Big Heavy World’s Local Music Radio Show Expands to Northeast Kingdom
Press Release by Big Heavy World. Photos by Derek Campbell.
‘Rocket Shop North’ on 91.5 The Impulse promotes Vermont musicians in Caledonia County
Big Heavy World’s local music radio program, ‘Rocket Shop,’ has been broadcasting on 105.9FM The Radiator in Burlington since 2007, presenting hundreds of live interviews and performances by Vermont musical artists, hosted by Brent Hallenbeck, arts writer for the Burlington Free Press. Lyndon State College students Lucas Tabshey and Patrick Boccio have begun producing a second weekly Rocket Shop program from the campus. ‘Rocket Shop North’ airs Mondays 8-10pm on WWLR FM 91.5FM The Impulse, broadcasting to all of Caledonia County, VT, and most of Coos County, NH with a transmitted output of 3,000 watts.
Both Tabshey and Boccio completed a summer internship at Big Heavy World, contributing to its work of preserving and promoting Vermont-made music. Their interest in event marketing, nonprofit development, and band promotion led to their continued involvement with supporting Vermont-made music. Tabshey said, “Working at BHW over the summer, witnessing all the artists they were interviewing, and being a guest on their show with Voices in Vain as well sparked my interest in starting a local music radio show, and I saw the opportunity to bring Big Heavy World to Lyndon State College."
Boccio said, “Being a part of the BHW radio show helped me have an understanding for what our show (Rocket Shop North) would look like, and it helped me get more experience in that aspect of the music business industry."
Musical artists Drew Cathcart, Brayden Baird, Rookie, Symbiosa, Christy Rosario, and Sam Morris have already appeared on Rocket Shop North, which began its broadcast in September, 2016. Upcoming guests include Immortal Combat.
The Music Business and Industry Program at Lyndon State College provides curriculum, technology, industry partnerships and internships that provide education and experience supporting careers in the multifaceted music industry. Both Tabshey and Boccio are Music Business and Industry majors. Joe Gittleman, Assistant Professor at Lyndon State College, said, "For as long as I've been teaching at Lyndon we've had students who are interested in the work of Big Heavy World. Big Heavy World has helped our students out with tour vans and over the years we've connected on a number of valuable internships. Rocket Shop North provides a great opportunity for Lyndon students to take over the airwaves and hone their production chops while creating cool content and sharing local music with a wider audience."
Rocket Shop North streams live during the radio broadcast at http://tunein.com/radio/WWLR---The-Impulse-915-s23798/ and is podcast by Big Heavy World at http://www.bigheavyworld.com/rocketshop
For more information contact:
James Lockridge, jim@bigheavyworld.com, (802) 865-1140.
Lucas Tabshey, lucas.tabshey@lsc.vsc.edu, (860) 461-8835
Patrick Boccio, patrick.boccio@lsc.vsc.edu, (802) 734-9473
Photo: L-R Patrick Boccio and Lucas Tabshey in The Impulse broadcast studio. Photo by Derek Campbell.
About Big Heavy World: Big Heavy World is an independent nonprofit music development office working to archive and promote the original music of Vermont. With a crew of mostly high school and college-aged volunteers, it publishes information about Vermont’s music industry, loans a tour van to bands, archives thousands of Vermont-made recordings and photographs, and operates 105.9FM, a radio station highlighting the Chittenden County region’s creative community. bigheavyworld.com