She also made a series of ‘audio portraits’ for the council’s ‘Sister Cities‘ project including:

• Steve Stirling – a city taxi driver
• Dannii Killilea – a Roller Girl
• Carl Speigel – sells fresh vegetables in the Bullring Markets
• Mr Ali – runs one of the cities most famous Indian restaurants
• John Mostyn – a Music Promoter working with a wealth of talent in and around The Custard Factory

All the documentaries are up online on the respective websites.

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For the time being you can’t listen through your web browser, but will need to use your media player of choice (iTunes, Windows Media Player, Winamp, whatevs).

There are plenty more bits and pieces to come on the site; this is a very early version with the music being provided automagically – at the moment I’m listening to a dubby-breaksy kinda mix.

There’s still plenty of time to get involved with Rhubarb Radio and you can check the development on the Rhubarb Radio blog which is providing a really interesting insight into how a collaborative project can come together.

Congrats to Mark Steadman who’s put the site and live stream together.

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Broadcasting from Druids Heath on 87.7FM and online (although that wasn’t working when I tried it) the station is staffed by a mix of volunteers and experienced pros with Chris Gee (ex-Kerrang), Pat de Whalley (ex-BBC WM) and Ranking Roger all presenting shows.

Things seem a little sketchy at the moment – there’s no programme schedule or any indication of whether they’ll major on music, talk or both -  but then they’ve only been going a few days.

Here’s a mission statement of sorts:

• Made by the People For The People
• With news and views from the people of South Birmingham
• Sports reports from local matches
• Music and song from local talent
• Information on local services and agencies
• Information from local business
• Plus gossip competitions and a chance to get involved

The station has funding from the Community Network South West scheme that aims to support communities affected by the closure of MG Rover, so there’s some emphasis on the training and experience that the station can give to people looking to boost their CVs.

There are bound to be loads of ways to get involved with the station if you’d like to help out.  I imagine the best way to do that would be to call Peni Whelan, station manager, on 07828 797 467 or use the contact form.

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This is in the Custard Factory unit just opposite reception.  From taking the keys on Monday to getting a makeshift studio installed yesterday, things are moving quickly.  The Rhubarb Radio blog has more details but reports that:

we’re waiting the IT & Telephone sockets to be fitted and made live, so very soon after that, we’ll be able to point the master outgoing feed to a beta website, and run some test transmissions

There’s still more than enough time for people to get involved and help shape the development of the station.  There might be a meeting at The Kitchen tomorrow (31 July) at 6pm to discuss programme schedules, availability, training and so on.  It’s perhaps worth checking the blog or contacting Paul Hadley at Dynamics Arts (who are managing the station) for confirmation on that.

Also reported on the Custard Factory blog and by a slightly apprehensive Steve Gerrard on Twitter.

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I went along to the meeting for the previously mentioned Rhubarb Radio on Thursday last week.

Things are still tripping along quickly, with equipment due to move on-site shortly and small teams of volunteers being allocated to look after certain other matters.  As much as possible, discussion about the direction and development of the station will be conducted out in the open. For starters there’s a Rhubarb Radio blog for ideas to be kicked around on.

Paul Hadley (Dynamics Arts) has posted his minutes of Thursday’s meeting on the blog but you can also download or stream the audio from this post.

Most encouragingly, the people involved at this stage have a wide range of expertise to lend to the project and there’s a lot of enthusiasm.  If you want to get involved then either email paul[at]dynamicsarts.com or perhaps leave a comment on the Rhubarb Radio blog – I’m sure it’d be picked up on.

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It’s early days but things are moving apace.  There’s a bit of discussion over on The Stirrer’s forum which will give you an idea of what’s going on but I met Paul Hadley from Dynamics Art and here are some bulletpoints I came away with (note, everything’s liable to change):

• Rhubarb Radio will pick up the keys to the unit in the Custard Factory (the one that’s currently a bridal shop) on 1 August
• The station will start broadcasting using a makeshift studio in the unit at the front of the Custard Factory (on the left, opposite the reception area) as soon as Capsule have stopped using it for Supersonic (so mid-July)
• The daytime audience will be creatives/students/etc
• In the evening there will be specialist music shows, possibly patching in to events at the nearby Barfly, Factory and Rainbow
• Advertising will be used to recoup overheads (including all licences needed) before being reinvested in the station
• The area behind the studio will have a workshop for training sessions on digital film, music, video, etc using Photoshop, Illustrator, Final Cut Pro and so on.  Training will be accredited
• A reference part for this project might be London’s Resonance FM
• The station will broadcast via the internet and probably via a Restricted Service Licence for a while
• There’s no website yet – anyone who wants to help with that (again on a volunteer basis) is very welcome

People who want to get involved (all on a voluntary basis) are welcome and there’s going to be a meeting at The Kitchen at the Custard Factory on Thurs 3 July at 6pm.  As Paul said on The Stirrer:

We’re looking for many supporters to perform all sorts of roles……. it’s not just about presenting, there’s the need for researchers, producers, trainers, admin support, management committee members, fundraisers, marketeers, pr, runners, technicians……. the list goes on.

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