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St. Cloud State University
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Diversions
Alum takes trip 'into the music'
By Blair Tosh
Published:
Thursday, April 7, 2005
Media Credit: Matthew Kaster
The voice behind "Into the Music," Al Neff (left), and former KVSC station manager Kevin Ridley chat about music, beer and the mural behind them Monday afternoon in 88.1 FM´s studio. Neff holds a vinyl from Arlo Guthrie, who will be dissected on the April 24 program.
It all started 22 years ago with a glass of champagne and a three-week suspension.
Today, "Into the Music," the brainchild of SCSU alum Al Neff, is broadcast on nine radio stations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Colorado and Washington.
And that nine may be expanding to hundreds.
Neff was still a student at St. Cloud State in 1983 when his friend brought a bottle of champagne to the KVSC studio where Neff was working as an announcer.
"I was caught drinking in the studio while I was on the air," Neff said.
Neff was suspended for three weeks, but asked if he could pre-record a show for broadcast.
That first program was called "The Inside Story."
Later, the name would be changed to "Into the Music."
The program has been airing almost nonstop since then, with roughly 150 episodes completed.
Serving as a musical documentary, "Into the Music" strives to weave a web, Neff said.
Neff said "Into the Music" is about showing the interrelationships in all forms of music.
"We want to treat the music with respect," Neff said. "We want to help people get a deeper understanding."
In keeping with the show's mission, the programs have covered a wide range of topics, from individuals like Robert Johnson and Tracy Chapman, to groups like Pink Floyd and Los Lobos.
Neff has even done programs on influential record labels like Chess and Stax/Volt.
Neff worked at KVSC for 20 years. During that time, he went from a student to a full-time professor.
In 2001, Neff left KVSC and moved to Colorado where, with SCSU alumnus Kevin Ridley, he founded Hwy 61 Productions.
They continue to produce "Into the Music," which airs on KVSC Sunday evenings at 6 p.m.
Soon, Neff's audience may be getting a lot bigger.
Ridley said Hwy 61 Productions is currently talking to a national syndication service.
If a deal is signed, "Into the Music" could be broadcast on hundreds of stations nationwide.
The partners got the idea to go after a wider audience after they traveled to Cleveland in 1995 for the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Neff said the name of the production company - Hwy 61 - pays homage both to the actual highway and the Bob Dylan album "Highway 61 Revisited."
The trip the duo took to Cleveland began on this highway in a 1979 Datsun with 308,000 miles on the meter.
Neff paid $25 for the vehicle that broke down twice.
"We sort of realized that all highways are connected," Neff said, "and music's just like that."
The program focuses on a 60 year span of musical history, with the core being the period between 1950 and 1980.
"We get e-mails from high school students, and yet we know we've got listeners in their fifties," Ridley said.
According to Neff, each hour-long program takes between 40 and 50 hours to complete, including research, writing, timing, voicing, production and duplication.
Taking Neff's estimate of 150 completed shows, the "Into the Music" library therefore represents roughly 7,500 hours of work.
This does not take into account the 50 further shows that are in various states of completion.
Neff and Ridley said their ultimate goal is about 500 episodes.
"That's when we'll probably start to exhaust the supply," Neff said. "I'll be exhausted long before then."
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