Northern B.C.'s rich and varied music scene is about to get a boost.
CFUR, the community-based radio station at the University of Northern British Columbia, is now home to a live performance studio and has recently received $20,000 to carry out an archiving project.
Over the next few months, station manager Fraser Hayes hopes to see the station's collection of work by northern B.C. musicians grow well beyond the single shelf it currently occupies.
To that end, he has put out a call for any recordings - produced albums, interviews and even bootlegs - of music in that vein, while also welcoming the region's players and singers to perform in the station's studio.
"I can see us getting a huge influx of things in the next few months," Hayes said. "The goal is to acquire as much as we can of the historical stuff."
Just a few days ago, Hayes was at a garage sale where he came across a record of a northern B.C. church group from the 1960s.
"Right down to things like that, we want to get everything," Hayes said. "We want to get a place for it so people can come and look through our archives at any time and just to make sure that stuff is preserved."
The studio is now in use and an opening ceremony is planned for sometime in September - Hayes is working to confirm a date with folk duo Salt Water Brothers.
A weekly program featuring performances and interviews is also in the works with videos of the shows posted online.
But before getting too far ahead, an advisory board is being put together to set best practices and procedures.
The $20,000 comes from the Community Radio Fund of Canada's Radiometres program. CRFC supports 170 campus and community radio stations across Canada.
