This just in! WOWD  won second place in the “Best Radio Station” category in the Washington City Paper's Best of DC-2018 readers poll. The sole station with more votes than us was  50,000-watt National Public Radio powerhouse WAMU. Coming in at # 2 is quite an honor for a low-power, grass-roots, not-yet-two-years-old station like Takoma Radio. 

We’re so thrilled that City Paper readers recognized something special and enticing about WOWD’s programming. We offer the most diverse lineup of programming on the DC airwaves, produced and hosted by volunteers who are passionate about  what they broadcast, whether it’s a music show presenting blues, indie rock, reggae, tango, Americana, ambient, Latin, folk ballads, R&B, or heavy metal or a talk show covering books or local public affairs. 

Also, kudos to WOWD’s Robbie White (co-host of Forbidden Alliance, Sundays 9 am to noon), who came in # 2 in the readers’ poll for “Best DJ” citywide.

Shake off the week that was and jump start the weekend on Friday nights at 6pm with host T. Willy Will and his soulful show The Groove Line.  T. Willy gives us positivity, love and great music from a variety of African-American genres, heavy on soul and R&B. 

T. Willy came from a  big family and remembers moving his mom’s stereo to the front door so his family and friends could dance in the yard while he spun the tunes. Serving in the Army during Vietnam, he played music for the GIs, and later he started his own DJ business, T. Willy Will on the Wheels of Steel.   

He grew up in Oklahoma, just above the Texas Panhandle, listening to country music, soul music, Wolfman Jack, and his mother's “back in the day music.” He says, “I’m a country boy. We were raised to care about people, it didn’t matter who they were, what color they were. We were taught to love people.” 

Eventually, his groove quest led him to WOWD, and we're so glad! Special thanks to T. Willy Will's niece, D’Nicole of Sounds of Soul (alternate Sundays 8-10pm) for bringing such groove to our radio community.  

Profile by Reid Cramer
Photo by Todd Weinstein

Press Release:  Takoma Park. March 13, 2018           Hundreds of Takoma Radio listeners pledged nearly $20,000 to WOWD-LP 94.3 during the low-power station’s recent week-long fund drive, another mark of mushrooming support for the 20-watt start-up’s unique blend of good music, diverse voices and community engagement. 

On the air for less than two years, WOWD has established itself as a must-listen point on the dial for listeners in Takoma Park, Silver Spring, parts of Washington, D.C. and worldwide on TakomaRadio.org. Drawing on the area’s unmatched wealth of expertise, the mostly volunteer station was named the city’s “Best Radio Station” in its first year by the staff of the Washington Post Express. WOWD has also received regional and national recognition from Montgomery County, Preservation Maryland, and the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. 

But the station needs more than love to stay on the air. The March 4 -10 on-air campaign was the station’s second fund-drive since launching in July 2016. Station managers were encouraged by the results, although they are still crunching the numbers of the young non-profit. 

“It’s hard to know what the budget really is this early in the game,” says Diana Kohn, Executive Director of Historic Takoma, the local group that holds the license for Takoma Radio.  “Now that the costs of getting the station on the air are behind us, it looks like the station needs to raise about $150,000 each year for recurring expenses.”

Organizers are determined to translate the community's rapid embrace of the local station — residents regularly gather in front of the studio storefront on Westmorland Avenue to watch the hosts at work — into sustained material support.  

“If we couldn’t pay our bills, I guess we would go quiet," says Station Manager Marika Partridge. “But that won’t happen. The community has fallen in love with WOWD. Each time we ask for money, people give.  Individuals and organizations and businesses support us because this thing we have collectively created is vital.”

The station’s line-up boasts a no-where-but-Takoma mix of shows hosted by music experts, album collectors and teenagers. The schedule includes a weekly hour on local authors, a show on disability rights, a roundup of art exhibitions, and everything from late night local hip-hop to globe-trotting playlists of jazz, blues, folk, African and Latino music. Starting March 17, DC's only children's radio programming is on WOWD every Saturday morning at 8am.  

For more information on Takoma radio, contact TRex@TakomaRadio.org.

   Thank you for supporting Takoma Radio during our March Forth fundraising week. The love that surrounds this baby community radio station is palpable. During an Open Studio special on Friday March 9th, guest deejay Jim Fellows shared classic ukulele songs and waxed eloquent about WOWD. 

   “As a bigtime listener, my sense of community has greatly changed since the station came on the air.  What I can give to WOWD is of much smaller value than what I get back.  This station embodies a spirit of friendliness, generosity, and inclusiveness. It enlarges my life and opens my heart.  If it hasn’t done that for you so far, keep listening – and when it opens your heart, open your purse!”