Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

Right to Radio

The Federal Communications Commission has warned the operators of First Amendment Radio to cease broadcasting. However, the community pirate station has vowed to stay on the air, fighting for what its operators say is their constitutional right.

Royce Leonardson, a compliance officer from the FCC's Atlanta office, showed up at the station last Wednesday with two police officers. Leonardson apparently demanded to inspect the station's equipment. However, he did not have a search warrant and the station's volunteers refused to let him on the property, says Chris Irwin.

"We asked him, 'Why aren't you out there hassling the 50 media corporations that gobbled up the airwaves?" Irwin says.

Leonardson would not comment to Metro Pulse about the investigation. The warning letter cited the station for operating without FCC authorization and refusing to allow an inspection. However, the station was not cited for causing interference problems or creating a safety hazard.

Irwin says the FCC officer asked why the station hadn't applied for one of the FCC's low-power FM community licenses. Irwin responded that heavy lobbying by National Public Radio and the radio industry gutted that new license classification, making it impossible to get a permit in urban areas.

"He was not well educated on the issue," Irwin says. "He said, 'You need to elect a senator.' I said, 'We can't afford one.'"

Although the station is temporarily off the air, Irwin says it should be back on by this weekend, broadcasting at 90.9 FM. Although they do not have a license, the organizers reject the term "pirate radio," saying that the airwaves are public domain and that they have a right to use them, as long as they don't interfere with other stations.

Irwin says First Amendment Radio is using state-of-the-art equipment that is very clean. "We have less power than a lightbulb....There are at least three stations in this town that bleed and bounce all over," he says.

At press time, the station's managers were considering their options, including frequently changing broadcast locations. Irwin is hopeful. He says a pirate station in Asheville received a similar warning about a year and a half ago, but the FCC has yet to follow up on it. The radio station is working with several UT law students and a lawyer, researching case law in case the conflict ends up in court. They're also contemplating joining forces with the Asheville and Nashville pirate stations in their battle with the FCC.

"They can't shut us down. If they do, well get more equipment and get the word out," he says.

Catching Up with Pegasi

Local goth (sort of) punkers Pegasi 51 branched out early this year, playing shows at the Springwater in Nashville on Jan. 5 and a showcase at the ACME Underground in NYC on Jan. 15. Singer Rusty Yarnell reports that the Nashville show was an unqualified success, despite the fact that the boys in Mustard (originally slated to play with them) backed out at the last minute. "We just played a longer set than we planned to and everyone stuck around till the end," Yarnell says.

Pegasi had a great time at the New York show, too, and managed to take a tour of Ground Zero. But, the gig being a band showcase, and New York being New York, the crowds were fickle. "Since we were literally unknown, and we played last, there wasn't much of a crowd left by the time we played," Yarnell says. (He was excited to learn after they returned that The Strokes had played ACME several months ago.) They did give away a dozen CDs, though, and plan to make it back.

In other Pegasi news: Southeast Performer has a profile of the band for its March issue. Buy one for each of your goth-sensitive friends. And if you want to catch them live, the Pegasi boys will play Blue Cats on Saturday, March 16 with the Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 and Coma.

Local CD Review

Knoxville Jazz Orchestra
One for the Team! (Shade Street)

If there were any question before, this CD settles it: "Rocky Top" doesn't swing and cannot be made to. And unfortunately, the same applies to other titles included on this novelty release by the little big band that could (and does), the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra. While the Big Orange sentiment may be well-intended, perhaps a marching band would've been more appropriate to the material.

But if "Rocky Top" and its reprise disappoint, and "Tennessee Waltz" isn't, there's good news. Nestled amidst this 19 minutes of pom-pom fare is a real groove: Brother Jack McDuff's "Rock Candy". Not only is this thankfully the longest tune on the CD, but it features Dan Trudell's Hammond organ at full tilt. Although not given the time one would like to really stretch, Trudell gets a few licks in nevertheless, even tangling with the KJO horn section, and is well-rewarded by the Fairbanks Roasting Room applause. More of the same, please.

Also of interest is KJO Director Vance Thompson's original One for the Team!, demonstrating what this band can do when set to it. An upbeat number in keeping with the recording's sporting life tone, One for the Team! delivers the real deal, complete with a muted but nevertheless shouting trombone solo, which one only wishes were more forward in the mix. Also featured are alto sax, tenor sax, and trumpet solos, plus the tight, in-the-pocket ensemble delivery of a well-rehearsed big band orchestra.

Let's look forward to the next KJO offering, perhaps some of the European tour repertoire, which surely didn't include gridiron crowd chants (tell me it ain't so).

—Emma "No space to Go. this week" Poptart with Joe Tarr, Matthew T. Everett and Jonathan B. Frey