WMEB’s ‘Blues Bus’ – 15 years and running

By Mae Walters

Posted on Thursday, October 19th, 2006, 12:00 am

The Blues Bus isn’t a new way to get to Bangor – it’s a WMEB radio show celebrating its impressive 15-year anniversary.

Host Mike Murphy looks like a blues musician himself, wearing a T-shirt reading “Boogie ‘n Blues,” with a picture of a bearded man playing a harmonica. Murphy sports an even fuller beard himself.

“It’s cool being involved with the station,” Murphy said. “You get to hear stuff you wouldn’t hear anywhere else.”

Murphy’s involvement at UMaine began when he worked in 1981 at UNET, the computing department responsible for student records. In 1987 he started a music magazine online. One day he received a package by mistake, which was meant for the campus radio station, WMEB.

Several months later when Murphy was waiting for a different package to arrive, he went to the radio station thinking it might have been sent there. He didn’t find what he was looking for, but he did get to talk to the manager.

The following school year, Murphy’s radio career began. He started out with an alternative music show. The format changed in 1991 when the station manager wanted programming to be more consistent throughout the week, so Murphy started doing a blues show on Fridays.

“Blues is the core of so much music. Rap, hip-hop, folk, metal-all kinds of people use blues riffs in their songs.”

He says the show hasn’t changed much over 15 years. Naturally, the playlist includes well-known musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Stevie Ray Vaughan. But, he said, “I don’t play the famous ones as often because I want to expose newer artists – and play new material from established artists.”

On his desk are several yellow envelopes containing promotional CDs fresh from the mailbox. A number of blues record labels send in CDs to the show, and Murphy also does a fair amount of scouting on his own. He reads magazines such as “Living Blues” and “Blues Review,” and e-mails promoters regularly for new material.

For those looking to update their blues collection, Murphy recommends Tad Robinson, Shemekia Copeland and Ruthy Foster, who will be playing in the Maine Center for the Arts on Halloween.

Putting shows together requires a constant balancing act between over-playing popular songs and cycling in new content. “The downside of college radio is that you might hear someone once and not hear them again for several weeks.

“The neatest thing that happens is when, out of the blue, someone calls and says they’ve been listening for years and keep on doing it. I get a couple of those calls a year,” Murphy said.

The Blues Bus plays on Fridays from 12-3 p.m. on WMEB, 91.9 FM.