CMJ Profiles WMUH and Dust-to-Digital Owner with College Radio Past

Somehow I managed to skip one of CMJ's College Radio Profiles (their ongoing series of interviews with staff from college radio stations all over the country). So, several months late, I'm here to tell you that in March, CMJ did an interview with the Music Director of WMUH (Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA) and chatted about the station's 60th anniversary, unique fundraising efforts (they did a haircut-a-thon), and the attention they've received from being ranked in the Princeton Review's top college radio station list (according to their website, this was back in 2000).

Here's an excerpt from the interview with WMUH Music Director Caroline Shadood:

CMJ: WMUH turned 60 last year. Happy late anniversary! Can you tell us a little bit about the station?

Caroline: Thanks! The station is split 50/50 between community and student DJs, making the programming fantastically diverse. We broadcast primarily rock and indie rock, as well as jazz, blues, metal, punk/ska, electronic and world music. Right now we chart Radio 200 and Loud Rock at CMJ, but there has been an increasing demand for Hip-Hop and RPM at the station...

And, by the way, the most recent "industry profile" on the CMJ blog is of super cool indie record label Dust-to-Digital. They reissue all kinds of amazing vintage material, some of it originally on cylinder recordings and 78s. According to their website: "Dust-to-Digital's mission is to produce high-quality, cultural artifacts, which combine rare, essential recordings with historic images and detailed texts describing the artists and their works."

In the interview, label owner Lance Ledbetter talks about his college radio past at Georgia State's college radio station WRAS:

CMJ: You used to DJ on WRAS. How did that help you get started with Dust-To-Digital?

Lance: I view college radio as a great opportunity to learn about music—it just happens to be in front of a live, listening audience. My fondest memories of being a DJ include digging in the record library late at night when I would have the station to myself, doing Sunday afternoon free-forms on artists I enjoyed and interviewing artists coming through town for my show.