So, why WYCE and The Funky Buddha…? Music has been an important part of the Funky Buddha culture since the beginning. A little live music with your yoga? A few LASERS and a DJ?!?! Maybe a slow jam now and again – all “normal” things in Funky Buddha-land. Through our live music and live DJ yoga classes, the Funky Buddha has developed a strong, creative, and collaborative partnership with the Grand Rapids local music scene. The Funky Buddha’s relationship with WYCE developed organically – cordial acquaintances, casually hanging out with the cool kids in the “Cool Things Happening in Grand Rapids” pool. In 2015, in a show of support for all of our Funky Buddha Musicians, The Funky Buddha Yoga Hothouse sponsored the WYCE Jammie Awards, the largest celebration of local music in Grand Rapids. And as the paths of The Funky Buddha and WYCE continued to cross, a more involved Community Partnership became obvious – like DUH, obvious. Funky Buddhas <3 local music, and WYCE’s WHOLE LIFE is local music. So here is a little glimpse into the funky cool world of WYCE, Radio for the Community.
Radio for the Community
By Quinn Mathews, WYCE Station Manager
Article published October 18, 2016
I think it’s pretty safe to say EVERY town has a radio station right? Everywhere you are at anytime you can throw on the radio and choose many different options. Hard Rock, or Hip Hop or talk radio from the left, talk radio from the right. Everything, Everywhere.
But Grand Rapids has something unique and in 2017 that unique thing will celebrate 30 years in West Michigan. It’s 88.1FM WYCE non-commercial community radio. It’s listener sponsored and volunteer powered.
Let me explain…
Non Commercial: NO COMMERCIALS. Zero. Zip.
Listener Sponsored: Funded by the community, not by a company, not by the government.
Volunteer Powered: ANYONE can program a show on the radio, it’s volunteers from the community.
The only catch is, the station plays a wide variety of music that people like to hear. Not music that someone requires you to play. Sounds like a dream come true right? It kind of is. I guess if it’s a dream the dream has been lasting for 30 years. You will always hear unique programming, the best blend of Folk, Rock, Bluegrass, Jazz, Blues, Reggae, and World Music.
We are so fortunate to be able to take this musical journey in a city as vibrant and creative as Grand Rapids. This city, our city, has so many opportunities for WYCE to interact musically with the public in non-traditional ways – be it a music festival on a bridge during the largest Art Festival in the world (I am referring to Art Prize, just in case you were wondering), regular live music on your lunch break in the heart of Grand Rapids, or a packed live music hot yoga class at the Funky Buddha Yoga Hothouse (talking to you, you music loving Funky Buddhas).
Also tune in to specialty shows:
THURSDAYS at 12pm: “GR LIVE” A live radio show experience on 88.1FM that takes place downtown at The B.o.B. every Thursday at noon! Live performances and interviews all open to the public for lunch! Join us and watch a radio show!
FRIDAYS at 11am: “Local Spins” All local West Michigan music and in studio performances!
SUNDAYS at 10pm: “Soul Club Hour” Spinning 50’s and 60’s soul music all on Vinyl!
88.1FM WYCE, give a listen, make a request, or even come take a class at the Grand Rapids Community Media Center and start your own show! We’d love to have you! See you out in GR!
Stay Funky,
Quinn
