FM Democracy--A benefit for San Francisco Liberation Radio

FM Democracy

A Benefit for San Francisco Liberation Radio

For Information call 415-386-3135

William Kennard, the FCC chairman who launched the low-power FM initiative, may be gone. But the struggle to democratize the airwaves carries forward.
“FM Democracy”—a benefit for San Francisco Liberation Radio (SFLR)—will take place Friday, March 9, with performances by local bands Chemystry Set, Orla and the Gas Men, Mobius Operandi, Inch Connecticut, and Carol Denney.
The evening will also include a reading from the book Rising Up: Class Warfare in America from the Streets to the Airwaves, by SFLR Co-founder Richard Edmondson.
The book was released last fall and is currently available in Bay Area bookstores as well as on Amazon.com.
“Bush may be in the White House and his handpicked FCC chairman may be in place, but as long as SFLR and other stations remain on the air, then the forces who want to crush micro radio have not won this fight,” Edmondson said.
In addition, FM Democracy will include talks by two SFLR DJs with unique perspectives on current events. Jeff Blankfort will speak on the Pacifica crisis; while Steve Zeltzer will discuss micro radio and labor.
Blankfort, a long-time activist with the Save Pacifica movement in the Bay Area, is host of the Friday afternoon program “What’s Goin On?”. Veteran labor activist and talk show host Zeltzer is host of “Labor Line,” which airs Sunday afternoons.
Chemystry Set, a highly innovative brass/percussion ensemble with strong African influences, recently celebrated the release of its second CD, “The Space Between.”
Orla and the Gas Men, a long-time SFLR favorite, is an Irish/Celtic band driven by the formidable vocals of lead singer, Orla Morrison. The group’s CD is entitled “Minding Mice at Crossroads.”
Mobius Operandi, which plays all of its songs using its own, handmade instruments, and acoustic duo Inch Connecticut will be joined by long-time Bay Area songstress Carol Denney, author of such hits as “North County Jail,” as well as the renowned micro radio standard, “Set Your Radio Free.”
FM Democracy will take place on Friday, March 9, from 7:30 p.m. till midnight, at Cell Space, 2050 Bryant St. at 18th. Admission is $10-15 sliding scale.

--30--