Around Labor Day last year, a small, absentee-owned commercial radio station started broadcasting from Potomac, MD on the very same FM frequency as WOWD. Their signal caused interference for some WOWD listeners, particularly those west of downtown Silver Spring and north of the Beltway.  We asked you to write in, and you did!  We sent your testimony to the Federal Communications Commission, and on May 8, the FCC ruled in our favor and ordered that station to stop transmitting.  We’ll be checking to see that they do.

In the meantime, know that we are grateful for your vigilant support of community radio. Thank you, from everybody here at Takoma Radio.

Jack Hairston, a 14-year old graduate of WOWD’s URadio youth training program, will host a music variety show Fridays at 4pm, starting May 18.  

DJ Quartermaine brings club DJ skills to Sunday late night radio (11pm) starting May 20. Uncle Q’s Living Room features R&B, funk, and soul. 

Julz Silverman’s Bohemian Groove replaces M&M Musical Magazineon alternate Thursdays at 7pm, starting June 7. Julz is an artist whose setlists explore music that feeds the process of creating visual art. (Former M&M host Marika Partridge is now on every Tuesday at 10am with the eclectic Check-In Time.)

WOWD welcomes Steve Korn, joining Bobby Hill as host of This! Music (Saturdays 10am). Steve heads RhizomeDC, an experimental arts and performance space in Takoma.  And a warm welcome to Brian Weber, joining the host team of Musical Traditions Encounter (Sundays 5-7pm.)
 

Matt Testa hosts Coda, a showcase of contemporary classical music every other Wednesday at 6pm on WOWD. He's also a member of the Programming Committee, assessing program applications and tracking existing shows.

By day, Matt is an archivist at the Arthur Friedheim Library at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He grew up in a musical home in Buffalo, N.Y.  He and his siblings all played instruments: clarinet, piano, flute, and percussion. He majored in Music in college, and then got a Master's in Musicology. Contemporary classical music fascinates him.  “With new music, you don’t know what to expect,” says Matt. “I don’t necessarily respond well to the difficult or dissonant, but I do appreciate the challenge.”

Matt's current listening includes “Become Ocean” by John Luther Adams, and the Now Ensemble’s newly released “Rounder Songs,” which Matt describes as a blend of folk and classical that “hits a sweet spot " - reminiscent of Aaron Copeland’s “Appalachian Spring.”  Tune in Wednesdays from 6-8pm for Coda with Matt Testa. Coda alternates with Classic Armenian Dipthongs, another unique program presenting off-the-beaten-track music. 

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.