BSR up for mtvU 'Woodie'

Video may have killed the radio star, but mtvU is paying homage to one small radio station that rents its air space from the Wheeler School and only broadcasts over the air for 10 hours a day - Brown Student and Community Radio has been nominated as one of the country's best campus radio stations for mtvU's fifth annual college music awards, the Woodies.

Listeners can vote for their favorite station at mtvU's Web site until Nov. 7. But voting for BSR is only open until Oct 6., and the college television network will announce the winner out of the 20 nominated stations on Nov. 12.

"I think we have a shot, if we can get the word out," BSR Station Manager John McGarry '10 said, upon being told of the nomination by The Herald. "We've always thought of ourselves as a good station."

The award is the first-ever Woodie honoring college radios. According to an mtvU statement, the stations were judged based on the College Media Journal College Radio Awards, Princeton Review Nominations and independent questionnaires. Stations were nominated for "breaking the latest, emerging music (and) acting as pioneers in the industry," and also for "championing artists before they achieve mainstream success," the statement said.

"Brown's radio station, BSR, is an example of just that," mtvU spokesperson Janice Gatti wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. "BSR is great in that it gives listeners a diverse mixture of music across genres and also brings a steady stream of live music to listeners."

The creativity of BSR's 50 shows is being rewarded, McGarry said. "You can do anything and everything - storytelling and stuff you heard in the 1930s." Music styles aired on the station range from jazz to classical to hip-hop, he added.

McGarry pointed to the regular Monday night show "Crossroads," a historical look at blues and folk, and the Wednesday night show "Bike Talk," hosted by bicycle enthusiasts including some employees of The Hub, a bike shop on Brook Street, as examples of BSR's originality in features.

Publicity Director Megan Goetsch '09 has already begun to encourage voting, especially via Facebook and MySpace. "Hopefully the Brown community will support us, as well as the Providence community," she said.

"It is really exciting. It's great to know that our work is being appreciated," Goetsch added.

Launched in 1997, BSR rents time from the 88.1 FM frequency owned by the Wheeler School. It broadcasts over the air from Faunce House every day between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m, though it airs online 24 hours a day.

The award show will air on mtvU on Nov. 19. Last year, 5 million students voted, according to the mtvU statement.