Twin Cities indie rock with alt-country in its bones.
For thirty-seven years the 89.3 signal was WCAL, the classical station of St. Olaf College in Northfield, a school that had been broadcasting since 1922. Minnesota Public Radio bought it in 2004 over the objections of listeners who fought the sale, and in January 2005 relaunched it from downtown St. Paul as a third service beside its news and classical networks. KEXP, KCRW and WXPN were the models, and within three months City Pages readers had voted The Current the best radio station in town.
Hosted blocks run through the day on indie and alternative rock with folk, alt-country and soul worked in, and Minnesota acts sit in the rotation beside the national names. The weekend hands the board to specialists, among them Bill DeVille's United States of Americana, Jake Rudh's new wave and post-punk hour Transmission, and The Local Show, a weekly survey of music made around the state.
Public radio with the volume up.
