Thursday Evening Vibes

It's been a beautiful, sun-filled day at Seaside Park. We've heard great sets from Cosmic Dust Bunnies, Ryan Montbleau & Friends, and Strangefolk. As night sets in and Dark Star Orchestra hits the main stage, we expect the jams to come hard and heavy. Stay with us for the set break. We'll be speaking with Sam Cutler, former tour manager for both the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones.

Solar Bus

The Solar Bus is a demonstration and education project created by The Harmony Institute to promote awareness of issues relating to:

• Biodiesel Fuel
• Vegetable Oil as Fuel
• Other Alternative Fuels
• Solar Energy
• Energy Conservation
• Peace, Politics, and the Environment

We'll have an interview with them at 5:30 PM today. 

We're underway on the main stage!

"The Wheel" has been played, Gordie has welcomed the Vibe Tribe back, and Road to the Vibes winners Cosmic Dust Bunnies have taken the stage. Noodle dancing on a warm, dusty field is the order of the day. Happy Vibes!

"More drums in the my monitor please!"

Cosmic Dust Bunnies on the Main Stage

The Furthur bus is here

Janet interviewed the folks at Ken Kesey's famous bus. Keep it tuned to 89.5 to hear it. 

Retro Rock Throwbacks

Kevin Gallagher in throwback mode

A new feature this year is the Retro Rock Throwback. Produced by audio/video documentarian & photographer Kevin Gallagher, these pieces provide a look back to the historical foundation of today's rock music scene. Kevin assembled them from interviews he's done and archived material harvested from the wilderness of the internet. Some additional editing was done by Peter Bochan. These pieces were used during WPKN's "Under the Influence" specials, a look at how chemicals have influenced culture. Keven can be heard on WPKN alternating Mondays, 4-7 PM.

Thursday Broadcast Schedule

• 10:00 AM Vibes Kickoff with Radio Vibes
• 12:00 PM Home Page with Binnie Klein & Duo Dickenson
• 1:00 PM Vibe Quest with Terry Hopper & the Radio Vibes crew
• 3:00 PM Radio Vibes Pregame show
• 4:00 PM Cosmic Dust Bunnies
• 5:00 PM Sam Hopkins in the WPKN studio
• 5:35 PM Ryan Montbleau & Friends
• 6:45 PM Scott Harris in the WPKN studio
• 7:00 PM Strangefolk
• 8:30 PM Scott Harris in the WPKN studio
• 9:00 PM Dark Star Orchestra Set I
• 10:30 PM Bruce Swan in the WPKN studio (time is approximate)
• 11:15 PM Dark Star Orchestra Set II
• 1:00 AM Ed Flynn: Church of the Sacred Riff

Stage music broadcasts are by agreement with the artists. 
WPKN's regular program schedule will be streamed on wpkn.org while Radio Vibes airs on 89.5 FM. 

As ready as we're going to be

We got a little taste of what's to come. The stage looks and sounds good. 

Of course, this is what radio looks like. This year we even have color bars. 

That's it from backstage at Gathering of the Vibes tonight. We'll be on the air chatting with Cliff Furnald beginning at 8:00 AM, and the Radio Vibes Kickoff show begins at 10. 

Remember, WPKN's regular irregular schedule of programming will continue all weekend on the stream at wpkn.org. 

Happy trails!

Waiting...

Coming soon to a Vibes near you!

Meet the crew: Gordon Taylor

Gordon has moved on to his role as Main Stage MC with Wavy Gravy, but without him, there would be no Radio Vibes. Gordon started Radio Vibes as a low-power FM broadcast back when Vibes was at ILCC in Mariahville, and helped GOTV and WPKN to forge a relationship when Vibes moved back to Bridgeport in 2007. You'll hear him sitting in with us on Thursday morning, and popping in throughout the weekend, but mostly you'll hear him over the big speakers on the concert field.

Thanks for everything, Gordy! Be the garnish. 

Meet the crew: Cliff Furnald

Cliff Furnald ei ole tuuletinta musiikkia ympäri maailmaa. Hän on kauan kannattanut vanhentuneen välineisiin kuten muuttuisi haitariksi ja hurdy-gurdy. Cliff liittyi Radio Vibes miehistön keskellä 2012 festareilla, ja alkoi työskentely voimakkaan sademyrskyn nostattama vesi tulvi joka aiheutti tärkein vaihe sammuttamista. Hänkin piti niin hän on palautumassa hänen kolmannesta vuodesta kanssamme. Kun hän ei ole kirjoittaa musiikkia, Cliff käy onnistuneen korin väri alpakkabeige tilalla. Laiva teki Kessel tee alle 12 parsecs. Cliff can be heard on WPKN every Thursday morning 7-10.

Meet the crew: David Golden

David organizes things and wonders if the pieces will hold together. Radio Vibes was an accidental project in 2007, but has turned into an annual obsession.

In what seems like a lifetime ago, he went to Dead shows. He's an Umphreak now, so you might see him on the rail Saturday night. 

Meet the crew: Zack Foster

Zack is in his second year in the Radio Vibes crew. He has extensive college radio and festival experience, and is a natural fit for our crew. We know this because not only did he not quit halfway through Vibes last year, but he came back. When he's not locked inside our trailer editing audio and watching the board, you'll see him on the Radio Vibes golf cart assisting Janet A. Golden as she interviews the Vibe Tribe. Zack is a veteran of WXCI, and currently toils in commercial radio. 

Setting up

New year, new gear. We're finally bringing in digital audio. Our trusty Yamaha mixer is in mothballs this year as we use an Edirol digital mixer. David Schwartz is our technical lead, and we couldn't do this without him. He's hooked us up for every broadcast since 2007. If you hear a live remote broadcast on WPKN, he probably is involved. David can be heard Sunday evenings at 10 on WPKN. 

Meet the crew: Janet A. Golden

Janet assumed the role of field reporter the first day of Vibes in 2007 when she grabbed a Marantz recorder and walked into people's camp sites asking what they were making for dinner. The resulting montage began an annual tradition of visiting campers all around the park and bringing back a verbal picture of the festival—as told by the Vibe Tribe.

Look for Janet wherever you may be around the festival. Don't be shy—we'd love to hear what you have to say!

Teach Your Children

You'll probably hear Noah announcing the baseball scores again this year. As for Wavy Gravy, we're ready for him and whatever he might say.

Wavy Gravy and Noah Golden

Who knows what this device does?

Lil Jerry is ready to rock!

This is what radio looks like:

Lil Jerry in the Radio Vibes studio

Interview with Ken Hays

Gathering of the Vibes founder and owner Ken Hays talks about this year's festival. 

ARCHIVED AUDIO

Learn about the artists

If you're not familiar with some of the music in the lineup, Radio Vibes has you covered. Many of this year's artists are represented, along with some tasty nuts from past Radio Vibes broadcasts. Click Play and kick back. Enjoy!

While you're waiting ...

Today begins the last full week before Vibes. While you're organizing your camping supplies, we have some things of interest to the Vibe Tribe happening on WPKN 89.5 FM (streaming on wpkn.org) today.

• 11:30 a.m. – Interview with Ken Hays, owner of Gathering of the Vibes. The festival returns to Seaside Park in Bridgeport the weekend of July 31st, and WPKN will once again be broadcasting "Radio Vibes" throughout the weekend.
• 12:00 noon – Interview with Roger McNamee from the band Moonalice. They played the Vibes in 2009, and are coming to FTC Stage One on July 29th.
• 12:30 p.m. – Sunday Brunch Concert: God Street Wine. Playing under their stealth name Jon Bevo's Love Orchestra, this is a rare appearance by the full original lineup of another Vibes alumnus. Recorded live at Garcia's at the Capitol Theatre on July 10th. Three members of GSW will combine with members of Assembly of Dust to perform at this year's Vibes under the name "Assembly of Wine." 

Fresh out of the box

Digital optical cable.

Less than two weeks away!

We're in the final run-up to Vibes. Today is a big test of our new AoIP system (audio over IP) for sending the feed from Seaside Park to WPKN's studio. We are planning to keep as much as we can in the digital domain, from the main stage soundboard right up to the computer feeding our mixing board at WPKN. That means a lot of tinkering and testing, but we're up for it.