WUKY celebrates National Public Radio Music Day
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 22, 2024) — WUKY-FM will host a free/live concert presenting Kentucky musician Ben Sollee and Lexington natives Movie Jail, to celebrate Public Radio Music Day, 6 p.m. Oct. 23 at the WUKY Studios, 2640 Spurr Road in Lexington. The concert will also air live on the WUKY Facebook page, YouTube and at 91.3 FM. This concert has been made possible by the support of Wildside Winery.
WUKY is a partner of @noncommusicalliance and its mission to highlight public radio’s role in connecting musicians, performers and artists with the audiences who enjoy and support their music during Public Radio Music Day.
About the musicians
Kentucky musician and composer Ben Sollee has been blurring boundaries with his musical style and career for nearly two decades. His latest album, “Long Haul” (2024), is no exception. Drawing on tonal influences from the American and global south, Sollee’s vocals and unique cello style thread through each track binding seemingly disparate chapters of his journey – the long haul.
After his last album in 2017, Sollee took a break from touring to grow his family and deepen community connections in Louisville. Now a father of three, Sollee has leaned into his work as a composer; scoring films such as “Land” from director Robin Wright, and “Maggie Morre(s),” a John Slattery film featuring Tina Fey and Jon Hamm. He also scored the podcast series “Unreformed,” which was recently nominated for a Peabody Award. Outside of music, Sollee helped launch the nonprofit group Canopy, which supports Kentucky businesses positively impacting their communities and planet.
Described by BrooklynVegan as “hypnotic, airy indie rock,” Movie Jail is a five-piece band based in Lexington. Their debut EP, mixed by John McEntire of Tortoise, received nods from Under the Radar, Treble and other outlets for an inventive blend of post-punk guitar, “lush and shimmering” instrumentation, and oddball rhythms. The record received airplay both regionally and beyond, and they quickly released a video for the single, “Call the Neighbors,” which MAGNET praised as an “arty, hooky, sonic barrage.”
Featuring longtime friends and collaborators Dave Cobb (guitar and vocals), Nick Coleman (synths), Kim Conlee (vibraphone and flute), Thomas Usher (bass), and Austin Wilkerson (drums), Movie Jail recently brought its frenetic live performance to the Crave and Expansion festivals. Whether testing the limits of 7/4 time or careening into jittery new-wave territory, Movie Jail finds its grounding in an unabashed love of pop melodies.
****
Each week, more than 7.5 million Americans listen to Triple A (Adult Album Alternative) music on public radio stations like WUKY. WUKY is just one of more than 330 public radio stations that play Triple A music. WUKY is the only Triple A radio station in this market and offers the biggest variety of music in Central Kentucky. Triple A also encompasses folk, bluegrass, Celtic and gospel.
WUKY’s mssion
Through news, music and stories crafted for a culturally open-minded community, 91.3 WUKY is a catalyst for creating a better, more inclusive and engaged audience in Lexington and Central Kentucky.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.