Author: chiefengineer

High Speed Brakes, the WRTC station manager’s indie rock band, was recorded at the station at the end of Trinity’s spring 2024 semester.

Guitarist/vocalist Emeline Avignon — WRTC station manager for the last academic year — along with three of her Trinity friends, formed the band and recorded an EP of three original songs.

Avignon, drummer Max Campbell, bassist Rob Svitek, and guitarist/vocalist Victoria Camuy set up their instruments in the station’s production studio and a couple of offices where they were recorded and mixed by WRTC Chief Engineer John Schwenk (who does both broadcast and audio engineering).

You can hear the results for free on their Band Camp page and more of Schwenk’s work on his website.

…And Trinity celebrates WRTC as one of its 200 Years, 200 Stories. Originally published in the Trinity Reporter last year, The Enduring Voice of Trinity College was written in honor of WRTC’s 75th anniversary.

The Trinity College Bicentennial page.

WRTC will participate in the college’s Alumni Bicentennial Celebration and Reunion Weekend, June 8-11, with a special remote broadcast and studio tours for visiting alumni on June 9, 5-8 p.m.

Are you a WRTC/Trinity alumnus? Would you like to talk on the air about your WRTC memories? We’d love to have you. Please contact General Manager Chris Cowles for more information.

On Oct. 19, WRTC hosted the New Haven-based experimental improvisatory duo, Tongue Depressor, to play in the unique and resonant Crypt Chapel downstairs in the Trinity College Chapel.

You can enjoy the concert yourself with this video. They played the small pipe organ there as well as double bass and bag pipes. Entirely acoustic, their music resonated and reverberated in the enclosed stone space in a wonderful and satisfying way.

Almost everyone who donated to our recent fundraising-marathon and requested them should have received their premiums by now.

Thank you so much for your donation!

If you’ve had any issues receiving your premium(s), please e-mail our general manager as shown on our contact page.

If you’d still like to donate and (perhaps choose to) receive a hat or T-shirt, it’s not too late. Use the “donate” button below and fill out the form on our secure on-line donation page.

No matter if he was playing solo acoustic or with line-ups as diverse as the Grateful Dead, Old & In The Way, Legion of Mary or his long-running Jerry Garcia Band, many times there were old timey spirituals in the sets Jerry Garcia performed.

The May 2 edition of Greasy Tracks celebrated that oft-overlooked spiritual side of Garcia by featuring interviews with members of  The Garcia Project as well as their recent release, Spirit: A Loving Tribute To Jerry Garcia And The Spiritual Songs He Performed.

Click here to listen to an archive of the show, while a playlist is here.

Guitarist Mik Bondy and vocalist Kat Walkerson of The Garcia Project provided insight on the recording of the 12-track album. There was an interview with Maria Muldaur who produced the project and contributed harmony vocals on most tracks and lead vocals on a version of Charles Johnson’s “Sisters And Brothers.” This was a familiar track for Muldaur who included it on her 1978 release Southern Winds. She toured and recorded with Garcia during the 1970s.

A number of individuals who played with Garcia were involved in the sessions, including drummer Buzz Buchanan and vocalist Jacklyn LaBranch.

In addition to tracks from Spirit, there were live 1970s nuggets from the Jerry Garcia Band.

The April 25 edition of Greasy Tracks featured an in-depth overview of the Tulsa Sound, best portrayed by the likes of JJ Cale and Leon Russell.

Included was an interview with bassist/vocalist Casey Van Beek who discussed the legendary style of music associated with Tulsa, Okla., as well as the just-released Heaven Forever by his group Casey Van Beek and the Tulsa Groove.

Click here to listen to an archive of the show, while a playlist is here.