ENTERTAINMENT
By Wesley Case, The Baltimore Sun | April 26, 2014
On a rainy night in late March, the studio of WTMD looked more like the buzzing set of a classic variety show than home to Towson University's public radio station. Members of the Baltimore indie-rock group Celebration checked the sounds of their instruments as three actors from the Single Carrot Theatre rehearsed a scene from a new production. Sam Sessa , the show's host and a former Baltimore Sun editor, practiced introductions. Elsewhere, Wham City Comedy's Ben O'Brien went over lines to a monologue he would perform that night.
ENTERTAINMENT
By Wesley Case, The Baltimore Sun | April 3, 2014
Since last June, Towson University radio station WTMD has upgraded its studio, its satellite reception and now adds the headliners of First Thursdays, its free outdoor concert series that takes place between May and September, to the list. Rock stalwarts The Hold Steady (Sept. 4), blues brothers Los Lonely Boys (June 5), "One of Us" singer Joan Osborne (May 1) and sunny pop-folkers The Mowgli's (Aug. 7) are scheduled to take the First Thursdays stage this year, Scott Mullins, the station's program director, told The Baltimore Sun. A headliner for the July 3 event is still to be determined.
ENTERTAINMENT
By Wesley Case and The Baltimore Sun | January 21, 2014
For more than a decade, First Thursdays, the popular free concert series organized by Towson University's public radio station WTMD, has regularly filled West Mount Vernon Park with thousands of music fans during the summer. The soundtrack will be similar this year, but the location will not, as WTMD is in the process of moving First Thursdays from Mount Vernon to Canton, according to the station's general manager Stephen Yasko. The deal...
ENTERTAINMENT
By David Zurawik and The Baltimore Sun | May 6, 2013
Technical difficulties, as they euphemistically say in broadcasting, left some NPR affiliates like Baltimore's WYPR scrambling Monday morning. WYPR confirmed that it had problems with the National Public Radio feed Monday. WTMD General Manager Steve Yasko said he believed there had been problems at his station as well, but he did not have the specifics because his morning team was gone for the day when The Sun called. The trouble started at 6 a.m., according to WYPR's Nathan Sterner, who is on-air from Baltimore weekdays during NPR's "Morning Edition.
ENTERTAINMENT
By Wesley Case, The Baltimore Sun | May 2, 2013
Need a reminder of how lucky Baltimore music lovers are sometimes? Just pull out a calendar. Between May and September, thousands gather in West Mount Vernon Park to see rising bands, sip local beer and generally have a good time in the sun. Add the fact that the concert is free, and it has made WTMD's First Thursdays concert series - which starts this week - an essential spring and summer activity in the city. According to WTMD program director Scott Mullins, the planning for First Thursdays begins when we're all bundled up in heavy coats.
ENTERTAINMENT
By Sam Sessa, The Baltimore Sun | December 26, 2012
If the Bellevederes isn't Baltimore's best soul/R&B band - and it just might be - it's certainly the biggest. There are 10 people in all, including a horn section and a hype man known as Velvet Johnson (aka Justin Metzger). Technically, they're a cover band - but unless you're a music nerd, you'd probably never know it. Members of the Bellevederes spend hours digging up obscure songs from the '60s and '70s to play at their shows. They're a live band through and through; they've recorded an album, but aren't sure if it makes sense to release it. Two women - Kelly Butcher and Denny Finnerin - share the lead vocals on songs traditionally sung by men. Occasionally, they don't update the lyrics to reflect that, which makes for some head-turning moments at their shows.