Two Turntables and a Microphone

The past 20 or so days with KXCI and the Rialto have been pretty interesting to say the least. KXCI has been deep in the spring membership drive, so everyone at the station has been emotionally drained due to asking people for money every 10 minutes on air for 2 weeks. Interviewing anyone at the station has been impossible because of this, but now the membership drive is over, so I'm going to start interview today or Friday. During the membership drive I continued to go on air with Cathy from 3-6pm every Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays, but in addition to picking music/talking about music, I helped Cathy to do some pitching as well. Only thing I wish I was there for was when Janos came in, but unfortunately I was sick that day. Simply being at KXCI has helped my research into what community radio in Tucson is, as I get to see local up and coming bands, various organizations from the community, people of interest from Tucson and everything in between. KXCI has supported numerous non-profits with PSA (Public Service Announcement) broadcasts including the Community Food Bank, Center for Creative Photography, Women Behind Bars and Handi-Dogs. On average, KXCI runs about 35 PSA sports daily, around the clock, valued at more than $255,500 per year in service to the community. KXCI is more in tune with Tucson than any other organization in the area, which to me is pretty impressive.

Down the street from KXCI is my other internship/job, the Rialto Theatre. I've been going in noon to 3pm every Monday/Wednesdays/Fridays for the past couple weeks and helping with anything the booking department needs. Working there has really helped me to understand how the whole music industry works, which has been eye opening. For example, Stateside Presents is the largest booker of shows in the whole state, and it is essentially run by ONE guy, Charlie, who also hangs out and does his work in Tucson at the Rialto. Oddly enough, the majority of the shows he books are in Phoenix, while he lives in Tucson, but he does do co-pros (more about that in a minute) with the Rialto. Working at the office also has helped me understand not only how the Rialto books, but why certain shows happen at the Rialto. There are basically three kinds of shows that happen at the Rialto: co-pros, rentals and solos. Co-pros are shows that the Rialto puts on with help from one of the bookers like Stateside, Phenomenon, or ProMotion. Co-pros are pretty common at the Rialto, and looking at the calender we've got 7 co-pros coming up, including Mastodon, Calexico, and the Heartless Bastards . Rentals are when a booker rents out the Rialto for a show (like the AP Tour or Thrice). Rentals are really great because the Rialto gets guaranteed money from the booker and really doesn't have to worry about insurance, security etc. Finally, there's solo shows, which are shows that the Rialto puts on by themselves. These shows are also pretty common at the Rialto, with some upcoming shows featuring the New Pornographers, Drive by Truckers and Avett Brothers.

Okay, so I 've got lots more I could go on about, but I'll save it for whenever my next blog post happens, which will hopefully feature pictures of the Rialto/KXCI.