Submit Your Version of the National Anthem To Be Played On Air on 95.9 The River!

As of last week, you may have noticed we started playing various renditions of the Star Spangled Banner every weekday at noon.

We have versions from Jimi, Metallica, The Marine Corps Band and a few others, and that’s all well and good, but we’re a LOCAL radio station. There are just too many talented individuals in the Fox Valley area to ignore, so we’d like to feature LOCAL artists singing a song that brings us all together during this time of social distancing and isolation.

We don’t care if you are a professional singer, an amateur performer, or just someone with a great voice, we want to hear your version of the National Anthem, and possibly play it on the air on 95.9 The River.

It can be a Capella or an instrumental! Solo or with a band! We just want to hear it!

Now, we can’t PROMISE that everyone will get their performances on the air, but there are a few things you can do to raise your chances:

1. You don’t need to be Aretha Franklin, but you do need to have a decent vocal or instrumental talent. I CAN sing, but I can’t sing WELL, so you don’t want to be hearing that on the radio!

2. The recordings need to be of decent audio quality. If you have access to a studio…great! If not, it’s not no big deal! Cell phones have come a long way!
Record audio or a video, just as long as you give some thought into how and where you record it first:

  • Don’t record TOO CLOSE to your phone. We’d rather have it a bit too soft then raise the volume, than too loud and it be unusable.
  • Record in a small room with something to help dampen the reverb – a closet with hanging clothes comes to mind, or record while under a blanket or towel. Sure, you’ll look a bit silly for a few minutes, but the audio will be significantly better. And if you send a video, we won’t share the video. Promise. We’re just interested in the audio.
  • Let us know your Name, age (if you’d like), where you are from, and anything else about you that you feel we should know.

3. We want to hear from all our local bands, solo artists, singers and musicians…and any genre of music is accepted. Country singer? Fine with us! More of a heavy rocker? Send it in! Classical pianist? Bach and roll, baby! Want to play it on a kazoo? Well…it better be good, but sure, send it in! Its all about bringing people together, honoring this country and showcasing local talent.

Again, by submitting, you aren’t guaranteed a spot in our National Anthem rotation, but we are YOUR local radio station, so we want to showcase YOU!

You can submit your video/audio anyway you choose:

  • Tag us on Facebook/Twitter/IG
  • Send us a DM.
  • Email it to [email protected]
  • Mail us a VHS copy (actually, don’t do that, we’re all working from home).

Talent from Schaumburg to Joliet, get us a copy, and if we decide to air your version, we’ll let you know when you can hear it and get you a copy.

*To be clear, this isn’t a contest, no prizes are being awarded and you won’t be paid with anything but overwhelming pride. By submitting your version of the song, you are giving us the right to play it on 95.9 The River, our sister stations, and other platforms. Also, it has to be YOUR voice. You can’t send in your favorite version to be played without that person’s permission…copyright laws are a bummer sometimes.

Thank you for keeping us tuned in, western suburbs. We’ll all get through this together, one song at a time.