Nell Yeah!

Meg Shorette - founder, booker, music champion, and one of the key connectors in Portland’s live music scene, joins the show to talk about her work building community through music. From launching a multi-venue festival to supporting artists year-round, Meg has played a major role in shaping what Portland audiences hear and experience.

She also brings along a stack of hand-picked songs to share, making for a lively conversation filled with great music and insight into the local scene. Tune in to hear what’s inspiring one of the people helping keep Portland’s music community thriving.

Ollie Wright is Annella's guest on the Morning Beat. Ollie is a midfielder with the Hearts of Pine Soccer Club in Portland, Maine.

He contributed 11 goals and 8 assists, earned 2025 USL1 All-League Second Team, and was named 2025 Supporters’ Player of the Year.

He joined the show to talk about the music he listens to while training, what helps him lock into the right mindset before a match, and his surprising go-to karaoke song. They also got into what he misses most about life in the UK and why the community here in Maine has quickly started to feel like home.

Three WMPG DJs, one shared obsession: records.

Join Annella from The Morning Beat, Mr. Dana of Wax Poetic, and Helen from Crate Escape as they dig into some of the most exciting releases for Record Store Day. From long-awaited reissues to limited-edition pressings, the trio shares what caught their eye in this year’s lineup, including releases connected to artists like David Bowie, The Stranglers,Wire, Suede, Roy Ayers,The Sisters of Mercy, Peaches, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Dr. Demento, T. Rex, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Empire of the Sun, and Françoise Hardy.

Along the way, they compare wish lists, swap stories from the record bins, and take on a fun challenge: each DJ picks a Record Store Day release they think the others should buy. Will their musical instincts match up? Tune in to hear their choices, their reasoning, and which records might actually make it home in someone’s crate. Whether you are a seasoned vinyl collector or just curious about the buzz around Record Store Day, this lively conversation is packed with recommendations, record store culture, and plenty of music-nerd enthusiasm from the WMPG airwaves.

Live DJ set at Bull Moose on April 18th 2026.

Produced by Annella
Edited by Cam

Music and chat with Annella and Siobhan Brett. Siobhan is the Opinion Editor at the Portland Press Herald

On this episode of Nell Yeah!, Annella meets Kevin Jensen, Economic Development Director for Gorham, for a conversation that blends community development with a shared love of music. Along the way, Kevin shares some of the music that inspires him and the sounds that soundtrack life in Gorham.

Annella chats with Anita Verna Crofts on the Morning Beat 08-27-2026.
The Morning Beat broadcasts on WMPG 90.9FM in Portland, Maine.

Anita Verna Crofts is living her dream: a home above an independent bookstore in the India Street Historic District of Portland, and work that takes her regularly to Seattle, Adelaide, and downeast Maine here in our backyard. She's on faculty at the University of Washington and Maine Media Workshop + College (she clearly likes the upper corners of the US) and teaches courses on long-form writing; crafting a life story from personal objects, and the intersection of listening and participatory design. For years she wrote extensively on food, memory, and identity, which culminated in her book, Meet Me at the Bamboo Table: Everyday Meals Everywhere. She enthusiastically attends rural auctions in search of interesting chairs, and if it's swimming weather, she's likely in lake. 

Annella chats with Diana Manduca - singer with Two Minutes Out who have a new album out called Ripples

Annella chats with Dave Register, actor and founder of the Portland Theater Festival in Maine.
Broadcast on the Morning Beat