene.
I enjoy Jennifer's posts. She covers a wide range of stations across the country. Some good, some bad. It surprises me just how many DJs still do illegal things on air. However, it's awesome to see some stations excel under student leadership.

Enjoy the long (but gas-pricey) weekend!

photo creds to Kelly

Fishboy might just pass through Shreveport on Saturday...

...and Maybe KSCL can catch them! Fishboy, the Denton TX indie pop group, will head back home on May 21st, hopefully traveling through Shreveport this weekend. The Actor's Cafe had booked them, but later realized they'd overbooked the night. They opted Fishboy out. So, I just sent the group a message asking if we could host them for an interview or show. Might be a nice little summer break?

With band member names like "Dr. John 'Dodecapus-Rex' Mustafis III," and "Sweatpants" you gotta love 'em. For more, check out You Ain't No PIcasso's post (with song).

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School's, yes, out for summer! / Rigby Fawkes

Hells ya! We're done baby, at least for a few months. And, speaking simply, we had a very, very hard semester. Us radio kids live a different life. We "do" school and run the radio station, a mammoth undertaking. No complaints from us, save that SGA should pay us more!

But today is not a day of complaints. We are all smiling. Real lines are being drawn across our faces. We're complete: the semester's over.

Ergo, let's pretend we're a snazzy music blog for a second. And here's your song. The band is now defunct, from Little Rock. I went to school with the band mates. Ed and I wore goofy ties to school for two years. Rigby Fawkes will reportedly get back together for a quick show June 4th-11th. Rumors about awesome bands getting back together make me nervous and excited! Well dearies, enjoy the day, because it's also FRIDAY!

Complete.mp3 - Rigby Fawkes

KSCL.fm undergoing redesign [again]

Hey all,

We are so close to being finished with finals. I'll be done after one more project and I can't flippin' wait.

I've been working very hard on one project, for Web Design. I decided to take the kscl.fm site on, incorporating the history section in along the way. I'd love some feedback.

KSCL.fm redesign


So, here are my current notes:
-I wanted to go with a homepage that incorporated the blog and schedule in a smaller format.
-Our big push is toward interactivity (blogging, podcasting, internet streaming, & twitter?)
-Our history section is huge and needs an upgrade. I've only just started on it, but I'm going to add more stuff in the coming weeks. Currently the sidebar navigation doesn't work in Internet Explorer.
-I'm playing around with adding a sub navigation for the "News" section. In there, I'd post links to our various interviews & media.

Okay, I'll be updating this beast more over the coming weeks, but the brute of the work is done. D-O-N-E. Done!

Get excited about upcoming episodes from Nadine and me!

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SGA on recess until Fall '08, KSCL has new budget allocation [Update]

So, what's the number?

Our budget is essentially doubling, which is a step in the right direction. As I reported back in March, KSCL hasn't seen any growth in our student fee allocation. We've seen lots of growth elsewhere, but not-so-much in gold.

I believe all our hard work has paid off, and KSCL should see a share of 15.5%, up from 7.5%. This means that our yearly budget (from student fees) will grow to about $25,000, from $12,500. It's very good news, and we're all very excited about the change. It isn't enough for the future, but it's a step in the right direction. Things like this take time to change, so we're on the right path.

This means that summer broadcasting is go! Now we're catching up on our work. The end of the semester has hit us hard, and we've slacked on our academics. So, much coming for the summer, meanwhile we'll coast to the end! Thanks for all the kind words. This process has been difficult and couldn't have been achieved if no one cared.

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