WMOT Opens New East Nashville Satellite Studio At Riverside Revival

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Pictured (L-R): Jessie Scott, Val Hoeppner, Brianna Healy, Beverly Keel and Mark Brynes. Photo: Kristen Drum

WMOT, MTSU’s flagship public radio station, has opened a satellite studio in Music City at Riverside Revival, a nonprofit music and events venue on the Boedecker Campus in east Nashville.

Last week, leaders from the station, MTSU and Riverside Revival helped formally open the 800-square foot space at 1610 Porter Rd., which will be home for on-air shifts, live in-studio performances and production of WMOT specialty shows.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was carried out live over WMOT radio and the web by way of a video livestream, produced and directed by the crew that helped build out the space and that will facilitate audio and video content from the new room. The ceremony was followed by a live broadcast of WMOT’s series Words & Music featuring a performance and interview with country artist Sunny Sweeney and Program Director Jessie Scott.

“Being in Nashville is crucial for the future success of WMOT as the largest Americana radio station in the United States,” says Executive Director Val Hoeppner. “The satellite broadcast and production studio will allow us to better serve our music community by providing a Nashville base for in-studio performances…it will allow us to be where the artists are.”

The studio was made possible in part through a partnership with Nashville’s Boedecker Foundation and its collaborative campus. Opened in 2020, the campus serves as a modern, affordable space to allow nonprofit organizations to connect and build community. As a NIVA (National Independent Venue Association) music venue, it has played host to Brittany Howard, Margo Price and Emmylou Harris, among others.

“The Boedecker Foundation is endlessly grateful to partner with WMOT. Our shared commitment to advancing community well-being through music and education contributed to a seamless, albeit a bit long, alignment,” says BOE Foundation’s Executive Vice President Brianna Healy. “Establishing a studio for WMOT on our campus is a shared dream, years in the making. We are eager to collaborate further.”

“This marks a new chapter for WMOT,” says MTSU College of Media and Entertainment Dean Beverly Keel. “This satellite studio will allow artists who are touring through Nashville to stop in our studio and have important conversations about their music. I am so proud of all that WMOT has accomplished. It is a national success story in the world of public radio stations, and this new studio will allow that good work to continue.”

Lorie Hollabaugh
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