Live & Direct

Live & Direct may refer to:

Valerie June

Valerie June Hockett (born January 10, 1982), known as Valerie June, is an Americana singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Her sound encompasses a mixture of folk, blues, gospel, soul, country, Appalachian and bluegrass. She is signed to Sunday Best label in the UK/Europe and Concord Music Group in North America.

Early life

Born in Jackson, Tennessee on January 10, 1982, June was the oldest of five children. As a child growing up in Humboldt, June was exposed to gospel music at her local church and R&B and soul music via her father. As a teenager, her first job was with her father – a promoter for gospel singers and Prince, K-Ci & JoJo, and Bobby Womack – helping him hang posters in town.

Musical career

June relocated to Memphis in 2000 and began recording and performing at the age of 19, initially with her then-husband Michael Joyner, in the duo Bella Sun. After her marriage ended she began working as a solo artist, combining blues, gospel and Appalachian folk, in a style that she describes as "organic moonshine roots music", and learning guitar, banjo, and lap-steel guitar. She became associated with the Memphis-based Broken String Collective.

WYEP-FM

WYEP-FM is a non-commercial radio station that specializes in eclectic music and programming. The community radio station, which is run by the Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation, operates on 91.3 MHz with an ERP of 18 kW, and is licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

History

WYEP-FM, which has always been an independent radio station began broadcasting on April 30, 1974 on 91.5 MHz/Channel 218. Prior to using its own frequency, the Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation (the licensee which was incorporated in 1972 solely for the purpose of building and operating a community based, non-commercial radio station) produced three hourly music and public affairs programs under agreement with WDUQ, Pittsburgh (formerly owned by Duquesne University, 90.5 MHz). The programs scheduled at 4 p.m. provided an example of the content WYEP would broadcast. The radio station studios were constructed by volunteers. It was located in the South Oakland area of Pittsburgh, 4 Cable Place, in a former police horse stable. In its early days, it was principally operated by volunteers knowledgeable in music or an area of public affairs. In 1982, after a period when the station was off the air, WYEP-FM moved to 91.3 MHz/Channel 217 and upgraded their signal to 18 kW. Transmission facilities were moved from atop the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus to a tower above the Monongahela River near Hazelwood. In 1987, the station reorganized and relocated their broadcast facility to the campus of Chatham University in Pittsburgh's East End. In 1994 the station moved to Birmingham Place on the South Side of Pittsburgh. In early 2006, the station began broadcasting from the new WYEP Community Broadcast Center, located in the Bedford Square section of Pittsburgh's South Side. In September 2006, the WYEP Community Broadcast Center received a LEED-NC Silver rating, making it environmentally friendly and "the first green station in the nation" .

The Both

The Both is an American musical duo consisting of Aimee Mann and Ted Leo, both of whom had longstanding musical careers before beginning a collaboration in 2013. Their first album, self-titled The Both, was released in April 2014.

Origins

The songwriting collaboration between Aimee Mann and Ted Leo originated during a joint concert tour in 2012, and specifically with an appearance together at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on November 11, 2012, which was later described in the lyrics of their song "Milwaukee." At that time, Leo was the opening act for Mann, and the two sometimes collaborated on stage. They began writing songs together in December 2012.

Mann and Leo were initially brought to each other's attention in 2001, when Scott Miller, leader of the bands Game Theory and The Loud Family, gave Mann one of Leo's albums. Miller, who died in April 2013, was later described as having a "special, spiritual, guru-like presence" in the heart of The Both's debut album.

On March 8, 2013, the duo performed their first show together as #BOTH, formatting the band's name as a hashtag.