WUMB Radio Welcomes New Saturday Night Blues Host

Brendan Hogan Hosted Popular WGBH Radio Blues Show

WUMB 91.9FM is excited to welcome Brendan Hogan as host of the station’s new Saturday night blues show. Dark was the Night, named after an old Blind Willie Johnson blues song, will provide listeners with a mix of blues, roots and songwriters from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Hogan and Dark was the Night will make their WUMB premiere on Oct. 1.

Hogan previously hosted a popular Saturday night blues show for eight years on WGBH Radio, taking over for the deceased Mai Cramer who was the voice of blues in Boston for 28 years. His show ended two years ago when the station changed its program format. Hogan, also a musician, released a full-length studio album, Long Night Coming, in 2009.

"I’ve always felt that WUMB – with its top tier folk, roots, and world music programming – is a perfect fit for the type of radio show I do,” Hogan said.  “Because I’m also a fan, musician, and music fan in general, hosting a radio show on a station as good as WUMB is the only way that makes sense."

WUMB had recently surveyed its listeners on programming and learned of their interest in adding a blues show to the schedule.

“There was only one person we felt could do the show justice – Brendan Hogan. He not only has a passion for the genre, but is interested in sharing his knowledge and understanding about the music and its offshoots with others,” WUMB General Manager Pat Monteith said.

Hogan said it’s important to keep this type of show on air in New England.

"It’s important that the truth be told somewhere, and I think the best of blues and folk music does that,” Hogan said. “So long as Lightnin’ Hopkins, or Steve Earle, Bob Dylan, or Bessie Smith has a chance to be honest with us, then we’re better able to shrug off the BS we encounter in our lives on a daily basis."

Hogan was an announcer at WERS for two years while a student at Emerson College. He also attended the University of Massachusetts Boston as an American Studies graduate student. Learn more about Brendan Hogan at http://brendanhogan.net.

About WUMB Radio
WUMB is a listener-supported non-commercial radio station for those who love original music and diverse radio programming. The station broadcasts from studios located on the University of Massachusetts Boston campus, which serves as the main hub for a network of five public radio stations in Boston, Worcester, Falmouth, Orleans and Newburyport, Massachusetts. Please visit www.wumb.org for a 24-hour-a-day broadcast and more information about WUMB Radio.