This year I was tasked with putting some serious effort into the Union Wine Co. FIELD NOTES This is a part of their site that tells employee stories, showcases recipes and cocktails as well as a few cool How To’s…
This is one of those posts. Check them all out in the above link.
Keeping the Portland Airwaves Free:
Freeform Portland Radio 90.3 FM
Here at Union, we really try to consider ourselves more of a family than just a workforce. And as such, we encourage and support everyone in their passions and side projects.
Allow us to introduce Amy Carr. By day, Amy is the Union Logistics and Compliance/Customer Service Supervisor. She has been part of the Union family for about 5 years, beginning at our sister vineyard, Amity before moving over full time to Union. When Amy was only 12 years old, her father gave her a copy of Nick Hornby’s (best) novel High Fidelity, which introduced her to a main character who is always striving to share the classic music he loves and the new bands he discovers.
And so a seed was planted…...
Fast Forward to early 2015. A few of Amy’s friends decided to found FREEFORM PORTLAND , an entirely independent, community sponsored, non profit, freeform radio station. Going live the following year, they broadcast on 90.3 and also 98.3 FM from the NE Alberta Area. Being officially a “low-power” FM station, their radio broadcast range is only about 5 square miles, but lucky for us we live in the digital age, so everyone can enjoy their full array of programming at FreeformPortland.org/listen.
DJs are free to play music from records, tapes, CDs or digital files. There are no commercials or talk programs. Generally, the only speaking you will hear are the DJs identifying their chosen songs during music set breaks, although there are some great “in studio” band interviews from time to time. All songs from every show are also listed on their website.
Two pretty amazing things that FFP can boast is that A) it is absolutely 100% volunteer run and B) it is absolutely 100% live programming, meaning no prerecorded shows. There is a live DJ playing music in the booth 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
At the station, Amy goes by the handle DJ Stellar Luna. Her show, “Nightlight” runs on alternating Mondays from 10 PM to midnight. Amy’s playlist differs every week focusing mostly on Neo Psychedelia, New Wave, Hip-Hop and Latin. Asked what some of her favorite bands are, Amy mentioned, in no particular order:
La Femme (which she plays at least one song by during every show)
Bomba Estereo
LCD Soundsystem
Thee Oh Sees
Echo & the Bunnymen
Amy was drawn to the radio station for many of the same reasons that she was drawn to Union…each puts a great emphasis on authenticity and a truly meaningful refection of the community.
(As you might imagine, the broadcast booth is pretty small, but is filled with all sorts of amazing music, movie and cultural paraphernalia.)
Recently, Union asked Amy to create our first official SPOTIFY profile, beginning with a UNION WINE Co. playlist, a constantly growing curated mix that all of the employees can add to.
In addition, Amy has begun playlists to match the vibe of our three labels:
Subscribe to them all now so you have the perfect soundtrack the next time you are enjoying our wines!
We want to thank Amy for sharing her time and passions with us, and allowing us a small glimpse into the amazing world of FREEFORM PORTLAND Hopefully this will inspire you to check out some of their programming, and contribute to their next donation drive, which will be happening May 6-19.
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