Author: Scott Landells

Our Radiothon for 2021 concluded earlier this week and was a great success. We wish to thank our sponsors Feather and Drum Hats, Kev McGennan High Country Photography, Outlaw Entertainment, MEGAS Music Wodonga, Kiewa Valley Dance, Backwoods Distillery, CC’s Quality Meats & Smokehouse, TINY Cafe and Wodonga Eyecare for their generosity in donating some great prizes as well as support in general.

And thanks to every member who signed up during our Radiothon. Your support is greatly appreciated.

So…. who won what? Here’s the run down below. Congratulations to the major prize winner Nigel Jones from Yackandandah who won the Custom made hat from Feather and Drum Hat Co. Nigel’s name was pulled first from our warped vinyl record bowl by Mietta who is one of our Yack Primary School presenters. The draws for prizes were undertaken by our younger presenters, Charles at Beechworth and Ada, Irena and Mietta at Yackandandah. Congratulations to all other prize recipients.

Charles, Doug, Ada and Irena prepare to draw the Radiothon prize winners

1st prize

A custom-made Hat by Cat Leahy from “Feather and Drum Hats” Yackandandah – valued at $450

Winner – Nigel Jones, Yackandandah

2nd prize

A framed High Country Photographic Artwork from Kev McGennan – valued at $380

Winner – Duncan Phillips (Outlaw Entertainment), Melbourne

More prizes

10 x Gift Vouchers to the value of $25

Winners:

• Sarah Kohne, Osbornes Flat
• Graeme Neil, Yackandandah
• Tim Jarred, Beechworth
• Ray & Suze Purrington, Yackandandah
• Phil Fraser, Beechworth
• Neville Grigsby, Chiltern
• Anna Fraser, Beechworth
• Katrina Witherow, Beechworth
• Jean Dean, Tangambalanga
• Stephen Draper, Wodonga

More prizes

Gift Voucher for one term’s dance classes valued at $72

Winner – Ariene Sorgdrager, Tangambalanga

More prizes

Gift Voucher valued at $50

Winner – Kelly and Geordie Graham, Yackandandah

More prizes

Gift Voucher valued at $50

Winner – Frank Prem, Beechworth

More prizes

Gift Voucher valued at $50 – for use in distillery door

Winner – Harvey Ballantyne, Yackandandah

More prizes

Wodonga Eyecare Gift Voucher valued at $50

Winner – Phil Buerckner, Yackandandah

Join or Renew by Tues 7 Dec to Win Cool Prizes

Our 2021 Radiothon has been extended by one week to take in 3 big community events. And we will have a presence at each.

• Saturday 4 Dec: Kiewa-Tangam Open Day @ 50 Kiewa East Rd, Tangambalanga
  • 10am – 4pm
• Sunday 5 Dec: Yackandandah Christmas Fair @ Memorial Park, Yackandandah
  • 9:30am – 2:30pm

That spells a whole lot of fun as things get pretty hectic as we gear up for the big Radiothon Prize Draw next Wednesday 8 December.

We have several fabulous prizes which include:

1. A Custom Made Hat valued at $450 from Feather and Drum Custom Hat Co
2. A large framed High Country Photographic Artwork valued at $380 from Kev McGennan Photography
3. 10 x $25 vouchers from musicaccessories.com.au / MEGAS Music Wodonga
4. 1 x terms Dance classes from Kiewa Valley Dance valued at $72
5. 1 x Gift Voucher to Wodonga Eyecare valued at $50
6. 1 x Gift Voucher to CC Meats Beechworth and Yackandandah valued at $50
7. 1 x Gift Voucher to Backwood’s Distillery Yackandandah valued at $50
8. 1 x Gift Voucher to TINY Cafe Beechworth valued at $50

To be in the running for these fabulous prizes, join up before 5pm on Tuesday 7 December. Do it online at our website – membership module OR come and see us at one of the above community events

Our 2022 Membership rates are:

• Concession / Student $20
• Individual $30
• Family $50 (Parent/s and Child/ren aged 18 or under)
• Community Group $50
• Business $100

Internet Radio Station Stream Issues Fixed

It took longer than we would have liked but our perseverance has prevailed and as of mid-last week our Internet Radio Station resumed transmission.

A big thank you to Michael our web designer for working through the various issues. We had to overcome a raft of misunderstandings with our stream host who are based in Europe. Talk about something getting lost in translation – literally it seemed.

Along the way we have updated our website audio player which is now displaying the current show / track playing information.

There will be more improvements to come as we now turn our attention toward live streaming.

Tune in at your leisure – 24/7 – via our website – www.indigofmradio.com

It’s a cliched line but “owing to technical difficulties…..” has become an unfortunate reality for Indigo FM over the past 7 weeks as we try to work out what has happened to our stream that worked so reliably for a year.

The good news is, we are slightly encouraged by some of the communication coming from our stream hosts this past week. These snippets of information from them along with a lot of online research at our end has us feeling hopeful that a solution might be just a few days away.

Our stream is hosted by one of the largest providers globally. They are very affordable by a fair way compared to other competitors. As they are based in Europe, however, time differences mean that slightly complex issues – as we are finding out – seem to get fixed at a snail’s pace.

Their support system and tools are more akin to what you might have tolerated 20 years ago. We’ve struggled to comprehend how sub-standard their support is.

Nonetheless we persevere and we’re optimistic.

We are a bit embarrassed to find ourselves apologising to listeners like yourselves, who had become used to enjoying the convenience of tuning in to Indigo FM in their car, when out for a walk, bike ride or at work etc, without having to contend with the vagaries of FM radio signals.

So please hang in there, cross your fingers and know that every day we are trying to progress this one and resolve it.

We post updates on the Facebook page Indigo FM Streaming – and we will definitely post a new article here when we do fix this one.

Have you joined up or renewed your Membership for 2022? There’s still time so no panic, but for the 20 odd members who have paid up, there are some bonus prizes on offer.

These are 4 passes to the Americana Carnival at The Vine Hotel, Wangaratta on Saturday 27 November featuring Lachlan Bryan and the Wildes, Riley Catherall, Great Aunt, The Weeping Willows, Little Wise and many more. We’ll be drawing those out next Sunday 21 November on air in Yackandandah on Harvey’s Americana themed Asleep At The Wheel show around 2:30pm.

To join or renew your Indigo FM Membership for 2022, you can head here

Pay via a card or deposit cash into our WAW Bank account – details on the link above.

Major Prize Draw

We’ve decided to conduct our Major Prize Draw on Wednesday 8 December from 4-5pm on-air at both our Beechworth and Yackandandah 88.0 FM sites. Stay tuned for details.

Catching Up in your Community

Thank you to Quercus Beechworth for inviting us along to their Flea Market last Saturday. Here’s the current schedule of upcoming market stalls.

• Yackandandah – Sun 21 Nov – Lions Market 9am-1pm
• Tangambalanga – Sat 4 Dec – Indigo FM Open Day 8am – 4pm
• Chiltern – Sun 5 Dec – Market 9am-1pm (w BMF Van)
• Yackandandah – Sun 5 Dec – Christmas Fair 10am-2pm

At Chiltern – while we don’t presently have a site there, we do love their community and own a licence. We called in during the week and were met with overwhelming positive vibes from several members and business owners about our upcoming visit with the Beechworth Music Festival van. How nice is that?

Our new playlist version 18.0 has hit the airwaves in recent days and it’s another diverse offerings with a focus on Australian, Indigenous and Independent artists.

Our most recent playlist comprises 900 songs by over 700 different artists with Australian content around 63%. On top of that we are proud to push the Indigenous content which comes in around 6%. We’re looking to grow that to 10% over the next year or two.

Australian independent musicians have been among the hardest hit as a result of the COVID19 pandemic these past 2 years and Indigo FM again proudly champions the music of this sector of the industry. Many who have toured through our towns playing festivals and venues have their latest tunes here including Tennyson King, Montgomery Church, Riley Catherall, Michael Waugh, Sunset Stranger, Lachy Doley, The Maes, Matt Joe Gow, Melody Moon, Ben Salter, Jess Locke, Daniel Champagne, Sunfruits, Emma Russack and Lachlan Denton, The Ramshackle Army, Jae Laffer, Gallie, Al Matcott, Maja, Four Lions, DC Cross, Darren Hanlon, Watty Thompson, Luke Sinclair Set, Van Walker, The Weeping Willows, Hachiku, Nathan Power, Justin Bernasconi and James Ellis and the Jealous Guys to rattle off a few.

Local musicians Paul Dyason, Toby Mobbs, Asha Bright, Buddy Dingo, GG Music, This Way North, Nic Jean, Sal Kimber, Nick Keogh, Gordon Dickson, Surprise Chef, Dean Haitani, Fanny Lumsden and Julian James also have tracks on Playlist 18.0.

Again we have stuck to our protocol of offering each artist a maximum of 2 songs on the Playlist, with all music sourced from either presenters at our volunteer run local radio station as well as from various record labels and free music sources such as Triple J Unearthed.

Our Playlist is what you hear between pre-recorded and live radio shows and is changed over every 6 months by the station’s Programming team. So tune in and embrace the delightful diversity on show here at Indigo FM.

Click Playlist 18.0 to view the complete listing.

Indigo FM’s annual Radiothon begins Monday 1 November and will run through to the end of November. It’s our annual opportunity to unleash the best kept secret of NE Victoria onto the radios, media players, devices and events of the many proud and wonderful towns of Indigo Shire as we seek your support for 2022.

We have some very exciting prizes for this year’s Radiothon. They include:

1. A custom-made Hat by Cat Leahy from “Feather and Drum Hats” Yackandandah – valued at $450
2. A framed High Country Photographic Artwork from Kev McGennan – valued at $380
3. 6 x $50 Vouchers from MEGAS Music Wodonga – valued at $300

Our poster was designed by Felicity “Fizz” Rule, who has been designing Radiothon and Event posters for us since 2017. We think it’s another eye-catcher sure to look great on shop windows and noticeboards around our towns.

If you’re new to Indigo FM or keen to renew your Membership for 2022, head over to our Membership portal here.

We’ll be out in the community at a few markets, those being:

• Beechworth – Sat 6 Nov – Quercus Flea Market
• Chiltern – Sun 5 Dec – Chiltern Markets
• Yackandandah – Sun 5 Dec – Christmas Fair

We also have a range of cool new t-shirts – available in your size – that you can grab hot off the presses when you visit us at one of these markets.

Each site is holding a 24 hour radio marathon throughout November. Exact dates for each site are being worked out and we’ll have more on that next week. In the meantime, stay tuned to 88.0 Indigo FM in Beechworth, Kiewa-Tangambalanga and Yackandandah as well as via our stream on our website audio player.

To keep up with the latest Indigo FM updates, head along to our Facebook page or check in here and as always feel free to email us on [email protected] or [email protected].

‘Burning With Optimism’s Flames’ is a 1980 song from the quirky UK New Wave band XTC. You can check it out below.

This obscure lyrical reference also pretty aptly describes Indigo FM – following yesterday’s 2021 Annual General Meeting – as we enter the notoriously fun, yet mad-season that is the end of each year.

Indigo FM’s Committee line-up for 2021-22 welcomes in two new members – Tiff Ellis and Patrick Jovaras – to join 5 ongoing members – Jos Ceccanti, Greg Clydesdale, Nigel Jones, Bernie Jovaras and Scott Landells.

They offer a stable base going forwards, with a slight shuffle – previous Secretary Jos Ceccanti takes on a General Committee role and Greg Clydesdale returns to the executive as Vice-President replacing Phil Fraser who is stepping down for personal reasons. We thank Phil very much for his valuable contribution to the management of Indigo FM from 2018-21 and look forward to his wonderful soul show Scorcher returning in early 2022.

Tiff takes on the Secretary’s role, bringing to the group a wealth of community and business experience from Euroa and Wodonga as well as an interest in music, arts and the vibrant unique local communities of Indigo Shire and surrounds.

Patrick grew up in Beechworth but these days calls Melbourne’s outer north-east home. The first Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020 saw Patrick explore a musical podcasting project, launching The Nest – a 2 hour exploration of ambient, soul, electronic, kraut-rock, indigenous and world music genres, which have been airing Sunday nights on Indigo FM since mid-2020.

In our ever-evolving Covid-normal world, utilising Zoom technology and podcasting is enabling creative people everywhere to connect and overcome previously isolating geographic barriers. And Indigo FM is keen to put that into practice and bring Patrick’s many skills and interests to the management side of Indigo FM.

Incoming President Scott Landells will line-up in this role for an 8th consecutive year (and 9th on the Committee) whilst deputy Greg Clydesdale will contribute as VP for the first time in this role (and his 8th consecutive year on the Committee). Bernie Jovaras will go around again for this 3rd straight year as Treasurer (and 4th in this stint on Committee).

In summary the team for 2021-22 is:

• President – Scott Landells
• Vice-President – Greg Clydesdale
• Secretary – Tiffany Ellis
• Treasurer – Bernie Jovaras
• General Committee – Patrick Jovaras, Nigel Jones, Jocelyn Ceccanti

At their 2021 Annual General Meeting, 15 Indigo FM members attended via a combination of in-person and Zoom. They heard that Indigo FM had turned around a loss of over $1400 in 2019-20, to a profit of just over $4,300 in 2020-21. On an “oily rag” annual budget of around $10,000, this outstanding result was due to a Covid-enforced shift in Business model that, among other things, had unearthed new revenue streams in the growing market of listener on-demand podcasts.

President Scott Landells summarised the new Committee as follows:

“Diversity and community are right at the heart of Indigo FM and we are thrilled to offer a management team whose ages range from early 30’s to mid 60’s. We reside in multiple communities within and outside Indigo Shire. Specifically Beechworth, Rutherglen, Tawonga, Murmungee, Yackandandah and the beautiful outer Melbourne enclave of Diamond Creek. Importantly rather than viewing ourselves as delegates of competing towns, we share a broader vision of the richness that every community and every listener can add to the ongoing tapestry of Indigo FM. And we’re very much looking forward to another productive year ahead, which will no doubt bring it’s usual mix of the predictable and the unpredictable. We’re as confident as we can be about our capacity to keep rising to the challenge of our member’s expectations.”

Burning with optimism’s flames, indeed!

Indigo FM’s volunteer presenters continue to create fresh content which you can access as podcasts. We also have a handful of new shows now up as regular podcasts

Check them out here

There are shows that delve into a whole array of themes and styles. Pop Culture, New releases, Australian music, Horns / Brass / Funk, Ambient / Electronic, Americana, interviews, Blues, Roots, Folk, Jazz, Road Trips, Classical etc etc. We have students creating podcasts and we have a few of us who still recall being students but are now nudging toward retirement age producing content for podcasting.

Among the shows available are:

Yackandandah Primary School News

Yack Primary School students have been a constant on our airwaves since 2013 and now they are podcasting as well. Check out Year 5 & 6 students Ada, Emma, Flynn, Indie, Irena and Stella as they offer a young person’s view of the community with plenty of freshness and enthusiasm.

Waste The Alphabet with Doug

Doug delivers a weekly musical commentary on the best latest independent Australian music – with a few thrown in from NZ.

Just Press Play with Gary *** NEW

Soul/Funk and blues with a little Appalachian spice!!!

Piece Of My Heart with Tiff *** NEW

Featuring some amazing seminal influences from the late seventies and early 80’s – an amazing time when we listened to LP’s , 12 inch vinyls and later tape cassettes, and then in mid to late 80’s CDs. This was the time before the internet, and bands relied on live performance and packed stadiums to sell records.

Reelin’ In The Years with DJ Pegg *** NEW

Predominantly 60’s, 70’s, 80’s with a bit of more modern stuff thrown in.

Lipstick Blues with Ruth *** NEW

All about Blues music.

Friday In My Mind with Bernie 

No Drums , No Vocals, No Doof Doof…. Bernie explores the rich sonic landscape of 20th Century instrumental music and beyond . Expect to hear an amazing mix of orchestral, ambient, minimalist and experimental music from the last 120 years – did someone mention 12 tone theory?

Go With The Flow with Jonny Smartboards

Lone gunman who candidly flip fly flows, single-handedly with one eye closed. An exotic array of sounds with no particular direction or agenda. Float downstream and Go With the Flow.

Horn Chowder with Chris

Fast beats, fat bass, flaming horns. Contemporary upbeat funk, soul, pop. Chris’ enthusiasm is infectious but those horns and rhythms are even warmer and catchier. 

Everyone Deserves Music with Scott

Now into it’s 9th year, Scott presents a modern Australian indie folk/roots music show with a bit of a focus on local and touring artists

Bullfrog’s Roadhouse with Mark

Since 2010 Mark has cut this deal – you supply the food and drink, Mark will supply the tunes – blues, roots, alt-country. And of late he has been raiding the cellar and the time-capsules to unleash some classics. Tune in to hear what comes next.

Monthly Music with Charles

One of Indigo FM’s youngest presenters but with a couple of years of shows under his belt, Charles selects new music from around the world.

Eclectic Avenue with Bernie, Michael and Sandy

3 guys walk into a radio studio on a Wednesday night in 2010…. And well, they’re still not sure of the way out. That’s our gain as they serve up a weekly smorgasbord of musical delights to titillate your musical taste buds from across the genres loosely brought together each week by a topical, quirky, out-of-left-field, nonsensical, and/or lazy theme.

The Nest with Patrick

Covid enforced lockdowns gave rise to a host of artistic creation, and it was in Autumn of 2020 that The Nest was born. Patrick delivers a fortnightly mix including ambient, low fi type recordings but also a bit of boogie and disco, modern electronic pieces too. some contemplation and some dancing.

Baby Boomers Revenge with Neil *** NEW

Reliving the Baby Boomers era with a strong emphasis on influential artists like the Beatles, Eagles and bands who were influenced by them.

Asleep At The Wheel with Harvey

A big wheel keeps on turning on Sunday afternoon in Yackandandah between 2 pm and 4 pm. Covering soul, country, swamp pop, Cajun, blues, rockabilly and most importantly good music. Hopefully you won’t get lost nor be asleep on this highway.

Adios To All That Concrete with Scott, Nigel and Patrick

Hitting the road? Perhpas you’re heading towards the beautiful scenic heritage towns of Indigo Shire. Let this 3 hour podcast be your travelling companion.

Interviews

We also interview musicians, community members and creative people about their projects and podcast these from time to time.

Check them out here

Indigo FM is very excited to announce that we have moved to a new site in Tangambalanga. We’re now set up and on air on 88.0 FM in our new studio space in the Tangam Pharmacy building – right next door to Tangam Tangles.

After a couple of weeks of sorting out some reception issues, we are now putting out a strong signal on 88.0 FM in Kiewa-Tangambalanga and surrounds.

Indigo FM President Scott Landells thanked Tangam Pharmacy owner Michael Beniamine for providing the volunteer-run local radio station with it’s new home.

“Michael and his team at Tangam Pharmacy run a marvellous local business and have been very welcoming in helping us come on board to occupy some spare space in their building. With their support, our focus will now shift to recruitment of presenters, for live radio from this site. We have a handful of interested new presenters who will be hitting the airwaves very shortly. So stay tuned to 88.0 Indigo FM Kiewa-Tangambalanga as exciting times lay ahead.”

Wednesday 13 October marked the day that we returned to the 88.0 FM airwaves and it was Ruth with her show Lipstick Blues who had the honours of celebrating the occasion.

President Scott Landells wished to thank all of the station’s various volunteers and supporters who helped get the site set up so quickly and back on air.

“It was a fabulous and selfless team effort led by our Tech Officer Ken Halse and Site Co-ordinator Jos Ceccanti. We had volunteers come from as far and wide as Mt Beauty, Beechworth, Murmungee and Rutherglen, as well as here in Tangambalanga,” Landells said.

“We’d like to thank the Lions Club of Kiewa-Tangambalanga and Indigo Shire Council who very generously provided our previous home at the Lion’s Den from mid-2018 to mid-2021. Those 3 years provided a valuable opportunity to lay our foundation in the local community, and we now look forward to building on the goodwill we have eastablished.

“If you’re reading this and thinking – wow, I’d like to become a presenter at Indigo FM Kiewa-Tangam – shoot off an email to [email protected], and our Site Co-ordinator Jos Ceccanti will make arrangements to get you trained up and on-air with your own regular radio show.”

Local businesses and community groups are also welcome to get involved and promote their activities on Indigo FM with our rates very affordable. To find out more, email Jos Ceccanti at the above email address.