CJAM Radio Shows

Since August 2010 I've been volunteering with CJAM 99.1 FM as a radio show host, and it has been amazing. Working with the station has really shaped the last seven years of my life, introducing me to new people, music, projects, and opportunities that I wouldn't have experienced otherwise. During my time at the station I've hosted a number of shows, including the all-CANCON show The Canadian Jam, the short-lived We Need A Bigger Boat, a punk and metal show hosted with my brother and friend, the feminist talkshow Milk & Vodka, and most notably The Windsor Scene, a program focusing on the local music community. I hosted The Windsor Scene for six and a half years, from January 2011 until July 2017, when I passed the reigns to the very capable Mirella.

I had decided in about April that I was done with the show - my heart just wasn't in it anymore, and I felt like I wasn't doing the program, or the scene, justice. The hunt for a new host took a few months, and then one day Mirella kind of showed up out of nowhere talking about how she'd love to run a local music show. It was meant to be! The Windsor Scene had kind of become my baby after so long, and I wanted to make sure it as going into good hands, so we met up a few times to discuss the turnover, and then the last week of June I broadcast my final show as the host of the show, taking a chance to introduce the new host and to look back over some of my favourite moments of the program.

After that I needed a bit of a break before jumping back onto the microphone. Between trying to start up my own business, working a day job, and trying to have a social life I just didn't have the time to devote to a regular show, and needed to re-charge my radio batteries anyhow. During this time I was still shooting events for CJAM, so I never left the station completely.

After about a month off I was feeling the itch to go back on-air, so I approached the Program Director Carley about filling in on an empty time slot one week, and putting together a special for CJAM's annual week-long punk extravaganza, Radio Brain Drain. Carley is cool as fuck and was excited to have me do some programming, even if it wouldn't be anything long-term.

The fill-in episode aired on August 9th from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m., and it was basically my boyfriend and I talking about show's we've been to recently, and artists we've been digging. Phil is himself in a band, and also works at a recording studio in Macomb, Michigan called The Sound Shop, so we were sure to include music from those. It was a huge mashup of genres and tempos that ended up being a ton of fun. I named the show Rummage Radio just so I could have something to say on-air, and I'm so glad that I did. After over three hundred shows as the host of The Windsor Scene I had some pretty heavy muscle memory going on and kept wanting to give the wrong program name. Having something else to say instead really helped. The following week, in the same time slot, I hosted a solo show that looked at punk releases from women-inclusive bands from the last three years. And it was so. damn. good.

I don't remember the last time I was that genuinely excited for a broadcast. Doing the research to put the show together was fun, rather than a tedious chore. I I was happy that I'd have to listen to each of those songs multiple times. I was pumped to be able to talk about these awesome bands.

The show went very well, I had a lot of fun, and I even found a few new favourite acts during the process (hellloooo RVIVR and Sheer Mag!)

I still don't think that I have enough time to host a consistent show, and don't want to end up in a position where I dislike the whole process and come to resent the time it takes up, so for the moment I'm going to hold off on hosting a regular program. I want to take the time to develop something that I can enjoy long-term and put my full effort into, and at the moment I just have too much going on to accomplish any of that. Luckily the folks at CJAM are super rad and don't mind having me on board to just photograph events and fill in here and there.

But until I get something regular up and running again, I've uploaded the two broadcasts from August to Youtube for your listening pleasure! These are some great shows that I had a lot of fun making, and I hope other people can enjoy them too!

Rummage Radio features music from Those Hounds, Queen + Adam Lambert, The Aquabats, My Son The Hurricane, Feeki, Elsie Binx, and more.

Women of Punk 2014 - 2017 features music from Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Svetlanas, The Deadly Vipers, White Lung, Tacocat, Downtown Boys, and more.