Trent Radio’s live-to-air performance series concludes after ten events

Radio From The Stage, a series of ten live-to-broadcast performances hosted by Trent Radio, concluded on Sunday, July 28 with a grand finale concert at the Jalynn Bennett Amphitheatre at Traill College.

The monthly event broadcasts featured more than 60 local artists performing from different venues across Peterborough. The performances were broadcast live on the radio and recordings were also kept for posterity — they’ll be placed in a time capsule later this month.

Peterborough band Babe Chorus — made up of Cheyenne Buck, Sarah Vanden Berg, Janelle Blanchard, Melinda Richter, Rae Doust, Bryar Gray, Josh Burnett, and K. Long — were the final band to play on Sunday.

“We’re big fans of the series, and I’ve been to a few of these,” said Buck, one of Babe Chorus’s founding members. “I really respect a lot of the poets and artists and musicians who’ve been a part of it, so it was a real honour to be asked to be part of the finale.”

“We really like to do shows that also have a bit of a social justice lens,” added Vanden Berg. “Our music is rooted in the community so this is an awesome space for us.”

Back at Trent Radio headquarters, Studio A monitor Wes Grist’s role was to ensure the broadcast ran smoothly. He said his role reminded him of being stationed on a fire lookout tower in the wilderness.

“If everything is going well, you just get to enjoy being a part of it,” he explained. “But you sort of need to be able to respond to emergencies if something comes up.” He noted with relief that the Radio From The Stage series ran smoothly without any technical emergencies to deal with.

Grist has worked with Trent Radio in various roles since 2010. “I just kind of wandered in and applied for my first radio show, and since then, I’ve been a programmer, an operator, a director, and I’ve been the summer operations manager,” he said.

He was in the studio for all of the Radio From The Stage events, listening to the performances and making sure that they reached the wider audience of Trent Radio listeners. “It’s been really great because I sort of get the experience of being one of the listeners and hearing some really great performances,” he said. 

“There’s such a deep wealth of talent in this town, and I think I knew that,” Grist added. “But this project really just helps me be reminded for sure that there’s still more wonderful local artists to discover.”

Radio From The Stage was organized and curated by local musician Charlie Glasspool, who also prompted conversation with artists about the best and worst aspects of life in Peterborough after each set.

Glasspool looked back on the year of live performances as he addressed the audience gathered at the amphitheatre on Sunday afternoon.

“I was thinking about this project yesterday, and actually getting a little bit emotional, frankly,” he said.

He celebrated the series’ success, noting that it surpassed all of its anticipated measurable results. It was expected to engage three local venues and deliver a minimum of ten hours of programming, but doubled both, in addition to paying and featuring more than 60 local artists.

“I think this is a great celebration,” Glasspool said. “So let the numbers speak for themselves.”

He added that what surprised him the most about the experience was the positivity artists and audience members shared. “I asked people to reflect on the best and worst of our fair city, but what people shared with me was a lot of hopefulness and optimism,” he said.