After launching a brand partnership to support non-commercial radio at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS) and Urban Outfitters (URBN) announced some of the 13 bands who will make the upcoming “Free Yr Radio” Tour. “Free Yr Radio” is a series of free, in-store performances by some of the biggest indie music names at Urban Outfitters locations across the country. The tour, part of the multi-phased “Free Yr Radio” campaign that will channel much-needed funding to participating independent radio stations, kicks off April 15th at the Chicago Urban Outfitters with a performance by British psychedelic-progressive-pop trio, Klaxons, who will perform songs from their U.S. debut Myths of the Near Future. The tour will hit 12 additional markets through July 21 with a stellar lineup including: The Ponys (Lawrence, KS), Voxtrot (Houston, TX), Long Winters (Seattle, WA), The Rapture (Philadelphia, PA), Rogue Wave (Santa Cruz, CA), Tapes ‘N Tapes (Minneapolis, MN), Dinosaur Jr. (Boston, MA), Annuals (Raleigh/Durham, NC), along with others to be announced soon. Each performance will be co-presented by a local non-commercial radio station that will benefit from the campaign’s fundraising. Participating stations will be able to award one of their listeners with a brand new Toyota Yaris, presented with a check which can be used towards modifications suggested by the station’s Free Yr Radio band. Stations will also receive proceeds from a “Free Yr Radio” compilation CD that will be released at the end of the year-long program. Participating stations include: WLUW (Chicago), KTRU (Houston), KEXP (Seattle), Y-Rock On XPN (Philadelphia), KZSC (Santa Cruz), 89.3 The Current (Minneapolis), WERS (Boston), WKNC (Raleigh/Durham), WBWC (Cleveland) and KGNU (Boulder). “We are thrilled to be partnered with Yaris and Urban Outfitters to create this unique and innovative campaign that will help expose our station to new listeners, generate revenue for us to operate, and enable us to continue to discover new music and serve our communities,” says Jim McGuinn, Program Director for Philadelphia’s Y-Rock On XPN. “The bands that are playing represent the cutting edge of independent music and Y-Rock On XPN is proud to be among the stations taking part in Free Yr Radio.” The complete list of tour dates and current bands is as follows:
- April 15 – Chicago, IL – KLAXONS
- April 24 – Lawrence, KS – THE PONYS
- April 28 – Houston, TX – VOXTROT
- May 1 – Seattle, WA – LONG WINTERS
- May 9 – Raleigh, NC – ANNUALS
- May 21 – Philadelphia, PA – THE RAPTURE
- May 25 – Santa Cruz, CA – ROGUE WAVE
- June 5 – Minneapolis, MN – TAPES ‘N TAPES
- June 11 – Boston, MA – DINOSAUR JR.
- TBD – Los Angeles, CA
- TBD – Boulder, CO
- TBD – Cleveland, OH
- TBD – New Haven, CT