ABOUT
It all started in 2014 with a brief manifesto...
This manifesto from 2014 is the gist of what They Might Be Playing TMBG is all about.
Oh, what humble yet beautiful beginnings.
And now, for the ELEVENTH straight year, KMSU 89.7 FM The Maverick in Mankato, Minn. (an independent public radio station), will commemorate the death of James Ensor (Belgium's famous painter) by playing a crap-ton of the band that invited the world to dig him up, shake his hand, and appreciate the man. That band is They Might Be Giants.
Don't know what any of that meant? No worries; this is a judgement-free zone. Please check out some delightful Wikipedia entries to get up to speed: KMSU / AMPERS / James Ensor / death / TMBG
. . .
Welcome back. So anyway, what started as a simple pledge drive "Day Sponsorship" by a couple of fans of TMBG & KMSU -- in which the station's DJs were encouraged to play some They Might Be Giants if they felt like it -- has grown from a little southern Minnesota thing into a (literally) global phenomenon. Credit for this goes in no small part to the hosts of the KMSU show Shuffle Function: Shyboy Tim & Shelley. These two have not only poured their heart and soul into this "mom & pop" station for more than a decade, but they're also big-time TMBG fans.
Tremendous credit also goes to They Might Be Giants themselves, who became personally involved in the event starting in Year 2 with not one, not two, but THREE phone calls to the station by John Flansburgh, who had heard about KMSU's event via the interwebs. In Year 3, Flans not only called us back (more than once) but brought John Linnell with him to answer fan questions live on the air! In Year 4 (2017), we managed to crank out 177 songs over 12 full hours on the air, including calls from both Flans and Linnell again, received requests from fans across all 50 states, and 20 countries from all 7 continents, AND the day ended with a great TMBG tribute show in Mankato! Year 5 was yet another mind-bending, twelve-hour TMBG blowout featuring glorious discussions with not just Flans… not just Linnell… but also the band’s incredible bassist, Danny Weinkauf! Year 6 (2019) was once again a blast, with great call-ins from the Johns, requests again from all 50 states and every continent, and incredibly emotional stories from TMBG fans. Year 7 (2020) was, frankly, so successful that the listeners overloaded KMSU’s livestream capacity — that’ll happen when the Johns share two hours of their day with us, and we receive several thousands requests from around the world INCLUDING FROM FRANCE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME! Years 8 & 9 (2021, 2022) brought to the world even more beautiful listener stories, wonderful chats with the Johns and, of course, a full day of the greatest band in America! And 2023 marked Year 10 of this incredible adventure, highlighted not just by the Johns and the fans, but by the contributions of the amazingly talented cartoonist & illustrator Henrieke Goorhuis.
Did we mention fans? Most of the credit for the overwhelming success of this event goes to TMBG's fans themselves. THEY. ARE. EVERYWHERE. and they know a great band when they hear it. Every year we receive more requests, more questions for the Johns, more stories about how the band has impacted their lives... and we expect that to continue.
We don’t know what else to say. The first TEN YEARS were amazing, and we can’t wait to do it again in 2024!