Radio at Bonnaroo

A good article on the radio set-up at Bonnaroo. It might give other festivals some ideas. Read the entire article, because I have only quoted parts of it here.

Nashville Scene, 6/14/07 - Radio Daze: "...roughly 30 Bonnaroo acts will record three-song sets and give interviews that will be broadcast throughout the weekend to about 30 of the country’s biggest rock stations, including KFOG (San Francisco), DAVE FM (Atlanta) and WXRT (Chicago), and in Nashville, on WRLT Lightning 100. It’s all part of Bonnaroo’s unique approach to radio outreach, designed by Asheville, N.C., music marketing company Music Allies....

Imagine a reality show called Build a Studio. That’s how carpenter David Gehrke describes the task ahead of him—building the recording and radio studios essentially from scratch. 'Every year they throw changes in,' says Gehrke, drummer for The Bees (U.S.) and co-owner of Niko’s bar in East Nashville. 'This year, I’m doing a proper control-room window. I’m really polishing a turd...trying to make a room that is in no way, shape or form acoustically fit for recording, trying to make it sound, look and feel good.'...

According to Gehrke, the setup is just as much a boon for the artists and radio stations as it is for Bonnaroo. “When you’re on the road pushing a record, you usually have to do a bunch of radio interviews, and it’s exhausting. Here, in 20 minutes, they can do one interview that’ll go to the biggest stations all over the country, then they can go watch the other bands. The artists love us. And the stations have access to all these artists in one space, and can reap the benefits of each others’ questions.'...

These segments will also be broadcast on Radio Bonnaroo, which airs 24/7 to the campgrounds and surrounding area for the entire festival. 'We lease a local radio station [Manchester’s Fantasy 101.5] for five days and put a frequency on the air,' says [Music Allies CEO Sean] O’Connell. 'And we have speakers all throughout the campground. When you’re crawling into your tent at 5:30 in the morning after seeing the Flaming Lips do a late-night set, and that hot sun is starting to come up on the horizon, you may hear Brian Eno holding a note for 20 minutes. We want this to be part of your dreamscape. Nobody has the luxury to program a radio station like that.'"