Another week has passed, and 89.1 WIDR FM is here to let you know what we've been up to! We have been continuing to move equipment and things into the new student center. We also have had the opportunity to upgrade and purchase some new equipment to make recording, editing, and training more efficient. This wouldn't be possible without everyone's support during the various fundraising campaigns we have done over the past year, so thank you! If you missed the DJ Recs from last week, check it out here! We have orientation each week at noon in the Student Organization Center and have seen many new faces coming into the space interested in joining WIDR! We also have begun training for media, production, and music teams which is super exciting for us! It's never too late to join us, check out how to join here! Did you know WIDR has an event calendar highlighting local music, art, and theatre performances? Check it out here and let us know what you think we are missing via email (widr-promotion@wmich.edu) OR Instagram DM. That's all for this week. Stay dialed in at 89.1 FM or listen from anywhere online at widrfm.org or The WIDR App on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Enjoy this week's WIDR Dj song recommendations! Listen on Spotify here! Caiola - Alaska Bronco Breakdowns w/ Zach Pryor Wearwolf - Round Here (Counting Crows Cover) Electro Pop Therapy with DJ DANGER GROOVE Four Wheel Drive - Honky Tonk Man Enter The Crypt W/ Delta of Venus Will Wood - Memento Mori: The most important thing in the world Electronacoustix w/ SamTheSaxMan Ethel Cain - Crush The Void w/ Logen Yonder Mountain String Band - Midwest Gospel Radio The Home Gardening Show w/ Cully Layz & Vasture - Barking at Thunder Electro City w/ Mike Black Polish - Baby Tonight Variety w/ Sydney Interested in being a DJ at 89.1 WIDR FM? Join on experience WMU!

Welcome to the Weekly 89.1 WIDR FM Update where you can get the latest WIDR Info and stay up to date with all WIDR happenings! It's official! WIDR is broadcasting out of the new Student Center. There were some obstacles, but we are so excited to finally be utilizing the new space. In honor of the move, we have our Farewell Faunce Programming airing Friday(9/22), Saturday(9/23), and Sunday(9/24) @3:00pm. Tune in at 89.1 FM, WIDRFM.org or The WIDR APP available on The Apple App Store and Google Play store. WIDR has been nominated for 4 College Media Association Awards: Broadcast Station Website of the Year - WIDRFM.org Best Video Promo/PSA - Wave One Logo Reveal Best Audio/Talk Entertainment Program - Kzoo Food: Burgers Best Audio Special Event Coverage - VINTZ Coverage We are looking forward to finding out if we won October 31st! If you didn't see last week's DJ Recommendations, check it out here! These will be going up each week under the 'Playlists' category on the home page. We have been working hard to get new volunteers in and trained! There are a lot of ways to get involved at WIDR, check it out here.

Welcome to the first DJ Song Recommendations of the 2023-2024 school year! Read below for some of songs our DJs have on repeat and checkout the playlist to listen to them! Poor Man’s Poison - Let’s Go! Bronco Breakdowns w/ Zach Pryor sElf - Ordinaire College Wave with The Voicebox Sol ChYld - N B C The Antisocial Happy Hour w/Danya The LoneStars - Driving Wheel Enter The Crypt W/Delta of Venus Lotus - Aquamarine Renaissance Alt w/ Messenger Dove TWRP - VHS (feat. Electric Six) Electro-Pop Therapy w/ DJ Danger Groove Katie Lynne Sharbough - Omaha (The Only What If) Evening digest w/ Austin Vetor Shinedown - A Symptom of Being Human Variety w/ Sydney They Are Gutting a Body of Water - delta P Mort's Mega Mix Marshmallow - Flash Funk (League of Legends) Electro City w/ Mike

The final WIDRWAVE of the summer is here. Although we are sad to see the end of the waves, we hope you have had as much fun riding the waves as we have! We are officially moving into the new studio in the Student Center. We plan to be operational before the end of August, although moving the equipment and furniture is all out of our hands. We can't wait to give you all a tour, and open it up for everyone to explore the new home to Radio Evolution. We are continuing to update our on air music rotation. We want you all hearing only the freshest, and best of Kalamazoo and Indie sound on 89.1 WIDR FM and we have been working hard to do that for you. You may have seen on our social media accounts, but we teamed up with 15 RSOs to promote them during fall move-in. So make sure you tune in and listen for some of the great ways you can get involved at WMU. Finally, 89.1 WIDR FM is sponsoring Global Prints to come to come to campus with their huge collection of posters available for you to purchase! Posters are a great addition to any dorm, office, apartment, or home! August 26th through September 1st you can find the posters in the Board of Trustees Plaza, between the new Student Center and Waldo Library from 9am-5pm.

Support WIDR while also getting the perfect decor for your room, dorm, house, office or apartment! 89.1 WIDR FM is sponsoring Global Prints to come to come to campus with their huge collection of posters available for you to purchase! August 26th through September 1st you can find the posters in the Board of Trustees Plaza, between the new Student Center and Waldo Library from 9am-6pm. We would love to see you there! Any questions? Reach out to widr-promotion@wmich.edu

Can you believe the third WIDRWAVE of the summer is already here?!? This Wave includes the introduction of new WIDR can koozies! Although we can't share exactly what they look like yet, we know you'll love them just as ,much as we do! We also have more WIDRTALES coming out this wave! Luna Rose premiered yesterday, and is available to listen on YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and our website under the WIDRTALES series page. In celebration of our new merch, logo, and app we are doing more giveaways! These giveaways will be through The WIDR App, so make sure you download it on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. There will be merch giveaways, as well as more ticket giveaways. Finally, this wave we are moving out of the basement of Faunce. Although we are sad to leave the space that has been WIDR's home for so many years, we are super excited to get into our new space. To celebrate we have special 'Farewell to Faunce' programming planned that you won't want to miss! If you missed out last wave, we have new overnight programming, tune in from 12-4am to hear the different sound and bits.

One of the only silver linings of the pandemic era was that there was no chance of having to miss a show because it was booked on the same day as another one that you wanted to attend. So when two of my long-time favorites, Cold and Godsmack, were both booked in Michigan on the same day recently, I knew I had a tough choice to make. On the one hand, Cold was the very first even remotely heavy band I ever got into when I was young, and they were booked to play at the Machine Shop, my favorite venue. On top of that, they were also celebrating the 20-year anniversary of their album “Year of the Spider,” which is a huge milestone. On the other hand, I haven’t seen Godsmack in over 10 years, and the band has recently announced they’re only going to tour from here on out. Ultimately, I decided to go to Godsmack based on a few outstanding factors: I’ve been blessed to see Cold twice in the last few years, both of which were at the Machine Shop in Flint, and three times in my life total. This is already a big deal considering all three of those were after they’d broken up and gotten back together. Additionally, I’ve seen most of Year of the Spider performed live already. I’ve only seen Godsmack twice, again with the last time being over a decade ago, and wanted to see them at least one more time. Most importantly, I needed a do-over after the last time I saw Godsmack in 2012 at the Soaring Eagle Casino with Shinedown, which is where they’d be playing this time too. Not that Godsmack was bad at that last show or anything, but it was a weird and borderline bad experience, and I didn’t want my last memory of the band to be that particular one. That’s what I’m here to do now - not to write a professional article, but to share a funny story with a great outcome. July 21, 2012 It ended up being one of the weirdest days of my life, so we’ll start at the beginning. Picture this scenario: I’m living in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, it's the summer of 2012, and Godsmack and Shinedown are playing at the Soaring Eagle Casino later that night. I’ve just recently graduated from high school and am trying to live my best life. The concert has been on the horizon for a while now and I’m planning on meeting some ladyfriends there. I’m really excited for my second time seeing Godsmack, being a long-time favorite and all, and I haven’t seen Shinedown in concert yet. Ahead of the show, Shinedown announces that they’re going to be doing a Meet-and-Greet with an album signing in town, and all you have to do to get in is buy a copy of The Sound of Madness. This isn’t their latest album by this point (Amaryllis has already been out for a few months), but whatever, right? It’s a chance to meet Shinedown. That doesn’t happen every day. The thing is, the signing is taking place at the local Walmart, which is about as random as it gets. So I go to Walmart with a friend and get in line. In front of us was a bride and groom who had apparently just gotten married earlier that day, still in a tuxedo and dress. Shinedown didn’t even have their own people organizing this thing, it was up to the day-shift Walmart employees to direct fans and maintain order. At some point, my friend had some kind of argument with the employee running the line. I didn’t hear exactly what was said, but when I turned around he was walking away. I texted him and asked what happened, and he simply replied “The lady pissed me off, so I left.” That leaves me in line with the bride and groom. The groom starts talking to me about all these Illuminati conspiracy theories, going on about shadow organizations and how everything is controlled by the New World Order. He even goes as far as to point out the Walmart logo in the aisles, explaining how the Illuminati logo is hidden inside of it. This makes absolutely no sense, but I just smile and nod, hoping the line will start moving, or he’ll stop talking to me. Neither one of them happens quickly enough. That’s one thing you need to understand about me at that point in my life - I used to have a problem with being WAY too polite all the time, not being even remotely confrontational or anything when I needed to be, and not saying “no” when I should have. And when I was confrontational, it was usually over something stupid, and totally unwarranted on my end. I should have told him I wasn’t interested in hearing any of this, but I didn’t. I learned way too late that if you just smile and nod, most people won’t take that as a hint to stop talking. This bad habit would end up biting me in the ass twice in the same day. But really, I also thought he was just fucking with me, and it was his way of killing time before the signing. So after enduring countless conspiracies, each one more outlandish than the last, the signing finally begins and the line starts moving. Turns out, he wasn’t fucking with me at all, because when he met singer Brent Smith, he asked him point-blank if it’s “true that the Illuminati controls the music industry.” Smith looked taken aback for a fraction of a second before good-naturedly replying, “Uh, well, if they do, they didn’t tell me anything about it!” [Lowkey, maybe he was thinking, “shit, he’s onto us!”] I got my copy of The Sound of Madness signed, and the band was very nice, but I left feeling really weird about the whole situation, and slightly irritated that my friend left me in it. But whatever, the show will be awesome, right? And it was. Shinedown gave a great performance, and Brent Smith was an outstanding vocalist. I remember thinking, “Oh yeah, Shinedown will be cool,” but it ended up being way better than expected. Not that I thought they were gonna be bad or anything, but it was a matter of not knowing how good the live show would actually be. Since to this day I hear them on the radio so often, it can often be easy to take a band like that for granted, until they’re right in front of you, and you’re reminded why they’re so popular in the first place. This whole time, I’m on the hill with three ladyfriends from school, one of which graduated with me, who moves to a different spot after a certain point. That leaves me with the two who haven’t escaped high school yet. At some point before Godsmack comes on, these two textbook high school fuckboys from Clare, a town north of Mount Pleasant, ended up next to us for whatever reason. And they wouldn’t. Shut. Up. They literally just talked and talked through the entire show, trying really hard to be slick, and it was really hard to ignore them because they were actually talking OVER the music. They’d clearly never been to a concert before, and they said as much. But, instead of telling them to shut the fuck up, and that I came here to see Godsmack, not listen to their bullshit, or better yet just walking away and moving to a different spot, I didn’t. I just smiled and nodded and did my best to ignore them, but they didn’t take any hints, just like the guy from earlier. None of that has to do with Godsmack, of course - they were onstage SELLING it, and the performance itself was awesome as always. But it was derailed on my end by the fact that I was standing next to these two idiots who wouldn’t shut up. I should have just walked away - I arrived alone, there was nothing stopping me from going to a different spot. But I didn’t want to leave the girls alone with these two either, and one would later tell me she was glad I didn’t. We knew what they were up to. The worst part is that when Godsmack got to “Voodoo,” their most well-known song, one of them yelled out, “OH WAIT I ACTUALLY DO KNOW THIS SONG!!” Meaning they didn’t even know WHO they were there to see that night. I remember thinking that their parents were probably inside playing poker and just turned them loose at the show. You could say that exposure in any form is always good, or that it was cool of their parents to buy them tickets, but they could have taught them some basic etiquette while they were at it. For instance, don’t talk the ears of complete strangers off during a ROCK CONCERT. I’ve since looked back at the setlist of that show, and there are songs I don’t even remember being played because of the situation (including “Keep Away,” my personal favorite). When the show wrapped up, I didn’t feel the usual elatement, I was just relieved to get away. One of the boys was lucky enough to get a hug from one of the girls, who was just being nice. But the kicker is that not long after this, she would run into him in public, and it turned out he had a girlfriend the WHOLE TIME. She told me that he tried really hard to pretend like he didn’t know who she was. A scenario worthy of the late, great Jerry Springer himself. I can hear the opening monologue now - “My guests today say the power of live music brought them together, but one of them has been playing two fiddles! Susie, what’s going on?” Fast Forward - Friday, May 26, 2023 For obvious reasons, you can now understand why I didn’t want my last memory of Godsmack to be that one, so I felt confident making the decision to see Godsmack over Cold. My gut agreed. I swore to my partner that if anything stupid like this happened this time, we would move no matter what, but I’m thrilled to say that it didn’t. We had a perfect view, plenty of space (despite the show being packed), and nobody bothered us. Godsmack has had plenty of time to perfect their craft, and it really doesn’t get much more rock 'n' roll than Sully Erna and company. It was all there - the stage presence, the humor, and the production, which included UFO-type lights, pyrotechnics and the infamous drum duel. It also reminded me how impressive a performer Erna actually is - he plays the drums, guitar and piano effortlessly, on top of being a fantastic live singer, even while suffering a chest cold (which he unnecessarily noted). Throw in all the charisma, and you have a bona fide rock band frontman. During the encore, the band touted a special guest in the house, which turned out to be Brad Whitford of Aerosmith fame. Whitford joined them for a cover of Dream On, along with Come Together by the Beatles. That’ll probably NEVER happen again! There’s not much else to say here, other than the fact that the show was great and I’m glad I went. However, the last kicker is that, in 2012, it took me over an hour to get out of the parking lot because I used the regular casino lot, rather than the garage or event space. I gave up after a while and just sat on my trunk waiting for traffic to thin out. But this time, I used the garage and was on the road in ten minutes or less. In other words, a perfect do-over!

We are so excited to share what we have in store for the second WIDRWAVE this Summer! This wave begins with the announcement of THE WIDR APP! A brand new way to listen to WIDR on your mobile device. You can download on the Apple App Store HERE or the Google Play Store HERE! It has been a lengthy process, but we are so excited to finally share it with you! With polls, a chat feed, DJ schedule and more, download it now to check it out for yourself! The 89.1 WIDR FM's late night programming is getting a brand new sound this month! The WIDR OVER-NIDR programing will feature different music, poems, and more, you will want to stay tuned in to hear everything new. We are expecting new WIDRWEAR to make landfall later this month, and although we can't reveal specifics yet, we are certain you will love it as much as we do. Don't forget about all our great podcasts that have new episodes coming out! Tune in at 89.1 FM, on The WIDR App, or the website to listen to the premiere. Listen on your own time on YouTube, or on our website!

Here at 89.1 WIDR FM we have been busy with wave one. We hope you are enjoying our new music, podcasts, stickers, logo, and radio dramas! We also had a major website revamp including a new events page. Luckily there are still some things expected to come ashore. Mark your calendar for June 28th, when we will have a new special addition to our programing. We also will continue with new podcast episodes! In honor of Western's 120th Birthday, we are still raising money for our promotional gear overhaul! So far we have raised enough money to purchase a tent, banner, and mic flags all customized with our new logo. We are still $320 short of our total goal, which would allow for us to get a DJ Deck for DJing in the community and at campus events. Every dollar counts, and if you are able, we would really appreciate your donations. Wave two is expected to make landfall June 30th. Although we can't reveal anything yet, a new way to listen to your favorite source for radio evolution is visible in the distance. We are super excited to ride all four waves this summer, and we hope you join us and stay tuned in!

For my electronic dance music (EDM) lovers out there, do yourself a favor and check out Elektricity in Pontiac, MI. It's an edm only venue with video boards, lights, lasers, CO2 cannons and everything else you'd need for a good edm show. The venue is small, but cozy and hosts some of the biggest edm talent in the world. I had the pleasure of seeing Mitis with Au5 at Elektricity and it was an absolute blast. While Mitis and Au5 were the big names, the show had support from two local artists, Cheska and P Rose. The doors for the show opened at 9pm which is when Cheska began her hour long show. She had a very unique sound that I hadn't really heard before, but I can say I definitely enjoyed it. Despite being a small artist, she had what seemed to be a loyal following there cheering her on as she played her stuff. She didn't have a lot of stage production, but a lot more than I expected. For the most part, the lights and lasers were warming up and didn't play a big role in her set, but that's to be expected from an opener. She was the most chill artist of the night music wise which I think is smart to not begin with wild energy. After she gave up the DJ decks, it was time for P Rose. P Rose came out and said enough of that chill stuff, we here to party. He threw down an intense set full of dubstep and lots of bass. It was a really nice way to bring the energy up before our two main acts were set to play. Surprisingly P Rose seemed to use less stage production than the first opener. He played a lot of songs from more popular artists, like a version of Feel Something by Illenium, Island by Seven Lions and many more. He also sprinkled in some Melodic dubstep in there which helped make his set more memorable than just a flat out heavy dubstep set. He really set the tone for the rest of what was to come that night. Once his set was over, Au5 came out to perform. Au5 came onto the stage with a bucket hat on and melted our faces off with an absolutely insane set. His music is wild yet beautiful at the same time. He brought so much energy that the place really needed. He seemed so passionate about what he was playing and danced the whole time. A highlight of the night came when he played two versions of his hit 2014 song, Snowblind. For me this was a song that got me into edm, so hearing it live was a rush that brought me back in time. He played a newer version that was faster and had me jumping, and followed it up with the original version. Later in his set he played a song that I had totally forgotten he was on, but I was so happy to hear it. Anywhere by Slander and Au5 was a great surprise for me, as it's one of my favorites. He teased a new album, but refrained from playing any songs off of it, most likely due to record label stuff. He even played an Au5 version of Toxic by Brittney Spears!! He played for a while longer and then it was time for the main event, Mitis. By this time, it was 12:30am and Mitis was starting. The energy was just a little low going into the set, due to how late it was getting. That all changed when the bearded man who goes by Mitis walked onto the stage and hit play on his intro, Take you Home with Jason Ross and Mitis. I've always thought of that song as an outro so hearing it be his intro was great. When the first drop happened, the CO2 cannons fired off for the first time of the night leading to a huge cheer from the crowd. This is his headlining tour, and he showed why during this show. He played all of his hit songs which were a joy to hear live. While the breakdown of the song would be going on he'd mix in the build up of another drop and the building would go nuts. Everyone on the railing head banging and going crazy. I especially loved when he played Laserbeam by Ray Volpe (Eliminate remix). I for one was not expecting to hear Laserbeam that night and that I lost my mind hearing it. Later into his set he played an unreleased song called Phantom Love. It was a traditional Mitis song but the melody was very unique and I will be excited when it inevitably comes out for the world to hear. After some more of his music and some heavy dubstep, he walked off stage to really fool the crowd like he was done. It worked so well everyone left for the night. Just kidding, Mitis came back out maybe 20 seconds later to play his outro. I was so exhausted by this point I don’t even know what his outro song was, but I gave it all the energy left in my body. After this it was 2am, and a 2 and a half hour drive home awaited me. All in all, this was a phenomenal concert. I would recommend Elektricity to anyone who enjoys EDM, live music or is just looking for a fun time. The same can be said about all four artists who performed that night. Cheska and P Rose are usually in the Detroit area if you’re looking to see them. As for Au5 and Mitis, if they’re on tour, you will not want to miss the shows that those two will throw down!

We here at WIDR like to continue to support and raise up the voices of the LGBTQ+ community. This year, we put together a playlist of some of our favorite tracks by artists in the LGBTQ+ community. Thank you to DJ Messenger Dove, DJ Red Special, Delta Venus, Madi Destory, Brad Miller, Shonnie, Cole Smith, Logen Lastname, Sydney Kott, and Mike Shanahan for your contributions to this list! Listen HERE on Spotify. Think we missed something? Message us on Instagram with your suggestions for us to add them on! Ideas for playlists we should make? Send them to us on Instagram or widr-promotion@wmich.edu

WELCOME TO WAVE ONE OF 89.1 WIDR FM's SUMMER PROGRAM! We have been hard at work here at the station preparing and planning for the four WIDR waves coming to shore this summer. And today is the official release for wave one! Make sure you stay tuned in all summer long so you don't miss out on all the fun stuff we have planned for this summer! Wave one includes: Logo - We got a new logo! Designed by students within WMU School of Art and Design, we are so excited for you to see it. Learn a bit more about the logo on our social media! This also means we got all new stickers, and we are super excited to share them soon! Drendo Celeste - Premiering live online and on 89.1 FM today, May 31st, at 7:00PM and 10:00PM. It will also be available to stream at your own leisure soon on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, and Youtube! New Series - It may be summer, but we still have new content coming your way! On Keeping In Touch, the host invites a returning WIDR FM DJ that is gone for summer and interviews them on what they're up to! Keep tuned in each week to know what your favorite DJ’s are up too while they are gone! Every Sunday at 3pm. Breaking Crucial Boundaries is a platform designed for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies. Our platform provides discussion boards for deep conversations, live podcasts for staying up to date on relevant topics, and a resource hub with information on health, legal issues, education, and advocacy. Airs Saturday's at noon. Horror Freaks is hosted by Tasha Loomis and Ryan Misiak and focuses on the good, and bad, of horror films. Diving in to both the well known, and underground horror films, you don't want to miss it on air Tuesdays at 10pm. Kzoo food is getting a special summer overhaul this summer! Expect new tunes, a new format, and a specialty summer food genre each week! Tune in each week, Wed @ 2pm , for the DOG DAYZ on Kzoo Food! Live Loud Local is hosted by Karen Larsen and airs Thursdays at 3pm. Join Karen and her guests as they dive into the local Kalamazoo house show scene! Like all our original series, these will also all be available on our website and YouTube! New Music - by June 10th we will have an entirely new music catalog, a part from our most recent additions of local musicians. Moving forward we want to put a renewed focus on local and independent artists. Vintage in the Zoo - We had so much fun at the first Vintage in the Zoo, we are going back! Join us June 10th in downtown Kalamazoo for a day full of vintage shopping, Music by WIDR's own DJ Dan Steely, and lots of fun! New Website - If you are reading this, than you likely have already realized that our website has gotten a revamp! Click around and see what is new, and what is still coming soon! For the best experience, we recommend using a computer!

This is Kenny's first solo song of the year and I hav been anxiously awaiting it's release. I am a big fan of KennyHoopla, and play his songs frequently on my show. In the writing of this review I also realized he is very close to 1million listeners a month on Spotify, super exciting since he makes absolute bangers! Without further a due, my first impressions and thoughts on "YOU NEED A HIT//" The song starts with a strong guitar before adding in some great drums, something I have come to expect from his songs after his 8 song mixtape with Travis Barker. His distorted vocals and the fast pace of the track makes me want to jump around already. I love the scream that closes out the chorus, as it took me a bit off guard but was super powerful. The second verse quickly gives way to the chorus again. I would say most KennyHoopla songs are short, and pretty lyric packed and this one is no different. With very few breaks in singing until 1:47 of the 2 minute song, which is when it winds down to silence. With fun catchy lyrics, and a danceable beat, I really enjoyed this song and suggest you give it a listen! I will certainly be adding this song to my personal playlist and look forward to playing it on my show!

Western turned 120 this May, and to celebrate the WMU Department of Fundraising is calling for donations to support campus organizations. What better organization to support than WMU's student-run, student-led Student Radio Station: 89.1 WIDR FM! For the next month we are raising money for our promotional equipment overhaul. We are hoping to raise $891 for this new gear. If we raise $215 we will be able to purchase a new custom WIDR tent. This will help make our presence known at outdoor events, as well as protect us in case inclement weather. If $315 is raised we will also be able to purchase a stand up banner. This can be used at both indoor and outdoor events. After raising $550 we can purchase custom 89.1 WIDR FM mic flags, featuring our new logo. This will be for use both in the studio and when at community events. This will help us look much more cohesive and professional. If we reach our goal of $891 we can purchase a DJ Deck for use at events where WIDR is DJing. If you are able, we hope you consider donating HERE to WIDR this month!