WMOT has accomplished a goal this week that’s been in the works for years - opening a satellite studio for broadcasting and events in Music City. On Wednesday, leaders from the station, Middle Tennessee State University, and the Boedecker Foundation took part in a ceremony formally opening the 800-square foot space at 1610 Porter Rd. in East Nashville, which will be home for on-air shifts, live in-studio performances, and production of WMOT specialty shows.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony, complete with giant scissors, was carried 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. Executive Director Val Hoeppner acknowledged them: Chief Engineer Gary Brown, Operations Director Mat Ozee, Video Director Jessica Rigsby, and Audio Engineer Erika Nalow. The ceremony was followed by a live broadcast of WMOT’s series Words & Music - a performance and interview with country singer 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," said 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 on Riverside Drive. Opened in 2020 and anchored by the Riverside Revival events venue, the campus serves as a modern, affordable space to allow nonprofit organizations to connect and build community.
"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,” said 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."
“It’s been a long time coming and we’re very excited about this day,” said MTSU Provost Mark Byrnes. “It gives us a home to produce higher quality audio and video without the need to borrow space, move equipment, and work within others’ schedules. It will also give WMOT a Nashville presence that we hope will increase our funding from Nashville sponsors, business, and grant making organizations.”
Byrnes also stressed the track record of WMOT as a source of hands-on training for future professionals in media. "Our students will have tremendous opportunities to learn from established and upcoming artists and become proficient in the new technology that is being utilized. This will give them invaluable experience as they move on to establish their own professional careers,” he said in a statement.
"This marks a new chapter for WMOT,” said 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."
WMOT acknowledged sponsors Mojave Audio for studio microphones, Fender Guitars for backline amps and electric guitar, and Gallagher Guitar Company of Murfreesboro for a new acoustic guitar to equip the space for music making.
