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Elkhart Web-only radio goes global

News Type: Event — Sun Jun 28, 2009 1:34 PM EDT

Tony Bayless operates the WERS sound board at the Elkhart Jazz Festival

John Schoen

Jazz fans who can't make it to the Elkhart Jazz Festival this year can listen in on WERS, a Web-only radio station created by a group of local music fans.

The station is the brainchild of Tony Bayless, a professional sound engineer who booted up the venture about six months ago after getting laid off from the RV industry.

"I had a recording studio and we wanted to be able to have the local guys here have a way to have their music to be listened to," he said. "The AM and FM radio stations were not any help whatsoever. So before we knew it, it got to this."

WERS offers up a full schedule of programming that includes a two-hour live show most nights.

Click here to listen to WERS

"A lot of the internet radio they just take a computer load it with music and let it run," said Bayless. "We have bands come to our studio and play live in the studio. We're trying to do everything opposite of what standard radio is doing. "

The station is staffed by about a dozen volunteer DJs, sound technicians, and ad salesman Chris "Fozzie" Kelly. Bayless says the venture is "just barely breaking even" – but local ad support has been strong.

"We've got lawyers, roofers, RV surplus guys, Realtors, Jones Investments, bars, auto mechanics," he said. "Just about everything you can imagine."

Between music sessions, WERS switches to talk radio format, interviewing festival organizers and musicians. Listeners are part of the show too – calling in on Skype or sending comments via e-mail. And unlike conventional over-the-air radio stations, WERS reaches a global audience.

"We've covered all the continents except Antarctica, and we haven't broken Greenland yet," said Bayless. "Fozzie has a personal fan in Poland."

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{"commentId":7912391,"authorDomain":"justnone"}
John-1187362

Interesting.... there's a college radio station in Boston with the call-letters WERS. Not sure these yahoos want to be trampling their trademark.....

{"commentId":7912391,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"justnone"}
    Reply#1 - Sun Jun 28, 2009 6:15 PM EDT
    {"commentId":7952410,"authorDomain":"thekarlmarzshow"}
    karl-1191896

    inquiring yahoos need to know, it's not a trademark. They are call letters assigned by the FCC. the same FCC that has absolutely no jurisdiction over the internet thank GOD! So,... back to your porn

    {"commentId":7952410,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"thekarlmarzshow"}
      #1.1 - Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:20 PM EDT
      Reply
      {"commentId":7913700,"authorDomain":"rolwin1"}
      jk-3

      Yahoos??? Even if they did choose someone else's call signal (and should have checked), I'd hardly call them yahoos compared to "sophisticated" Boston college students. Sophisticated? Yea, right. (And I used to be one of those "sophisticated" Boston college students.) 

      {"commentId":7913700,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"rolwin1"}
        Reply#2 - Sun Jun 28, 2009 7:56 PM EDT
        {"commentId":7918425,"authorDomain":"usmanb17"}
        Mohammad-794140

        Poor Boston College! Stuck between Harvard and MIT :-0

        {"commentId":7918425,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"usmanb17"}
          Reply#3 - Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:55 AM EDT
          {"commentId":7919174,"authorDomain":"lundorf"}
          Bill-1188166

          Unreal, here we have a sharp, entreprenural guy who is following his dream after getting shafted by the man. All we can do is throw stones at him...typical. I believe in you Tony...KEEP THE FAITH, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND ROCK ON!

          {"commentId":7919174,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"lundorf"}
            Reply#4 - Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:54 AM EDT
            {"commentId":7921266,"authorDomain":"NanaMex"}
            NanaMex

            G'donyas! Well done! Great effort and volunteers to be proud of! Sounds fantastic! Awesome idea!

            {"commentId":7921266,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"NanaMex"}
              Reply#5 - Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:14 AM EDT
              {"commentId":7924681,"authorDomain":"roger-thacker"}
              Roger Thacker

              Elkart, Proud of you folks for taking the bull by the horn. Makes me proud of Indiana, folks making news. I am Indiana guy myself. Elkart, keep up the good work you all have done. Us Indiana, folks gotta stick up for each other.

              {"commentId":7924681,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"roger-thacker"}
                Reply#6 - Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:42 PM EDT
                {"commentId":7926251,"authorDomain":"eufkin"}
                EDO-527535

                Well it does not seem like they did their homework if they took the call letters from Boston College. As far as the jazz festival goes, The weather was terribly hot and not much fun unless you had some shade and some cold refreshments. This is not the first time the festival has been held. It has been going on for years.

                {"commentId":7926251,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"eufkin"}
                  Reply#7 - Mon Jun 29, 2009 2:45 PM EDT
                  {"commentId":7940435,"authorDomain":"cyn-wedekind"}
                  Cynthia-975251

                  As hot as it was, the weather could have been a LOT worse, and has been in past years. I was there all three days. It was always cool by the evening, and Sunday was great with a nice breeze. I think moving the main stage to the grass helped out - people could spread out more and it didn't seem as hot as in years past.

                  {"commentId":7940435,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"cyn-wedekind"}
                    #7.1 - Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:35 AM EDT
                    Reply
                    {"commentId":7931987,"authorDomain":"just-me-2"}
                    just me-792558

                    EDO-it's nice that we can still offer this sort of entertainment. After all, the Genesis Grant is a major source of funding for this and last year awarded this festival $33K when they requested $120K. This year they were only given $10K. (source: )

                    I'm sorry an air-conditioned trailer was not at your disposal during *gasp* the month of June. The high temperature in recent years was 95 and that was 2005. If I remember right, it was in the mid-to upper 80's last weekend. They also moved the free stage to Central Park, out of the shade of the buildings of the city. And to compete with the Taste of Chicago's opening weekend during these terrible economic times is a bold move, proving that we have faith in our entertainment. They had anticipated ticket sales to be down 40% and they were right.

                    I'm not sure if you live here, or were just visiting. We're doing our best to make good of a bad situation.

                    As for the station, they're still up from what I see. If there was an issue, the FCC would have done something by now. After all, aren't there required forms to register this info with them?

                    These guys and gals are doing this on their own time-volunteering. The guy that started it got laid off and decided to put his time to good use while he searches for a job. They really do not need such negativity aimed at them when they are giving time to something they like to do. I personally volunteer for a non-profit a couple of hours a week just to keep my spirits up while I also send my resume out. It's hard to keep your head up. If you want to bring people down, I'm sure you have neighbors or family you can "educate" on their mistakes.

                    Long story short-if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the sun in Elkhart during the summertime. If you don't have anything nice to say/type, then don't waste your time posting.

                    {"commentId":7931987,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"just-me-2"}
                      Reply#8 - Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:26 PM EDT
                      {"commentId":7975056,"authorDomain":"lily-1193646"}
                      Lily-1193646

                      FACT: WERS "We're Elkhart's Radio Station"

                      {"commentId":7975056,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"lily-1193646"}
                        Reply#9 - Wed Jul 1, 2009 6:53 PM EDT
                        {"commentId":7975394,"authorDomain":"lily-1193646"}
                        Lily-1193646

                        FACT: WERS "We're Elkhart's Radio Station"

                        I think you folks should check out their web site:

                        Elkhart Internet Radio

                        {"commentId":7975394,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"lily-1193646"}
                          Reply#10 - Wed Jul 1, 2009 7:12 PM EDT
                          {"commentId":7975760,"authorDomain":"lily-1193646"}
                          Lily-1193646

                          FACT: WERS "We're Elkhart's Radio Station"

                          You folks should look at their web site:

                          Elkhart Internet Radio

                          Keep up the good work Tony!

                          {"commentId":7975760,"threadId":"614750","contentId":"2977844","authorDomain":"lily-1193646"}
                            Reply#11 - Wed Jul 1, 2009 7:35 PM EDT
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