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Stealing All Transmissions
Knoxville’s pirate radio station was the victim of a burglary last Monday afternoon, when two men broke into Knoxville’s First Amendment Radio’s trailer in South Knoxville, stealing two CD players, a turntable, computer, headphones, TV monitor and a few other items.
The theft didn’t shut KFAR 90.9 FM down; the most important equipment—the mixing board and transmitter—were bolted down. But it did leave the volunteer-run station scrambling to replace what was lost.
“We have equipment burn out from overuse a lot, so every few months we’re replacing something. Most of the equipment that was stolen we’d bought in the past year,” says one KFAR deejay, who goes by the alias The Ghost. “We definitely did not have the funds to purchase new equipment.”
The Ghost said he couldn’t estimate how much all the equipment cost. Some speculate that the thieves might have gotten the idea to raid the station after reading the July 4 News Sentinel article that focused on KFAR.
The station has stepped up security, replacing the locks and putting out a new security camera. “One good thing about [the theft] is it kind of prepared us for if the FCC came and took our equipment, how fast can we get stuff to get back on the air,” he says.
If you’d like to help out, a list of needed equipment will soon be up on the station’s website, www.kfar.org, or you can call the station at 577-7955. Keep an eye out for some upcoming benefits in the Old City.
That’s Sergeant Wroble to You
Former frontwoman of local big band The Streamliners, Paige Wroble, made cameos on C-SPAN and CNN last month singing at former president Ronald Reagan’s memorial services. Wroble left town for Washington, D.C., less than a year ago when she was chosen to take over the lead vocalist position for Airmen of Note, the premier jazz ensemble of the United States Air Force and predecessor of Glenn Miller’s Army Corps Dance Band.
On June 9, Technical Sgt. Wroble, as she is now officially titled, and the Singing Sergeants closed the memorial with an a cappella rendition of Reagan’s favorite hymn, “America the Beautiful,” at the Capitol Rotund upon Nancy Reagan’s request. For the funeral, she performed with a joint service chorus at the National Cathedral.
What role Knoxville played in grooming Wroble for the somber event is questionable. The only discernable segue between this city’s recent music scene and Reagan-era politics is limited to the “Reagan-Bush ’84” campaign logo-inspired buttons that The Rockwells give out at shows, and the last time we saw Wroble, she was downtown at Fairbanks crooning sweet, saucy nothings to a martini-fueled crowd of swing dancers.
Come On In Their Kitchen
Mike Crawley and his wife, Gretchen, will be on an upcoming Food Network series called Kitchen Accomplished, which has yet to debut.
For the home improvement show, the Crawleys turned their kitchen over to an interior designer, a chef and a contractor, who renovated it over four days, while the Crawleys were kept away.
“They get together like the Mod Squad,” Crawley says. “It’s amazing what they can do in four days.... We had a blast because the people on the crew were awesome.
“When they got here they tore out everything except for the cabinets,” he says. The work included new floor, painting the walls, new appliances, recessed lighting. “Everywhere they could improve, they did,” he says.
“They focused on our lifestyle—me working nights, Gretchen working days. The only time we get together is when we eat,” Crawley says. “[Since the renovation] we’ve been in the kitchen so much.
“I’m shocked because it still sticks out,” he adds.
Part of the shows’ cast includes designer Wolfgang Schaber, who lives in Knoxville. We might also get to see Crawley in action on TV as the crew filmed one of his performances in June.
You can see Crawley play with the Detroit Daddies every Sunday at Rooster’s on Northshore Drive and every Tuesday at Charlie Pepper’s on the Strip. The next MacDaddies performance will be July 24 at O’Charley’s on the Strip.
Village Maestro
If you happen to go see The Village, M. Night Shyamalan new thriller, listen closely and you might hear the sound of a familiar baton cutting the air. Or maybe the screams of audience members will drown out any proof of Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Maestro Lucas Richman’s presence. Back in June, Richman conducted James Newton Howard’s score to the film that’s bound to be as creepy as Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense and Signs. Richman was thrilled to conduct Grammy-winning violinist Hilary Hahn. Richman, one of those elusive Los Angeles natives, has conducted scores for As Good As It Gets, Seven, Breakdown, and most recently, part of Rachel Portman’s score for the upcoming remake of The Manchurian Candidate starring Denzel Washington.
—Joe Tarr, Leslie Wylie, Paige M. Travis
July 22, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 30
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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