WUMB Music Mix

About the show . . .

WUMB Music Mix A mix of contemporary and traditional folk, roots, acoustic, and Americana music; with live interviews, news, and informational features. Dave Palmater hosts weekdays from 10PM to 3PM. Stella Mars hosts weekdays from 3PM to 7PM. Dick Pleasants hosts Saturdays Noon to 2PM.

Dave Palmater

Dave Palmater says that when he was a child, he heard music. He didn't know it was folk music. "It was just what was there."

Dave says, "We went to square dances, country artists played between movies at the local drive-in. It was all just music." As a teenager he gravitated to the bookstore/coffeehouse in the nearest city. There he got hooked on the artists of the 60s folk revival. "Radio introduced me to the blues. Late one night I was tuning around the dial and heard Leadbelly for the first time. It was like an epiphany."

Dave was hooked before he got out of high school, booking artists at a local coffeehouse while managing the bookstore, all before turning 18. After a brief stint in college, he moved to Boston and in 1973 began a long association with the college/community radio station at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During the '80s, Dave worked at WGBH Radio as one of the hosts of the early classical music show, A New Day, and then moved over to WUMB-91.9FM in the early '90s.

"I think of a radio program like a jigsaw puzzle, not like a mosaic. In a mosaic, all the pieces are similar and that's not true of songs. Some people use a collage metaphor and that's close: lots of different elements going to make up a greater picture. In a jigsaw puzzle, however, you have to bring similar pieces together to put the whole picture back together, and that's what I like to do. By carefully stringing songs back to back, you can tell a bigger story, have a greater impact and sometimes make people think."

In addition to hosting the midday Folk Radio program, Dave also is the operations and production manager, assuring that the syndicated programs from National Public Radio and Public Radio International are taped and make it on the air.

Stella Mars

When she was in college, Stella stopped by the campus radio station to visit a friend. He put her on the air. Almost immediately, Stella says, "my theatre major became a theatre minor." Stella spent most of her college years sleeping during the day so that she could work overnights at a local station.

Twenty-five years later, Stella finds herself back where it all started…at a university radio station. This time, though, she brings broad musical knowledge and expertise in diverse formats. In addition, she's received national and international recognition for her on-air performance and skills as a music programmer.

Stella says, "One of my favorite things about WUMB is that we play stories set to music. The songs deal with everything from important social issues to life's biggest questions."

Dick Pleasants

"I guess my tastes go back to the legendary Newport Folk Festivals of the 60s, with a great mix of traditional, revivalist and contemporary music. I like powerful music that moves its participants and audience. Music speaks to our emotional side, be it good time music or music that deals with issues and strong passions."

Dick's love for folk music, and love of radio has kept him a seasoned New England announcer for over 25 years. A graduate of Emerson College, Dick began his career in radio at WCIB-FM in Falmouth then moved to the legendary WCAS-AM in Cambridge. He was the drive behind WGBH's "The Folk Heritage" show for over 20 years and has also been an announcer on WVOI-FM, Martha's Vineyard, WATD-FM, Marshfield, and WBOS-FM, Boston, before coming to WUMB-91.9FM.