WNCW 88.7 has announced that Local Color, the program that profiles local and regional artists, will now air on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. in addition to the original broadcast on Fridays from 9 to 11 p.m.

“I recently gained a second hour to profile regional artists, now I’ve got a second day to share them with listeners,” said Local Color Host Lee Miller.

The program, which originally aired in July of 2004, began as an hour-long show but was extended to two hours in March of this year. The format of the program is a mix of local and regional artists followed by a recently recorded live set hand picked by Miller; the second hour begins with another mix of musicians followed by an encore presentation of a previously used Local Color live recording.

“We’re proud of the show that Lee produces, and the feedback we get for Local Color has been really encouraging. Broadcasting music local to our region has always been important to WNCW, and we are very excited to feature it twice a week,” said WNCW Interim Program Director Ele Ellis.

Miller feels like the impact of Local Color on the artists is two-fold.

“It helps us (WNCW) get them out to a broader audience, and,” he says, “I hope it makes them want to work harder and do something even better the next time.”

Miller says he listens to a lot of demos (actually, everything that comes in), despite the overall recording quality or inconsistency of songs; he’ll pick out the ones that are worth playing and make sure they receive airtime on Local Color. If they’re good enough, but the recording quality isn’t up to par, he may invite them to perform a live set for an upcoming program. All this exposure, he believes, is the impetus for struggling regional acts to improve their next recording and maybe even break through to other programming on WNCW.

Miller attends live shows and reads up on regional bands through local weekly papers to find the musicians to include on Local Color, but he also solicits for artists during his program to send in tapes or CDs of their music.

Individuals or bands from WNCW’s listening area interested in submitting music to Local Color should send it to Lee Miller, WNCW 88.7, P.O. Box 804, Spindale, N.C., 28160.