Program Profile: Blowing Up the Lakehead
It takes two long nights of the soul a week to the people of Thunder Bay their metal and punk
By Magnus Thyvold
 He might look the part of your classic metal and punk fanbut The Witchfinder General has a soft spot for old-timecountry and rock'n'roll too.Aggressive music fans can be a pretty serious committed lot. Jason “Witchfinder General” Wellwood makes his commitment plain by pulling two all-nighters every week to bring the good people of Thunder Bay some serious loud rock on Lakehead University’s CILU 102.7 FM (online at www.luradio.ca/). “Blowing up the Lakehead on Mondays (10 P.M. to 7 A.M.) is all new release ‘Loud Rock’ (heavy metal, hardcore, hardrock, punk, industrial and all those crazy genre benders in between). BUTL on Wednesdays (12 midnight to 7 A.M.) is usually full album features and interviews from new and old loud rock releases,” says Wellwood. He has aired over 100 interviews on the Honestly, there are so many great stories show over the last three years.
The Witchfinder General in no way fits the stereotype of the hardcore aggressive music fan who rejects and dismisses other genres. He does a couple other programs at the station and against all expectations one of them, Outlaws and Heroes, is a country music show. Not “rock song with fiddles” he says, “but honest-to-goodness-my-dog-just-died-and-my-girl-just-left-me country.” The other show, Route 666, is old school rock’n’roll, rockabilly and psychobilly. Outlaws and Heroes and Route 666 air back to back on Fridays from 9:30 A.M. to noon.
An eclectic selection of favourite recent releases…
Corb Lund – Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier
Annihilator – Metal
Shipwreck A.D. – Abyss
Alpha Galates – A Stimulus For Reason (not actually out yet)
Dwight Yoakam – Dwight Sings Buck
Scarlet Sins – Scarlet Sins
Demon Hunter – Storm The Gates of Hell
The Legendary Shack Shakers - Swampblood
Cara Luft – The Light Fantastic
Trole – Trole (reissue) Wellwood had a hard time pinning down his favourite moments from his shows. “Honestly, there are so many great stories, from being thanked in liner notes (a dream come true!), to premiering brand new music for the first time, to having the chance to speak to people who I grew up listening to and idolizing.”
When he is not on the radio, Wellwood is the Program Manager and Loud Rock Director at CILU and writes metal reviews for Diminished Fifth Records’ online zine. “I simply wanted to be involved with music,” he says, and “when I saw the opportunity to help out here in Thunder Bay, I jumped at it!”
More shows for the Loud music fan:
Underground Metal Massacre on CJSF 90.1FM in Vancouver, BC
Saturdays from 8 P.M. to 10 P.M. PT.
Online and podcast at www.cjsf.ca
T.V. Party Tonight on CFCR 90.5FM in Saskatoon, SK
Saturday from 10:00 P.M. to 12:00 P.M. CST
Online at www.cfcr.ca
Seismic Sound on CHSR 97.9FM in Fredericton, NB
Fridays from 10 P.M. to 12 P.M. ET
Online at www.unb.ca/chsr/
Mind Compression/4am til Deafness on CJSR FM88 in Edmonton, AB
Saturdays from 1 A.M. to 7 A.M. MT
Online at www.cjsr.ualberta.ca/
End of Silence on UMFM 101.5 FM in Winnipeg, MB
Saturdays rom 12 P.M. to 1 A.M. CT
Online at www.umfm.com |