Riemer show rises from below

Forget the silence and sterility of a show about to go live.

This is somebody's basement.

So, of course, just moments before "The Marty Riemer Show" was about to start the other morning, Riemer's 3-year-old daughter was yelling upstairs in the kitchen, the cat had parked on the computer monitor, and a sign clunked to the floor.

And yet, "I haven't been this excited about a career direction in 20 years," Riemer said.

We are living in a time of reinvention, of Plan Bs, of doing what you can with what you got because everything you knew has changed, or is gone for good.

So, after "The Marty Riemer Show" was taken off the air at 103.7 KMTT-FM ("The Mountain") one black Friday in September, Riemer and his co-host Jodi Brothers vowed to stay together, and do ... something.

In October, they invited listeners to a "Severance Blowout" at Elliott's Oyster House funded, in part, by Riemer's last Mountain paycheck.

In January, they hosted "The Marty Riemer Funny Festival" at the Paramount Theatre, booking the comedians themselves, and billing the event as "wholly independent" from the former ":20 Funny Festival" that Riemer hosted for five years.

On April 1, they embraced technology and launched a podcast and live Webcast from the basement studio of Riemer's West Seattle home.

The podcasts can be downloaded at www.martyriemer.com,and www.JackSeattle.com. Live Webcasts can be watched at the same sites from 9:30 to 10 a.m., Monday through Friday.

The response has been encouraging: The first two podcasts received 2,000 downloads each; and some 300 people have been tuning in to view the live Webcast.

The show is just 30 minutes, "the length of the average commute," Riemer said.

And yet, they still manage to squeeze in their signature repartee, a legal amount of music and Brothers' take on the news.

If there's a difference, it's that they have to dress a little better.

"It's like we're on the radio," Riemer said, "but no commercials and no corporate hacks saying, 'You sure you want to say that?' "

Brothers put it this way: "All the fun, and none of the pressure."

There's also no revenue — yet.

"I figure if you build enough of an audience, the revenue will come," Riemer said.

So, too, apparently, will the guests. In the first week, the pair had booked time with Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna and musician John Hiatt. Next up: the folks from the Seattle International Film Festival and a weekly live performance by such musicians as Daniel Kamas and Left Hand Smoke.

They are inviting listeners from their Facebook fan page to come on: a food blogger, a beekeeper, a woman who teaches at a nonprofit yoga center.

On most Tuesdays and Thursdays, they will be joined by Chris Mays, who created The Mountain and its format, and has an ear for new music — and new ways to hear it.

"Radio needs to reinvent itself, and this is a way to do it," Mays said. "It's a nice way to offer listeners an alternative source of entertainment from two great pros who should, rightfully, be on the radio, but are on the Internet instead."

"And in the basement!" Riemer added. "From here, you can be anywhere in the world."

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Tuesday and Friday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com.

Keep swimming, Miss Josie!