In March of 2002 Fox 100.1 FM launched the very first presentation of the "Wormtown Rock and Roll Showcase." Aired Sundays at 10pm and hosted by Donna Sovieski and local rock legend Zip, the goal of the program is to bring bigger and better things to the Worcester music scene through exposure and representation of local artists. Each show includes a feature artist of the week as well as material from other area acts. According to Donna Sovieski, "The response has been excellent from both the musicians and the listeners. The show has the full support of Fox program manager Chris Engle and we're always looking to add new and exciting features to the show." Says Chris, "Fox is the only rock station in Worcester that offers this type of access to local bands and not only that, we're really backing this show. Zip has a passion for music and he's really a fan of the local scene." Donna adds "One of our main goals with the Wormtown Showcase is to be able to get local bands recognition. There's a lot of talent out there and the scene is very diverse."
It's an interesting road that brought Donna into the role of Worcester Rock and Roll spokesperson for Fox FM. An entrepreneur, she started her own modeling agency and then moved into promotions. Tigerlily Productions manages and promotes bands, does band photography and acts as a liaison with record labels. "Essentially," says Donna, "We're involved with getting bands in the right direction." She got involved with Fox while organizing promotions and activities at Thompson Speedway in Connecticut. Donna would organize family days, providing models for promotional work and bands for the family fun days. After doing this for about seven years she met up with Peter Falconi who was the program director for Fox. His brother and nephew were race drivers at the track.
Peter offered the Rock and Roll showcase to Donna after she and Peter were tossing around ideas for how to get exposure to local artists. According to Donna, "Zip was the obvious choice for the show. He really brings a lot of insight and his on air history with the area lends a better sense of legitimacy to the program."
"Another thing we're working on now," says Donna, "Is a live performance angle. Possibly even live cybercasts. We're actually building an in-studio stage for live local and national acts so we can get on-air performances for both the the Wormtown Showcase and our regular programming."
Speaking of regular programming, I spoke with Chris Engle about just what it is that he thinks makes The Fox special. Chris responded, "We heavily researched classic rock. Our mission is to play the best songs based on the research that we've done. We've used national trends, call out research, auditorium and in studio requests. All of this data contributes to our playlists. We weeded out the marginal stuff and went with the great classic rock. The stuff that was played 30 years ago and the stuff that will be played 30 years from now." It's important to note that this doesn't limit Fox FM to music recorded in the sixties and seventies either. They don't want to be known as another haven for sixties rock bands. Fox 100.1 has added contemporary artists to their playlist as well. Bands like the Black Crowes, Train, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, STP, Alice In Chains, Van Halen, Goo Goo Dolls, Gin Blossoms, and U2 are a few examples of modern classis rock that Chris feels deserve representation on the station. "Also," Chris adds, "there are of course a multitude of new recordings coming out from the older artists. We have new Springsteen, Tom Petty, Paul McCartney, Aerosmith, Santana, The Rolling Stones and many others. This helps keep the station from sounding outdated."
So, obviously there's a lot happening at The Fox in 2003. Check them out. Want to be on The Fox? Every band that gets featured or aired by the Wormtown Showcase needs to submit a promo pack, three copies of a CD (no tapes) with at least three unique songs on the disc, and bios on each person in the band. Include a picture if possible. Once your promo package is received and reviewed Donna will call you for a phone interview.
Send you material to:
Tigerlily Productions
c/o Wormtown Showcase
250 Commercial Street
Worcester MA 01608
For questions you can e-mail Donna directly at: nymm949@netzero.net
(Matthew Bonazzoli sings, plays guitars, and writes the songs for Gearhead. You can contact him at gearheadfan@yahoo.com or through the Gearhead website at www.gearhead.com)
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