By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
RC Cummings is spending his senior year at BGSU trying to liven up and turning up volume on a moribund program.
On Monday (March 1) the new version of WBGU-FM’s will launch on Falcon Media’s YouTube site.
The first episode will feature solo indie performer Brandon Bell.
Cummings, who is directing the show along with a team of about 20, said he re-envisioned the program after being approached last fall by Phil Beskid, the faculty advisor for student radio, about doing something with video footage left over from the show’s previous iteration.
Originally the show would bring an act into the studio at the Kuhlin Center, record three numbers and conduct short interview. Some video footage was shot, but since the program went straight to radio, “and not much was done with it,” Cummings said. “That’s where I came in.”
Cummings said: “I saw Live and Loud as something that had so much potential if done right, so I took charge as the new director and have worked to completely revamp the program.”
Now rather than an afterthought, the video will be the centerpiece.
The acts will still play three songs, and be interviewed. But the program will be more edited with snippets of the interviews tucked in between songs. And there’ll be shoutouts from campus organizations to give them some added visibility.
Each episode will premiere the first Monday of the month. Clips from each episode will also be available during the month.
Cummings brought on Penny Rae Hawkins to do the interviewing. The interviews will explore the lives and music of the performers. Hawkins will conduct the interviews in the lobby of the Kuhlin Center, to provide some visual variety.
Hawkins is “super friendly and super warm” and “really come across as a genuine person.”
Cummings was also attracted to Bell as the opening act because of similar personal characteristics. “He’s a total sweetheart,” he said.
“People who watch him are impressed by his voice and his guitar chops. I selected him because he’s always been very warm and welcoming.”
In everything Cummings does, whether in Falcon Media or as vice president of the Music Industry Club, he wants “to create of respect and a culture where everyone feels like they belong.”
In earlier years, he said, he’s experienced people who made him feel like he doesn’t belong. Now, Cummings said, “my motto is always make everybody feel like how you would want to feel.”
That extends to the “Live and Loud” team.
“None of this happens unless they want to be involved. They’re all giving me their best. I trust them with all my heart and love them with all my heart. None of this happens without them, I owe everything to them. This isn’t a one-man operation.”
Next weekend the second episode featuring the local singer IMaNI (BGSU student Imani McCullough) who will perform with a pianist.
This semester’s season will wrap up with The One-Eyed Show, an alternative rock band of BGSU graduates, who ruefully describe themselves as “St. Marys’ aging boy band.”
The three shows feature different styles – Bell is indie alternative, IMaNI is contemporary rhythm and blues, and The One-Eyed Show is rock that draws on a variety of inspirations.
“It’s important we showcase all these genres because things are so mixed in terms of musical tastes,” Cummings said. “They’re so eclectic. If ‘Live and Loud’ didn’t reflect that it would look poor, so it’s important. The more variety, the better.”
He’s confident that the show “has a lot of legs” and is “something that will last.”
Members of the team have the ability and willingness to carry it forward in fall. He’d like to see further partnerships. Linking up with the Roots Music Club would be a natural.
“Live and Loud,” he said, has “a lot of promise especially when we’re not in the middle of a pandemic.”
