RADIOTHON..... IS ON.

That's right, brothers and sisters! RadioThon is ON! Missoula's home to independent, community, student, punk, reggae, hardcore, hip hop, local, local, local, metal, tamburitza and Malian musics, news, Pet Problems, locally-developed high quality shows, etc. needs your support! We are in the midst of RadioThon this week, and need you to be part of the station's support base!

Head to brand new: kbga.org and go about it that way, or go ahead and call 406-243-KBGA!
Your donation helps keep the doors open, and keeps things pumping. The premiums are nuts, $15 gets you a tee shirt, printed on super soft American Apparel.

Watch this several times, please.

ONEIDA: MISSOULA-BOUND.
Sonic wasters from New York, Oneida are coming to Missoula this month, courtesy of KBGA. Oneida play Total Fest IX, which happens August 19-21 (2010) at the Palace, Badlander, Missoula Art Museum and Big Dipper Ice Cream. Ear Candy Music in Missoula has passes, and KBGA will feature a interview, and we'll post a link to that here shortly. A full listing of all Total Fest bands can be found at totalfest.org, brah. Total Fest is an all-ages welcomed event.

Hey, enjoy a vid of their (quite poppy, by other) standards the Adversary tune here, and familiarize with some of their other music, like the tune Up With People. Their catalog runs incredibly deep, and we dig it from start to finish.

PUBLIC MEETINGS, NEW STAFF and SUMMER PLANS!
While this picture would make it seem like mssrs. Justice and Parker were taking part in some kind of Desecration Ritual (or something equally sinister) this is actually a photo from KBGA's innaugural open-to-the-general-public meeting! I think these guys were getting some cheez-dip or cruidite...

Anyhow, at the end of April KBGA opened its doors and heart to the public at large, and among other things, heard some great supportive words from long-time listeners and supporters about the important role the station plays in providing an independent source of music, news and ideas. Most of the crowd comprised folks with some kind of direct station connection, with the exception of Charles Martin, an awesome photographer who's documented a ton of Missoula's live music scene on his Flickr page. Some of us discussed the awesome role KBGA plays in offering a venue for local music to be played and find support, and expressed intrest in developing a broader vision for the station, beyond what's traditionally been around. Folks discussed the importance of maintaining an informal "use KBGA to learn, make mistakes and figure out radio" vibe, but also discussed the possibilities for creating and archiving some of the station's unique content.

KBGA has gone through its annual new-hiring process, and if you're interested in seeing who comprises the student staff, have a look at the main website, good ol' KBGA.org

And what all else here... KBGA is sponsoring Total Fest (August 19-21)again this year, and specifically, is responsible for underwriting the travel of Brooklyn psych lords ONEIDA! Whoa. Be there.

IT'S RADIOTHON! TIME TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT AND APPRECIATION FOR KBGA! DIAL 406-243-KBGA BETWEEN 8:00 AM AND 9:00 PM.
KBGA doesn't spend but a week a year making requests of you, our listeners and friends. The other fifty one weeks are dedicated to rolling out the finest that radio has to offer. Everything from long-running, psychedelic specialty shows, Pet Problems, blues, H-Rap!, the Ultramega Ultrablast, Niki's Muffintops, Award-winning News, Democracy Now, etc. etc.

You want Nickelback, get it from another source. You want non-commercial, community-driven, volunteer-supported, Melvins-playin', rad event throwin' (Kurt Vile? Vampire Weekend?), local-band/musician charting (see Volumen, Turner Capehart Canty, the Electric Dandelion, Rooster Sauce, Bridgebuilder, Vera, etc. etc. etc.) tune your dial (or browser) to 89.9FM and kbga.org.

We've got premiums galore, ranging from gift certificates to restaurants, sweet merch from local businesses, and a whole heckuva lot more. Our needs are modest, your support goes a long way toward keeping us on the air and streaming!

Love, KBGA volunteers and staff.

THE BUGS: Two Men, One Mission.

The mission the Bugs are on is to write some of the most gut-twisting, no pretense rock and roll music you'll find in the western hemisphere. They get compared to the Urinals whose vibe is certainly untuned in the instrument department, frantic and a little spastic too. That comparison, is about halfway right, the other half is that the Bugs are their own awesome deal, they write brilliant songs, play from their hearts and damned if I don't well up a bit when they bust out a love song.

I first remember meeting Mike Bug when he was roadying for Last of the Juanitas. Mike would get up on stage and sing Big Eyed Space Girl with the band, when they were essentially an instrumental group. The guy's got unique, awesome pipes and it's awesome he's got the bugs to rock with.

They've got a new record out called Barbaric, Mystical Bored and KBGA's got a copy, ask for it by name, friend.

VOLUMEN: SET TO POP AT BIRTHDAY BASH! (and) PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE PANTS.
Lots of reportage here in KBGA Country, friends: first things, first: KBGA is now streaming over the web! link up and listen from anywhere with a decent connection! http://kbga.org/ is the site! Next up: KBGA's big- summer co-sponsored to-do, Total Fest VIII was a smashing success, and in particular, the station's contribution of Oakland boogie-rockers Drunk Horse helped make this August event one of the most memorable yet! The Horse rumbled, rocked and ultimately slayed a packed Badlander house on August 22nd. This Holly Huthman photo attests to the wildness. Other highlights: Japanther (juicers gone wild), Wildildlife (psych psounds!), Electric Dandelion (dandelonious!), Helms Alee (!!!!holeeee SHEIZ!!!!), Filth Mattress (wahooooo!) Etc. etc. etc. It was an epic year, and KBGA was a proud part of the festivities.

NEXT UP: KBGA's 13th annual Birthday Bash is nearly upon us! The Bash happens Friday, Sept. 25th at the Badlander and Palace Lounge, downtown Missoula. Click here to avail yourself of all the Birthday Bash festivities. Heavy Missoula new wavers Volumen (who've been a band for just longer than the station, but who've been one of the local bands the station's always had a soft spot for) are using the occasion of the Birthday Bash to push out a BRAND NEW ALBUM! The record, entitled "Skipper of Reverses," is a heavy-hitting collection of this great band's last few year's worth of material. It's music that's largely based around single riff, or a at max a couple riffs per song, when in the past the bands ability to multi-song on single songs was a big part of their stock in trade. I've always liked comparing to Volumen to (good) XTC, with its heaviness, great melody, wild hooks and a serious grounding in pop. The record was enginered my Shmedley "Shmed" Maynes at his Club Shmed studio.

Other star power at the birthday bash comes in the form of Spokanite and sound-mixer extraordinaire, James Pants. Pants has been putting his hometown on the map for a bunch of years as a guy you'd be much more likely find in downtown Philly, or the Bronx, rather than the self-proclaimed capitol of Washington state's (rural) "Inland Empire." He's got over 8000 myspace friends and is buds with Peanut Butter Wolf. What more do you jive turkeys need?

KBGA IS BRINGING DRUNK HORSE TO TOTAL FEST VIII!
Oakland, California's a town with a musical pedigree. From Tower of Power to the Coup, and back over to High on Fire, Brainoil and the Fleshies Oaktown's a powerhouse. Sitting well atop the pile of talent that decides to call the East Bay home is Drunk Horse. Drunk Horse's dynamic, loud rock and roll is the kind of music that you don't hear in crappy punk clubs, unless ... it's Drunk Horse playing. Lyrically, Eli Eckert's words deal with a wide range of themes, ranging from the biblical to Bach, and man's fallibility.

They started their career on Frank Kozik's upstart imprint, Man's Ruin, and released an epic couple of records, Drunk Horse and Tanning Salon/Biblical Proportions, and then moved along to Tee Pee.

Somewhere along the line, they hooked up with the Fucking Champs, Cherry Valence and Federation X, played Total Fest I (in 2002) and toured like men posessed. They went to Slovenia. They came home. They put out the Prince covers 7"s on Wantage. Their most recent, 2005's In Tongues, upped the ante for the Drunk Horse deal. It brought their straightforward hard-boogie sound to new levels, and left fans with the record left on perma-repeat for months. Songs like Reformed Asshole and Vatican Shuffle showed that they were erudite dudes who could fucking rock. And then, right around the 10th anniversary of the 'Horse's founding, they began to play a lot less. Cyrus upped his commitment to equally shredding Saviours, Eli stepped up his fathering duties, and the Horse came through much less frequently.

Well, that all had to change, and the forces that be at KBGA decided that to commemorate year 8 of Total Fest, we'd invest in bringing this crew back up to the Treasure State. Total Fest happens August 20-22 in Missoula, Montana at the Badlander/Palace. Enjoy.