I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water.

– Ray Charles

Music doesn’t lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.

– Jimi Hendrix

Punk is musical freedom. It’s saying, doing and playing what you want. In Webster’s terms, ‘nirvana’ means freedom from pain, suffering and the external world, and that’s pretty close to my definition of Punk Rock.

– Kurt Cobain

You’ve heard of the Local Food movement, right? Well, get ready for a new Local Music movement, starting online at SoKing Internet Radio at 6 p.m. TONIGHT – Wed., Feb. 15, 2012! If you can’t make it to our Launch Party at the Tin Theater tonight from 5:30-7pm, go here and click the “Listen Now” button at 6pm and tune in to what we believe will be a historic moment in local media:

http://sokinginternetradio.com

This new venture will be (far as we know), the first-ever internet radio station tied to a local blog in the Northwest – perhaps even the entire US! But we are NOT a “regular” radio station – you won’t find us on your AM or FM dial, and we will NOT be playing the same ol’ same ol’ typical playlist. We are a new, locally-grown, totally independent media venture whose mission is to showcase LOCAL music of all genres, initially blasting out of your PC or mobile device with an eclectic mix of well…a bunch of truly local music, including (but not limited to):
TuneInWant to listen to SoKing Internet Radio on-the-go? Search for “SoKing” on TuneIn and listen to us on your mobile device!Apps are available for iPhone/iPad, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry and others!

Download TuneIn App

You can also find us in the Radio section of iTunes and AppleTV! Just go to the Alternative Rock category and scroll down to SoKing Internet Radio!
  • Jordan Biggs, a native Burien local singer/songwriter (playing live at our Launch Party)
  • Treehouse Dreamers, which includes King County Prosecutor and local boy Dan Satterberg on bass (also playing at our Launch Party)
  • Carly Henley, a very talented, beautiful young local woman who passed away in 2010
  • Castbound, a group of 15-year old guys from Normandy Park and West Seattle who just broke up (let’s get ’em back together!)
  • DUI Joe, a Burien-based DUI Attorney that we bet you didn’t know could sing. Or talk – he’ll also be doing a talk show for us shortly!
  • BenniB, a B-Town boy turned rapper
  • Trip Like Animals, a psychedelic/grunge band featuring Michael Molner, a bartender from The Tin Room
  • Boomerang Summer, headed by Trevor Ras, a Highline High grad
  • KT & Hoops, a local folk duo
  • Ryan Burns, a prolific local jazz musician
  • Kyle R. Andrews, a pop acoustic local singer
  • Tupelo, local, classic country rock (has played Yo’s Bistro)
  • Morris Can Fly, a power-pop local trio from Seattle
  • The Thoughts, a thoughtful small band from Seattle
  • Two Buck Chuck, a kitschy cover band with two brothers (has played at Mick Kelly’s)
  • Dirty Malkovich, aka Luke Krom, formerly of Burien’s Skwish
  • The Pink Torpedoes, which includes local Yellow VAN Handyman Roger Gee
  • Lark vs Owl, an amazingly talented Seattle band
  • Fleet Foxes, a Seattle band that was nominated for a Grammy
  • Perhaps the most successful South King County Band ever – Alice In Chains (original, late bassist Mike Starr went to Highline High and drummer Sean Kinney lives in Burien)
  • Noah Gundersen, another great local songwriter
  • Manooghi Hi, an amazing Seattle band that collides Indian music with Grunge
  • Sly Mr. Y, a pop-influenced power singer
  • Pacific Nomadic, a Seattle-based indie band “with its heart on its sleeve”
  • Beau Robinson, another local songwriter/singer
  • Classic northwest 80s music from The Heat(er)s, The Cowboys (R.I.P. Ian Fisher), The Eagertones and even one of Scott’s personal faves – the late great Billy Rancher and the Unreal Gods (now out of print)!
  • More being added daily! (have a suggestion or some MP3s? Email [email protected])
There are plenty of other local bands and musicians in the mix (with new stuff being added daily), so be sure to give us a click and listen. We encourage you to tune in for a while (at your desk while working or at home or perhaps on your mobile device) and let the music grow on you – most of it has already grown on us, and we don’t mean like a bad fungus – there’s some great local music here! And rest assured all bands, musicians and songwriters – SoKing Internet Radio is 100% fully legal and licensed, which means we’re paying out royalties to all ASCAP/BMI/SESAC/Soundexchange affiliates. Bands/musicians will get free exposure, links, bio pages and more, not only on-air, but on the radio station website AND all our local blogs. Plus, there’s also the intangible happy feeling that they’re becoming part of something new, and big. We’re talkin’ TRULY LOCAL RADIO BABY! Some of our features at launch include:
  • Listen to us through your web browser or mobile device through numerous options; here are some other ways to listen:
    • Shoutcast iPhone App (once installed, search for ‘SoKing’).
    • Tunein App for iPhone.
    • Winamp App for Android.
    • You can also find us in the Radio section of iTunes and AppleTV! Just go to the Alternative Rock category and scroll down to SoKing Internet Radio!
  • You can also see what tracks have played, what’s playing now, and you can even rate each song to push it up the Charts! (ontinually-updated Top 20 Chart is here: http://sokinginternetradio.com/top20/).
  • Links to purchase music on Amazon.com.
  • A ‘Tracks Played‘ page that shows how many times we’ve played each track.
We’ll be rolling out new shows and other features as we get up to speed, and we’ll announce these on our network of six local blogs as well as sokinginternetradio.com, so be sure to check in often. Don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter too! Oh, and did we mention that this venture would not be on the air if it wasn’t for our first Charter Advertiser Prudential Northwest Realty? If you’d like to join them and get your business on air as a “Live Read” Sponsor, the special discount launch rate is just $2.50 per read, with a minimum of $50 buy which gets you 20 spots (with discounts for larger buys). To hop on board the SoKing Internet Radio revolution, email [email protected] and we’ll send you our new rate card. But act fast, as this special offer will expire May 15, 2012. If you’re a local band, musician, songwriter or artist who has some music you think we should be playing, email your MP3s or links to [email protected], along with artwork, links and a brief bio. BEHIND THE SCENES: Some of the folks behind this endeavor include:
  • Founder/Publisher Scott Schaefer, who last “did” radio in college and who loves music and supporting local artists and much more. Schaefer conjured this local radio idea a couple years ago when he watched some local bands play at the Burien Strawberry Festival and wondered “why aren’t these people getting their music on the radio?” Well, now they are!
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="171" caption="Michael Brunk"][/caption]
  • Photographer/Coder Michael Brunk, who researched, tested software, set up servers, gathered music (mostly punk – look for a Brunk Punk show soon!) and generally drove the tech side of this groovy train for the last several months! Brunk is a truly professional DIY type of guy who just gets things done. THANKS MIKE!
  • Designers Todd Christensen and Wendy Quesinberry, of Quesinberry and Associates. Todd is an old college friend of Scott’s, and he created the logo and helped find some music.
  • South King Media staffers Mark Neuman, Jack Mayne and Ralph Nichols, along with Intern Bryan Charles. Look for more great content from them in the future!
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Founder/Publisher/Editor. Three-time National Emmy Award winning Writer (“Bill Nye the Science Guy”), Director, Producer, Journalist and more...