By Will Prim ’25
Last summer I was fortunate to spend time in the rolling mountains of Western North Carolina interning for local station WNCW. Broadcast out of Isothermal Community College in Spindale, North Carolina, WNCW has served the lowlands and the highlands of North Carolina since 1989. The station specializes primarily in folk, bluegrass, and Americana music, but broadcasts music from different genres. The station also plays a significant role in producing different regional music festivals and concerts. I experienced many different aspects of WNCW. One of my tasks was going through newly released albums and programming them into the station’s Audio Vault system to be played on “ARC Overnight,” the station’s overnight show. The overnight programming focuses on new, independent artists and the experimental side of WNCW’s catalog. Through this project, I was authorized to choose songs from recently released records and program them into the station’s audio database. I gained technical knowledge of Broadcast Electronics’ Audio Vault program.
I also worked with the station’s director of programming, Joe Kendrick, on his podcast “Southern Songs and Stories,” based on interviews with different Southern artists in Americana, folk, and bluegrass, often highlighting artists who are progressive, non-cis-gendered, straight, white males. I conducted pre-interview research, question writing, and artist coordination for multiple interviews. Finishing out this project, I asked questions, alongside Joe, to Old Crow Medicine Show lead singer Ketch Secor. Lastly, another project for WNCW was pre-recording two “ARC Overnight” shows for the station’s late-night programming. I learned how to navigate Adobe Audition confidently and flexed my creative muscles to curate eight hours of music-based programming. This process involved artist research, selecting songs from artists who were on heavy rotation, and recording. I spent many hours in the production studio creating this program and finished with an end product I was proud to have aired on WNCW’s airwaves. Day-to-day, I operated the camera for the station’s “Live in Studio B” sessions, which are when artists perform a set live at the station, which are broadcasted on air and streamed on their website. Through this programming, I gained confidence in my ability to work with a live broadcasting camera to present the best shots to a large audience.
Throughout this internship, I gained a new perspective on the world of public radio, learned hard skills that are important to the trade, and created valuable connections with amazing people in the world of public media. I was incredibly fortunate to work and to now know an amazing group of people, and am looking forward to doing more work with WNCW over winter break. I want to thank Carleton’s Career Center for their guidance, the Sam ’75 and Meg Woodside Endowed Fund for Career Exploration for its generous funding, and the people at WNCW for all of their guidance and kindness!