Colorado Public Radio’s New-Music Station Named Open Air, To Launch Oct. 31

CENTENNIAL, Colo. – Sept. 26, 2011– Colorado Public Radio (CPR) has named its new-music station on 1340 AM in Denver Open Air. It will begin broadcasting on October 31.

Open Air will provide a comprehensive music experience focusing on new and recent music of the past 15 years with a Colorado perspective.

“The name Open Air was based on listener input and represents who we are and what we’ll be doing,” said Mike Flanagan, program director of Open Air. “The goal is to provide a space for listeners to be open to new ideas, new bands, new sounds and new possibilities.”

“Open Air is natural extension of CPR’s mission to offer an in-depth exploration of music,” Flanagan noted. “So, in a given hour you might hear a mixture of rock, country, soul, folk, world, roots, and blues. It’ll be a fun and educational destination, complete with interviews, performances from Open Air’s studio, vinyl classics and much more.”

Flanagan has more than 30 years of experience in radio, including eight years with Colorado Public Radio in the 1990s as an on-air and Midday Mozart music host. In addition to his role as general manager of Radio 1190, Flanagan served as an adjunct professor in CU-Boulder’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

CPR announced plans in June to convert 1340 AM in Denver from all news to a new-music station. CPR will continue to broadcast in-depth news on 90.1 FM in Denver and classical music can still be found at 88.1 FM in Denver.

Colorado Public Radio is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that provides 24-hour, in-depth news and music to about 450,000 listeners each week (Source: Arbitron, Spring / Fall 2010). More than 90 percent of CPR’s funds come from the private support of listeners, businesses, and foundations.

The Colorado Sound – Vol. 3, EP 36 2011

NEWS & NOTES:

Billy & Liza “Barstool” from It’s About Time (2001)
Dianne Reeves “What A Little Moonlight Can Do” from A Little Moonlight (2003)
(D) Honey Gitters “Diamonds In A Bag” from Poor Gitters’ Almanack (2011)
(NT) The Haunted Windchimes “Find the Door” from Live at the Western Jubilee (2011)
Bobby Walker “LIttle Bit of Soul” from Way Back When (2010)
(NT) Snake Rattle Rattle Snake “Like A Moth” from Sineater (2011)
The Epilogues “The Fallout” from The Fallout (2010)
Hot IQs “Firecracker” from An Argument Between the Brain and Feet (2004)
(NT) Petals of Spain “You Had Me From the Start” from Late Night Visitor (2011)
(NT) Cary Morin “Prisoner” from Sing It Louder (2011)
John Mieras “I Would Wish for This” from Painted Glass (2011)
Jeff Brinkman “Inside This Room” from To the Bones (2010)
(NT) Adam Stern “Progabilly” from High Country Gentleman (2011)
Lionel Young Band “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Rumba” from On Our Way to Memphis (2011)
The Congress “Minutes” from The Congress (2010)
(D) Lizzie Huffman “Drunken Mess” from Pretty Old Soul (2011)
(D) SHEL “When the Dragon Came Down” from The Dragon Came Down (2011)
Spring Creek “Hold On Me” from Hold On Me (2011)
(D) Melissa Axel “The Worth of Things” from Love, Humanity and Metamorphisis (2011)
(NT) Roniit “You Were Trained” from Roniit (2011)
My Body Sings Electric “Living Proof” from Changing Color (2011)
String Cheese Incident “Tinder Box” from Untying the Not (2003)
Saints “Colorado” from Saints (2009)
(D) Mark’s Midnight Carnival Show “Save Yourself” from Mark’s Midnight Carnival (2011)
Jim Stranahan “Caliente” from Free For All (2011)

MMMM – Paul Russell / Back at the Scene of Our Beautiful Crime

It’s true that a junkie is always trying to recapture that first high … long after the thrill of finding a new sound/a new artist has gone from wearing the vinyl into a translucent sheet of hiss you’re still looking for that rush, that feeling of innocent discovery lost in the mist of fading memories.  It’s in our dusk that we rediscover the beauty and meaning in the voice, in the stories, in the aching bending of notes twisting and turning like an ivy covering a well weathered wall holding memories locked in the pits and crevices … a poet’s poet, nature’s singer, simple, joyful, meaningful, beautiful … as much as a part of memory as when a youth dreaming at a marshmallow sky and a heart filled with wonder.  We do always seem to return “Back at the Scene of Our Beautiful Crime” where there’s a “Well Worn Welcome Home.”  It’s nice of Paul Russell to remind us.