WGXC 90.7-FM: Hands-on Radio
WGXC is a creative community media project, re-envisioning radio as an innovative platform for local participation with special exhibitions and events, media training for our community's youth and adults, a news blog, and a local calendar of events.
WGXC is a program of the 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organization free103point9. whose mission is to cultivate Transmission Arts. This genre encompasses a diversity of practices and media working with the idea of transmission or the physical properties of the electromagnetic spectrum (the airwaves).
WGXC Staff
Lynn Sloneker, Station Manager, Managing News Editor
lynn [at] wgxc.org
Shannekia McIntosh, Program Director
shannekia [at] wgxc.org
Jess Puglisi, Outreach Coordinator
jess [at] wgxc.org
WGXC Community Council
A group appointed by the free103point9 Board of Directors*, the WGXC Community Council serves in a significant Advisory capacity to station management. The Council represents and reflects both the diversity of potential listeners served within the WGXC 90.7-FM coverage map, as well as the station’s active constituents. In addition to representation, the Council provides fundraising leadership and support to enable the station sustainability and growth. Members serve on at least one (and no more than two) of the following committees: Fundraising, Outreach, Programming, and Policy and Internal Affairs.
The public is invited to observe Council meetings. Every meeting includes a time for public comments at the conclusion of the meeting. For more information, contact Lynn Sloneker lynn [at] wgxc.org.
WGXC Radio Council 2013
Pamela Badila, Hudson
Bio coming soon!
Chris Bishop, Ghent
A resident of Ghent, Chris Bishop is the host of the WGXC show Vinyl Rundown, which airs weekly on Wednesdays from 10:00 - midnight. A music blogger, and serious vinyl enthusiast, Chris has also contributed to WGXC's local news coverage, with his recordings of public meetings and events. As a Radio Council member, he intends to focus his energy on expanding WGXC's outreach, particularly in outlying areas of Columbia county.
Max Goldfarb, Hudson
Goldfarb
is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice extends into many media. His ongoing work centers on M49; a mobile research and production facility for site-related projects. Goldfarb has contributed to many publications, and has participated in numerous exhibitions in venues including, SculptureCenter, NY; Stadsgalerij, NL; Western Front, BC; White Columns, NY; and the Neuberger Museum, NY. His recent site-derived program, Deep Cycle received support from the Harpo Foundation and The Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation. He has also received grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the Experimental Television Center, and is a recent fellow at the Macdowell Colony. He is the co-author of the upcoming book, Speculative Architecture, an archive of visionary architectural drawings. Goldfarb received a Masters degree in Visual Studies from the MIT department of Architecture.
Debra Kamecke, Catskill
Debra Kamecke is the Library Director of the Cairo
Public Library and a former local journalist and newspaper photographer and the recipient of a New York State Press Association Award in photography. She worked as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader for a medical journal publisher, et al in NYC as well as for Harcourt-Brace in Albany, as the Production Manager for Young-Conway Publications in Los Angeles, and
as Director of Programming and Counseling for the ETA at Columbia-Greene Community College, Hudson. She is currently participating in the New York State Writer's Institute.
Matt Bua, Catskill
Based in Catskill, Matt Bua is an builder/educator who enjoys creating roadside attractions and new public spaces. He helped build the WGXC studio at the Catskill Community Center, where he co-hosts the Thursday youth show, Kid’s Brain Radio, and the Saturday Morning All-IN/Call-IN show Open-Air Radio. As a new council member he looks forward to making many more WGXC Theme Songs and boosting the signal to Catskill, Palenville, Saugerties -- and beyond.
Sam Sebren, Athens
Bio coming soon!
Alan Skerrett, Valatie
Alan Skerett retired from the Office of Mental Health after thirty-three years of service in a variety of direct care and administrative positions. Upon retirement, he assumed the role of Executive Director of the Philmont Hearth, a 14-bed community residence rehabilitation program for severe and profound mental illness clients. He is a local photographer who has provided local photographic services to a variety of entities in the area, has exhibited his photos in group-exhibitions in Hunter Mountain, Catskill, Albany, Cohoes, Hudson, and more, and currently does portrait photography. As a trade specialist, Alan participated in a variety of audiovisual projects and productions, conducted by the Office of Mental Health and the Capital District Psychiatric Center. He was a co-founder and Rehearsal Director of the Capital District Psychiatric Center Mental Health Players, a volunteer education project using role play to educate the community addressing, among other issues, mental health stigma. He has lived in Columbia County for twenty-five years.
Lynn Sloneker, Hudson (Ex-offico)
As WGXC's Station Manager, Lynn Sloneker serves on the Radio Council in a voting, ex-officio seat.
Hudson Talbott, Cairo
Hudson Talbott is the Vice-President of the
Catskill Community Center.
Talbott is also the author of several children's books, including
River of Dreams,
about the Hudson River, and It's All About Me-ow.
Kaya Weidman, Germantown
Kaya Weidman lives in Germantown and has co-taught
workshops throughout Latin America and the United States in radio
transmission as a tool for community organizing, creativity, and
empowerment.
kaya [at] wgxc.org
kaya [at] wgxc.org
Rebecca Wolff, Hudson
Rebecca Wolff is a poet, novelist, editor, publisher, and doula-in-training. She is the author of three volumes of poetry and one novel (The Beginners, Riverhead Books, 2011). She is a founding editor of Fence, a biannual literary magazine affiliated with the University at Albany, Fence Books, and The Constant Critic, a site for poetry criticism. She has always listened to the radio, especially independent and college radio, and has been an awe-struck supporter of WGXC from the start. Wolff is amped especially about the crypto-radical parallel universe in which Columbia and Greene counties maintain a non-corporate, community-generated channel of information, culture, and discourse. She is tuning in all the time.
*Transmission arts organization free103point9 is the license holder of 90.7-FM and parent organization of WGXC.
WGXC History
On Oct. 17, 2008, parent organization, free103point9, received a Construction Permit from the Federal Communications Commission for a 3,300-watt FM radio station. free103point9 is a nonprofit media arts organization cultivating transmission arts, or artists' use of the airwaves. The opportunity to run a full-power FM radio station--to make the airwaves accessible for creative, community-produced content--is a natural extension of free103point9's mission.
WGXC Online Radio began broadcasting at www.wgxc.org on May 9, 2009, live from the Catskill Community Center, with M.A. Tarpinian, Dharma Dailey, Tom Roe, and others; and from Germantown Community Farm with Kaya Weidman and others.
In September 2009, WGXC received a commitment of $71,485 from the US Department of Commerce. This award secured 50 percent of the funding needed for the equipment (transmitter, antenna, etc.) to launch WGXC’s FM signal. On December 31, 2009, WGXC launched its capital campaign with a New Years Eve celebration that featured 60 local performers-- and by September 2010, had succeeded in raising matching funds.
From September 24-26, 2010, WGXC partnered with the national radio advocacy organization Prometheus Radio Project to collaborate with hundreds of participants for a radio conference in Hudson, NY. The event included three days of hands-on workshops, presentations, and performances, during which participants collaborated to build WGXC’s Hudson studio and prepare the station for its FM signal launch.
In December 2010, WGXC programmers began broadcasting live shows on WGXC’s webstream from our Hudson studio.
On February 26, 2011, WGXC went live on air 90.7-FM. WGXC celebrated this momentus occasion with an event at the Catskill Community Center on an afternoon filled with live performance, introductions to WGXC programmers, and an acknowledgement of the work accomplished to reach this moment, and the ambitious future that lies ahead.
WGXC currently broadcasts out of three studios in Greene and Columbia counties: Acra, Catskill, Hudson.
Press
"Senate Joins House in Passing the Local Community Radio Act!," Prometheus Radio Project, 12/20/2010
"Thousands of community groups rejoice at new opportunity for locally owned media
WASHINGTON, DC – Today a bill to expand community radio nationwide – the Local Community Radio Act – passed the U.S. Senate, thanks to the bipartisan leadership of Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John McCain (R-AZ). This follows Friday afternoon’s passage of the bill in the House of Representatives, led by Representatives Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Lee Terry (R-NE). The bill now awaits the President's signature."
Read more...
"WGXC stars in NPR story on the fight for community radio," Lissa Harris in Watershed Post, 12/14/2010
"The future of community FM radio is currently being plotted in the back rooms of the US Senate, in the form of a bill that could dramatically increase the number of licenses available to community radio stations.
The bill has broad support from both the left and the right, but it's being held up by procedural moves from anonymous opponents. NPR's All Things Considered reports:"
Read more...
"Bid To Revive Community Radio Stalls In Senate," Rick Karr for All Things Considered, NPR, 12/13/2010
"For the past decade, a coalition of advocacy groups has been asking Congress to let hundreds of new community radio stations go on the air. Supporters of the idea — from the Christian Coalition and Sen. John McCain, to Move On and Sen. Maria Cantwell — say the new stations would do wonders for communities from coast to coast. But the bill to expand community radio is currently stalled in the Senate, the victim of anonymous holds by two or more senators, and supporters worry that even with bipartisan support, the bill may once again die without an up-or-down vote."
Read more...
"Grants and groundbreakings for Catskills radio," Julia Reischel in Watershed Post, 11/19/2010
"Big radio news across the Catskills today.
In Delaware and Schoharie counties, full-power WIOX station has won a $129,712 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). The funds have been a long time in coming. WIOX's managing consultant, Joseph Piasek, said that the station had expected to receive funds from the grant almost a year ago, well before its on-air launch in August.
"The fact that we got on the air without it is a testament to all the hard work that so many people have done in providing equipment, using Band-Aids and gum, and borrowing stuff," Piasek told the Watershed Post this morning. "The station is such a community effort that it actually launched without funding. Now, we can try to replace some of the Band-Aids and gum with some bells and whistles."
WIOX will use the funds to improve its technical systems, to beef up its signal in places where there is interference, and to establish remote studios that will allow hosts to broadcast their shows from outside the studio.
"We'll be experimenting with remote broadcasting," Piasek said. "[The grant] will allow us to cover the baseball games and events at schools."
Meanwhile, in Columbia and Greene counties, proto-full-power FM station WGXC..."
Read more...
"Breaking the Airwaves," Knut Aufermann in The Wire: Adventures in Modern Music, 10/2010
"The past decade has seen a boom in the diversity and quality of international radio art. In this special report, Knut Aufermann surveys a wide range of rogue transmissions... radio stations that covertly influence public space; subversive programming and flash mob events; broadcast sound art and wireless festivals.
Read more...
"Building a Radio Station, Building a Movement," Libby Reinish in New Public Media, 10/4/2010
"When WGXC-FM took to the airwaves on September 26th, they did so literally. To mark the community radio station’s launch, a tiny transmitter carried by dozens of balloons was released into the air above the city of Hudson, NY..."
Read more...
"Prometheus and WGXC heat up the participatory radio movement," Gavin Dahl in Radio Survivor, 9/28/2010
"People-powered radio is buzzing in upstate New York thanks to the dedicated volunteers launching WGXC in Greene and Columbia counties. The twelfth barnraising organized by the mighty Prometheus Radio Project took over forgotten factories, a youth center and a Catholic academy in downtown Hudson as hundreds of radio activists gathered throughout the weekend to learn and build and geek out."
Read more...
"New radio voice set to broadcast," Deborah Gilbert in The Columbia Paper, 9/10/2010
"WGXC, a new community radio station with studios in both Columbia and Greene counties is poised to go on air this fall. With a 3,300 watt signal it will have the potential to reach some 78,000 people spread in this part of the Hudson River Valley, with its primary coverage stretching from Windham in Greene County to the Taconic Parkway down to northern Dutchess County and up to Kinderhook and Coxackie.
“It will be all about our community in the river valley,” said Hudson Talbot, an artist and author of numerous children's books and director of the Catskill Community Center."
Read more...
"Desde Hudson, la radio WGXC será para toda la comunidad," Jackie Thomas in La Voz, 09/2010
En 90.7 FM, también tendrá programas en español. Los condados de Columbia y Greene van a tener muy pronto una estación de radio para sus comunidades, WGXC en la frecuencia 90.7 FM. Esta radio va a ser manejada por voluntarios locales y presentará varias horas con programas de comentarios y música. En español también se cubrirán temas sobre los derechos de los trabajadores agrícolas, las culturas hispanas, y también entrevistas con residentes locales sobre recursos para la salud, entre otros. Habrá también bastante programación en inglés con noticias locales, nacionales e internacionales, música en vivo, conversaciones, programas para niños y mucho más.
Read more...
"New community radio station sets Sept. air date," Ariel Zangla-Girard in The Daily Freeman, 8/10/2010
"Community radio station WGXC will “go live” Sept. 26, but whether it will broadcast on the FM dial depends on whether it can raise the remaining funds it needs to match a $71,486 grant.
To date, the station has raised about 65 percent of the funds needed to match the grant, said staff volunteer Sara Kendall. She said the station also needs to raise an additional $20,000 for other start-up costs, including labor and supplies. Kendall said WGXC is working hard to raise money and is focusing on selling underwriting to local businesses." Read more...
"Radio Heads," The Hudson Valley Chronic, July 2010
"The city of Hudson is brimming with new and exciting initiatives, not the least of which is WGXC: Hands-on Radio, a fledgling soon to be full-power 3,300-watt community-run radio station."
Read more...
"Waves along the Hudson," Paul Smart in The Woodstock Times, 12/23/2009
"That wild buzz that we've been hearing in the air of late
has to do with a radio signal not expected actually to hit
the airwaves until late next summer. It has to do with
the piles of volunteers, young and old, who have been
scuttling up to the City of Hudson waterfront to build
stages and bars and balloon-drops over the past weeks." Read more link (coming soon)...
"Catskill radio station raising funds to match grant," Ariel Zangla in The Daily Freeman, 12/2/2009
"Efforts are under way to help community radio station WGXC get on the air by matching a $71,486 grant to purchase necessary equipment, such as a transmitter.
Tom Roe, program director for the station, said fundraising to match the grant began two weeks ago and has brought in about $8,000 to date."
Read more...
"People to Watch: Galen Joseph-Hunter & Tom Roe Radio Entrepreneurs," Shannon Gallagher in Hudson Valley Magazine, December 2009
"Though the days when the family would gather ’round the radio for their evening entertainment are long gone, community radio is alive and well in the upper Valley thanks to Galen Joseph-Hunter and her husband Tom Roe, among the founders of WGXC: Hands-on Radio."
Read more...
"WGXC: Change in the Air," Peter Aaron in Chronogram magazine, December 2009
"For a region known worldwide for having an incredibly rich and varied music scene—one that’s home to fans and players of styles ranging from folk to jazz, hip-hop to classical, world music to experimental, indie rock to, yes, jam bands, Americana, and classic rock—the Hudson Valley is lacking a radio station that reflects our diversity."
Read more...
WGXC - hands-on radio," Ann Bartgis in Hudson Valley Business Journal, 11/23/2009
"Free103point9 is the group and 90.7
FM is the frequency, but no matter which
“numbers” you use, the radio station is
WGXC.
Free103point9 was founded in 1997 as
an artists’ collective, specifically geared
towards transmission mediums; in 2002 it
became a non-profit."
Read more... (pdf, scroll to page 5)
"Homegrown Radio: An all-local station prepares to hit the airwaves in Columbia and Greene counties," Greg Ryan in Hudson Valley Magazine, June 2009
"When it comes to media share, it’s obvious Columbia and Greene counties have received the short end of the broadcast antenna. To the north is the Capital Region, the state’s populous political epicenter. To the south is the mid-Hudson Valley, a segment of the gargantuan New York City media market. That doesn’t leave much airspace for the two mostly rural counties in between."
Read more...
"New radio group hopes you'll listen to this," Parry Teasdale in The Columbia Paper, 5/8/2009
Coming soon...
"Arts group ready to hit the air waves," Danielle Furfaro in Albany Times-Union, 4/26/2009
Coming soon...
"Into the ether: Radio resurgence is making noise," Paul Smart in Woodstock Times, 2/12/2009
Coming soon...
"Radio station representatives seek ways to serve community," Susan Campriello in The Daily Mail, 2/20/2009
"Free103point9 Program Director Tom Roe and representatives from the organization met with residents of Greene and Columbia counties Saturday to explain how the new station will work and represent the needs of the community.
“We are trying to reach out to people like you to find out what you want,” Roe said."
Read more...
"Greene County community radio planning for launch," Chris Churchill in Albany Times-Union, 2/9/2009
"The Greene County group planning a new radio station is holding public workshops as it gears up to begin broadcasting.
The group – free103point9 – is one of the first Capital Region organizations to get a radio license under the FCC’s plan to expand the reach of non-commercial radio. The arts group learned last fall it had been approved for the station."
Read more...
"Podcast Interview with Tom Roe of free103point9," Mike Janssen for Future of Music Coalition, 1/12/2009
"Back in October 2007, the FCC opened a brief licensing window for full-power, non-commercial stations. FMC and our friends at Radio for People thought this would be the perfect (and rare) opportunity for community arts organizations to get on the dial. We worked to identify qualifying groups, letting them know about the possibility and assisting interested parties with the application process."
Read more...
"Occasionally there is justice: free103point9 receives an FM license," Paul Riismandel in Mediageek, 11/8/2008
"There are so few open frequencies for new full-power
noncommercial radio stations in the US, so it’s all the more
exciting to learn that the great folks at free103point9 have
received a license from the FCC to start a 3,300 watt FM station
in New York’s Hudson Valley."
Read more...
"free103point9 to return to the airwaves, pt. 2," Paul Riismandel in Mediageek, 11/20/2008
"The live broadcast of mediageek goes for a full hour, although only 30 minutes is posted for syndication and podcast. I’ve posted the 2nd half of a few shows, but I’ve got a pretty good backlog going on right now.
Here’s the 2nd half of last Thursday’s show featuring Tom Roe, program director for free103point9. It’s not a full half-hour because the show only ran about 45 minutes due to a Northwestern Women’s Basketball broadcast running a little late." Read more...
"free103point9 to return to the airwaves, pt. 1," Paul Riismandel in Mediageek, 11/20/2008
"free103point9 is a transmission arts organization that started as a micropower radio station, moved online and broadened its horizons to become a sponsor and creator of sonic art. Now the group is poised to return to the broadcast airwaves after receiving a full-power non-commercial FM broadcast license from the FCC. free103point9 program director Tom Roe joins to talk about the station and transmission arts."
Read more...
"Occasionally there is justice: free103point9 receives an FM license," Paul Riismandel in Mediageek, 11/8/2008
"There are so few open frequencies for new full-power
noncommercial radio stations in the US, so it’s all the more
exciting to learn that the great folks at free103point9 have
received a license from the FCC to start a 3,300 watt FM station
in New York’s Hudson Valley."
Read more...
"Catskill radio," Colin DeVries in The Daily Mail, 11/6/2008
"....Catskill radio?
Free103point9 Program Director Tom Roe also showed his support for the community center at the budget hearing, as well as announcing that it could potentially become a space for his newly awarded license for a commercial FM radio station, 90.7-FM.
“We’re putting one of the studios in the Catskill Community Center,” Roe said. “I just want to urge you to keep funding up for the community center as it’s very important..." Read more...
"Radio network expands reach," Chris Churchill in Albany Times-Union, 11/4/2008
"....An arts group in Greene County, meanwhile, has received FCC
approval for a station it intends to launch at 90.7 FM. The Acra-based group, called free103point9, says the station will
be heard in most of Greene and Columbia counties, along with
southern Albany and Rensselaer counties. It primarily will
broadcast community news and arts programming." Read more...
"New Yorkers to get a jolt of experimental music and more," Mike Janssen in Scanning the Dial, 11/3/2008
"Last week Marty wished for a few more classical stations. Shortly thereafter I received an e-mail that in part answered her prayer. It announced the impending arrival of a new FM radio station that, although not devoted entirely to classical music, will certainly be unlike any other now on the air.
This new station in upstate New York is the offspring of free103point9..." Read more...
"FCC grants license to Acra radio station," Billie Dunn in The Daily Mail, 11/1/2008
"CAIRO — There’s a new radio station coming to Greene and Columbia counties, and free103point9 Program Director Tom Roe says it’s going to be for the community, by the community.
“We want to give members of the community a chance to take the microphone, go to the air, and talk about what is going on in Greene and Columbia counties,” says Roe." Read more...
"Making Waves," Dick May in Seeing Greene, 10/31/2008
"NEW VOICE? Permission to operate a new community radio station for Greene and
Columbia County listeners has been granted by the Federal Communications
Commission. The license, authorizing a 3300-watt station occupying 90.7
on the Frequency Modulation dial, was granted to the non-profit arts
group called free103point9, whose envisaged home is a 29-acre property
in Acra called Wave Farm." Read more...
