We're seeking new members for our 2025 Board of Directors, as well as our founding Associate Board for young professionals 35 and under. Details and application at each of the links above.
The CHIRP Blog
SKaiser writesWhat’s Happening at CHIRP Radio (Week of March 21)
UPCOMING EVENTS:
- This is the final week of CHIRP’s Spring Fundraising Drive! Share the good word with your friends and family by this Friday, March 25th. We have set a goal of $20,000 for this drive and are giving away a Pilen Lyx bicycle (courtesy of J.C. Lind Bike Co.) to one lucky giver. Your donations help us pay our ongoing station costs, including the care and maintenance of our new tower where we will be broadcasting on FM107.1 later this year. Thanks for your continued support!
- Join us for CHIRP Night at the Whistler with Over Ow and Caroline Campbell on Wednesday, March 23 at 8:30 PM | 21+
- CHIRP Radio welcomes Ezra Furman to Lincoln Hall (2424 N Lincoln Avenue) on Saturday, March 26 at 9:00 PM | 18+
NEW MEDIA:
- Jessi Roti writes The Power of the River: Bruce Springsteen and The Ties that Bind
- Amelia Hruby interviews Shane and Daniel of Dial In at the CHIRP station
- Live Free with CHIRP Radio's March Events poster created by Greg Kantowicz
- In Rotation: My Gold Mask
- Friday MP3 Shuffle: Happy Birthday Grant Hart Edition
- Dylan Peterson interviews Martin Courtney of Real Estate
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesFriday MP3 Shuffle: Happy Birthday Grant Hart Edition
(photo from Blurt)
Today we wish a Happy Birthday to Grant Hart, drummer, singer and co-songwriter for seminal Rock band Hüsker Dü. Slamming into the hardcore scene with SST records, the band’s mid-‘80s trio of albums (Zen Arcade, New Day Rising, and Flip Your Wig) are about as close as you can get to required listening for anyone interested in the style. Those records left a permanent impression even as the band later moved into more melodic directions that would influence Alternative and “College” Rock groups from the Pixies to Nirvana to those guys making all that noise in the garage down the street.
Hart later struck out on his own, switching to guitar and forming the band Nova Mob as well as working as a solo artist. But there’s no question that the group he started with is on the short list of “Bands That Really Need to Get Together for a Reunion While Everyone Is Still Alive.” While tensions have been high among the group members post-breakup, it seems that there may be a recent thawing of relations. In the next few years, look for rumors to build about a possible get-together which, if it ever became a reality, would be something special.
Let’s wish the good Mr. Hart a happy birthday by pressing the “shuffle” button on your MP3 player and sharing the first 10 songs you hear:
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesIn Rotation: My Gold Mask
Chicago band My Gold Mask has been making music together since 2008. Experiencing their albums, including their newest release Anxious Utopia, one will hear a distinct combination of influences including polished Pop and indigo moods of Goth and Darkwave. In this band’s hands, these flavors mix together in a unique and satisfying fashion that may well inspire a trip to the dance floor to shake off the last bits of winter.
Songs from Anxious Utopia are available for listening both in rotation and by request on CHIRP Radio.
Greg Kantowicz writesLive Free With CHIRP Radio’s March Events
Jessi Roti writesThe Power of The River: Bruce Springsteen and the Ties That Bind
written by Jessi Roti
I’ll admit it –I’ve talked my fair share of trash regarding “Dad Rock.” You know “Dad Rock,” or Arena Rock, Classic Rock –the older, white dudes who still do their best to reclaim that youthful exuberance they had in the late 1960’s – early 1970’s, but come off more as caricatures of themselves. Dads eat that up, trust me. I grew up with it with my parents driving my sister and me around blasting the best of Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, you name it. As a younger person, I didn’t get it. As a woman, I really didn’t get it. But that has all changed, and I owe it to Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band.
After becoming obsessed with Bruce’s Born to Run album during my senior year of college, I didn’t hesitate to buy tickets when a tour in support of Springsteen’s latest box-set release The Ties that Bind: The River Collection. The band was to play The River album in-full along with other Springsteen classics. Yes, sign me up and over-charge me with those fees, Ticketmaster.
On March 3, 2016, my sister and I made it to the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI to be “transformed,” as Bruce says, by The Boss and the E-Street band themselves. Transformed may be too strong of a word, but I was moved in a way that I didn’t expect. For the first time in a long time, I was reminded of why music is one of the last art forms that can truly stand the test of time from generation to generation.
I go to shows all the time. I used to joke that I had been to more shows than days of school (which I still believe to be true). Yet there’s something to be said about the stadium show that makes you feel like you’re at the local venue/bar, a much more intimate setting, experiencing an artist you love. I’ve been to plenty of big, classic rock shows, from the aforementioned Tom Petty, Peter Frampton, to Robert Plant and Bob Dylan. But there was something about this show that truly transcended age gaps, gender gaps, social class, and race that made me feel I was a part of something special.