No matter how long you have been doing something, you never know when you will learn something new along the way. 

This was the case for me recently. 88.9 WRDL’s morning radio show “The Early Bird’s Word” is roughly a year old, and I have been with it since the start. The show airs Weekday morning from 7 to 9 a.m., and I personally cash in on about 6 hours of air-time each week.

However, it was not until Sept. 19 that I was part of my first ever live music performance in the studio of WRDL.

In an effort to promote the annual “Rhythm of Life Music Festival” which took place over the weekend in New London, Kate Lentz and I welcomed the ROL Festival visionary Dr. Harry Pepper. Interestingly enough, Pepper brought along with him performer and songwriter Matt Otis with aspirations to perform on the show.

Upon detailing many of the performers at the Rhythm of Life Festival, Pepper explained his connection with many of them which was helpful in booking them for the show. 

“I have a lot of connections with different friends in the industry,” he said.

Among these friends comes Otis, who Pepper met in Berea, Ohio at a music venue. After hearing him perform, Otis was recruited to partake in the musical festivities of the ROL Festival.

Otis is definitely no stranger to performing. He even explained on the air some experiences as a travelling musician.

“I just got back from a massive U.S. tour where we went around the country,” Otis said. “Music is all about connecting with different people, good people, and just getting the music out there. That is personally why it has been a blast working with Harry on this particular festival.”

Sure enough, Otis brought in his guitar, had Pepper accompany him on the conga drums, and they performed two of Otis’s hits: “Take Me Home” and “Down Down Down.”

The overall consensus of Pepper and Otis was the contagious pleasure of performing music, especially in coordination with the ROL Festival.

“The concept was really to bring a lot of diverse music together and feel like that is a way to build a music community,” Pepper said.

Both the performance and the quality of the sound levels that went out over the air were exceptional. 

Given that the equipment in the WRDL studio is typically used for speaking and interviewing guests, transmitting live music over the air was somewhat of a concern, simply because how it would sound was a mystery. Fortunately, it all worked out well in the end.

Pepper and Otis were very appreciative of joining us Friday morning. Both songs and their interview can be heard online at wrdlfm.com. Tune in weekday mornings to “The Early Bird’s Word” from 7 to 9 a.m. on 88.9 FM for more interviews.