WMM spins Songs of Freedom, Protest & Action

Wednesday MidDay Medley
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Songs of Freedom, Protest & Action for 2020
+ Marion Merritt + Betse Ellis +
Calvin Arsenia + Mike McCoy

While “this whole political world has gone insane,” Mark features Songs of Freedom, Protest & Action for 2020. COVID-19 has shuttered our theaters, musical venues, weddings, funerals and public schools. This cruel pandemic has killed 215,000 United States citizens, while elected leaders have turned their backs to science, safety, and the people suffering. We’ll spin tracks inspired by the times we’re living through from: Iris Dement, The Freedom Affair, Calvin Arsenia, Janelle Monáe, Miki P, The Jinxed, Berwanger, Mike McCoy’s Trompe L’oeil, Schwervon!, Dan Jones and The Squids, and Nicole Henry.

One of WMM’s longtime (16-years) contributors, Marion Merritt of Records With Merritt, a minority owned business in KCMO, joins us as our special guest co-host. We also welcome Betse Ellis, critically acclaimed fiddler, singer, songwriter, and one half of Betse & Clarke who joins us as special guest co-host. Betse & Marion will encourage our listeners to call 888-931-0901, or visit www.kkfi.org to support 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio during our Fall Fund Drive Show.

At 11:00 AM, we welcome Mike McCoy, born in Kansas and is a singer, songwriter, band leader, and social commentator. Mike McCoy has been making music for more than 30 years, playing country-roots to punk to performance art and power pop. Mike founded the KC band Cher UK (Cargo/FistPuppet) & (Red Decibel/Columbia Records) in the mid 1990s and fronted the Black Rabbits of Lawrence, Kansas, and two Austin, bands: American People and the Service Industry. Mike’s newest band, Mike McCoy’s Trompe-l’œil recently released the critically acclaimed “Eyein’ Lies.” Mike McCoy is back in KC to play the Cher UK 30th Anniversary Show at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming (NW corner of Wyoming & 17th St.), behind Voltaire, on Friday, October 16, at 7:00 PM with Dan Jones and The Squids, and Schwervon!. Lemonade Park is a limited capacity socially distanced outdoor venue created in partnership between recordBar, Voltaire, and Moxie Catering.

At 11:30 Mark talks with Calvin Arsenia who came home to KC in 2014 after living in Edinburgh, Scotland. His EPs: Moments, Prose, Catastrophe, Caviar, and album Catastrophe led to being signed to Center Cut Records where he released the albums Cantaloupe in 2018, and L.A. Sessions in 2019, along with the EP Honey Dew, an EP with Quixotic, and the album, All Is Calm. Voted KC’s Best Musician in The Pitch in 2018, and featured in Billboard, NPR.org, and GRAMMY.com, Calvin’s classically trained voice, visually striking 6-foot-6 presence, and deft harp playing have built his reputation as a live performer. Calvin Arsenia stars in “Summer in Hindsight,” a collaborative feature-length film created by The West 18th Street Fashion Show and Film Society KC, premiering Friday, October 16 at 7:00 PM the Boulevard Drive-In Theatre, 1051 Merriam Lane, KC,KS. Calvin Arsenia plays The Sound of Kansas City, Sunday, October 18, Noon to 10:00 PM, A Socially Distant Concert, on the Lawn of the Liberty Memorial, with Back Alley Brass Band, Larsen, The Way Way Back, What A Wreck, Attic Light, Flutienastiness, Emma Jo. More info at www.calvinarsenia.com

Show #859


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