UncertainFM expands programming as it celebrates 2-year anniversary
TJ Connelly’s online radio station and music community celebrate the two-year mark with an enhanced lineup, new homepage, and weekend shows
LISTEN: Independent freeform radio from TJ Connelly and friends
Mike Gioscia, Anngelle Wood, Mark Hamilton, and others add weekly speciality shows to UncertainFM’s eclectic schedule
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BOSTON, MASS. [March 17, 2022] – Two years into UncertainFM, TJ Connelly has drawn a crowd.
The listener-supported freeform radio station, launched by Connelly in March 2020 as a pandemic project after the longtime pro sports arena and stadium DJ suddenly found himself with an excess of free time, celebrates its second anniversary on March 17. UncertainFM has grown from a one-off demo show two years ago to a vibrant online streaming radio community that now boasts more than 20 specialty programs that span a spectrum of genres and styles, anchored by Connelly’s Uncertain Times weekday live broadcast.
Over the past several months, Connelly’s vision for the station has crystallized: adding radio veterans with proven track records, unveiling a new homepage at uncertain.fm, debuting new shows, and expanding programming into the weekend, with talk and jazz starting each Sunday morning. Among the new shows on the UncertainFM schedule are Chéz Beets with Mark Hamilton; Americanarama with Mike Gioscia; and longtime local music mainstay Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood. Additional shows are also on the way, hosted by Doug Adams and Want List Records’ Brian Coleman and Dave Belson.
Those programs add to UncertainFM’s eclectic and eccentric show slate, which values people over algorithms and focuses on human curation with a certain rogue unpredictability that was once prevalent across the radio dial. There are 168 hours in the week, and as it celebrates its two-year anniversary and more than 1,000 shows under its collective belt, UncertainFM now has most of them covered. And there’s probably something pretty interesting playing right now.
“Playing a wide variety of music is one of if not the most important values UncertainFM is based on,” says Connelly. “Adding more voices means more variety, whether the show is themed and specialized or not. I grew up listening to Boston radio and there's nothing out there with the sound of WFNX or WBCN as I remember them. It's incredible to turn around and be able to offer an opportunity to other people who love making radio. Plus, it's a delight to just listen to the station in the car and discover new music myself.”
The idea of new music discovery – whether it’s a song, remix, or cover that came out today or a classic underground track since forgotten by the mainstream – runs through UncertainFM’s inspired programming. Surrounding Connelly’s Uncertain Times (weekdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET, with a replay from 3 to 6 p.m. ET for folks on the West Coast, capped by the celebratory Big Stupid Dance Party on Fridays) has been a growing team of collaborators and radio voices. After Uncertain Times each weekday, a host of programs fill the digital airwaves through the evening and night time with their own personality and identity, from synthwave (Michael Knight’s RETROFUTURISM 101) to metal (Mike McKenzie’s Seeking The Nighted Throne) to jazz (Eddie Hebert’s Overtone Window) to covers (Greg Wymer’s Cover Lover) to darkwave (Callan’s Outback Witch House) to live music (Live From The Treehouse with Peter Fernandez).
“We live in a time when most of the music ever recorded is available to anyone in an instant,” Connelly admits. “But availability is not experience; you could walk into a vast library seeking a poem to read at a wedding, find the poetry section, and start reading, but you'll do much better to ask a librarian. Likewise, anyone can read a wine list, but it takes someone who has dedicated themselves to building the best possible experience to help you find what pairs perfectly with your meal.”
In its second year, UncertainFM has gone from a single DJ to a full calendar of shows: On Mondays, Nick Benevenia’s Rat Fever and Grahams’ Completely Normal Radio Programme; Tuesdays feature Tim Douglas’ Remedy Radio, Enjoy the Silence with Silent G, and Maura Johnston’s The Pop N’ Wrestling Connection; Thursdays showcase Dual Cassette Deck with Kristen, Two Hour Music Fun Radio Friend Hour with Jeff and MC, and My American Clock with Rev. Al; and Friday closes out with WFNX legend Duane Bruce’s American Debauchery. Replays from earlier in the week fill the clock on Saturdays, and the station’s robot DJ Worbler keeps track of it all by tweeting out the playlist in real time.
And as those shows bloom over the course of their hour or two, UncertainFM’s listenership congregates on a dedicated community forum, where daily conversations remain spirited and respectful across 11 themed channels and more than 300 participants. Though, you’ll often find most of the activity in the Live channel as listeners react to what the DJ is playing – another display of spontaneity and excitement seldom found in online broadcasting.
“The highlight of the entire process has been the community,” Connelly adds. “I set up a Slack in the very early days as a live chat during broadcasts, and it somehow gathered this great group of people who have been there for each other through everything that's gone on since lockdown. It's a great little local bar and my job is to keep the jukebox excellent.”
That common bond of music has helped turn listeners into a group of friends, even inspiring real-life meetups, like in March when station fave Wet Leg played Boston’s Paradise Rock Club. It’s about building that experience of togetherness that fuels Connelly and the UncertainFM staff. It’s personal curation in the age of the soulless playlist, a vast collection of music obsessives who share their love with others, building engagement the old fashioned way, like friends in a record shop would. Every day is different, both for the DJs and listeners, and it’s rare to even hear the same song twice -- something virtually unheard of in traditional and commercial radio circles.
“When it comes to independent radio, you're hearing music someone curated, and what's more you're sharing that experience with everyone else listening at the same time,” concludes Connelly. “I can't remember the exact moment when UncertainFM went from being a radio show to a radio station. I'm not sure there was a single moment as much as a realization that I loved making radio and that there were other people out there who loved it too.”
TJ Connelly is available for interviews. Contact michael@publisist.co for more information.
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UncertainFM daily schedule [Spring 2022]:
Monday
10 a.m.: Uncertain Times with TJ
3 p.m.: Uncertain Times (West Coast Replay)
6 p.m.: Rat Fever with Nick Benevenia
8 p.m.: Completely Normal Radio Program, with grahams
Tuesday
10 a.m.: Uncertain Times with TJ
3 p.m.: Uncertain Times (West Coast Replay)
6 p.m.: Remedy Radio with Tim & Enjoy The Silence with Silent g
8 p.m.: Cover Lover with Wymer
10 p.m.: The Pop ‘N’ Wrestling Connection
Wednesday
10 a.m.: Uncertain Times with TJ
3 p.m.: Uncertain Times (West Coast Replay)
6 p.m.: Nostalgia with Sparky
8 p.m.: Outback Witch House with Callan
10 p.m.: Seeking The Nighted Throne with Mike McKenzie & Underwater Prophets with TJ
Thursday
10 a.m.: Uncertain Times with TJ
3 p.m.: Uncertain Times (West Coast Replay)
6 p.m.: Chéz Beets with Mark Hamilton
8 p.m.: Dual Cassette Deck with Kristen & Two Hour Music Fun Radio Friend Hour with Jeff & MC
10 p.m.: My American Clock with Rev. Al
Friday
10 a.m.: Uncertain Times’ Big Stupid Dance Party with TJ
3 p.m.: Uncertain Times’ Big Stupid Dance Party (West Coast Replay)
6 p.m.: Live From the Treehouse with Peter Fernandez
8 p.m. RETROFUTURISM 101 with Michael Knight
10 p.m.: American Debauchery with Duane Bruce
Saturday
All Day: Replay Saturday
Sunday
The Next Track podcast with Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn
11 a.m. Overtone Window with Eddie
1p.m.: Americanarama with Mike Gioscia
3 p.m.: Boston Emissions with Anngelle
5 p.m.: Weekend replays
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TJ Connelly press photo:
Media contact: Contact Michael Marotta at michael@publisist.co.
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