You’re listening to 91.9 KCSS Turlock, the voice of California State University, Stanislaus. A new project is moving forward in the productions studio at KCSS, bringing local musicians together to create the first KCSS compilation album to be released May 2015. Accompanied with this album is a live video series featuring local musicians in the KCSS studio sharing their talent.
Productions Director, Garrett Smart, is bringing solo musicians and bands in after hours to capture live audio and video recordings as well as interviews.
“I’ve been watching local bands play in the Central Valley since I was very young,” Smart (senior, Communication Studies) said. “I feel like the talent in this area isn’t given the attention it deserves and I thought that a great way to do that would be to bring as many artists together in one place, virtually as well as physically. A compilation album that more than 20 artists will be featured on plus the KCSS Band Stand concert seems like exactly what the Central Valley needs to help further these artists connections and individual publicity.”
Smart hopes that this is the first of many KCSS compilation albums that feature the local talent and hopes to make this an annual project for the radio station.
The local musicians that are coming in weekly to record their music with KCSS are enjoying their experiences and looking forward to the album release. Not only will they have free recordings of their music, they will have videos that they can share through social media to support their musical careers. Josh Lownsbery, singer/songwriter of the band What Eats Hydra, recently came into the studio to record two songs and talk with KCSS about his music and his love for the local music scene.
“Local music is a large part of why I choose to live here,” Lownsbery said. “I think we have a very inclusive scene where we are always trying to help each other, and the sense of community that it brings is incredibly valuable to me.”
Fellow music lovers can count on KCSS to support the local music scene and await the compilation album. While you are patiently awaiting the arrival of a variety of local music at your fingertips, you can follow the weekly video postings at www.youtube.com/kcssturlock to get to know the local musicians that will be featured on the album. KCSS invites local musicians to contact them if they would like to be featured on the compilation album and they are currently accepting song submissions for the album that can be emailed to [email protected].