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CINDY HOWES is passionately motivated to connect communities through meaningful music. Based in the Boston area, she grew up in suburban Massachusetts with a relentless passion for music and broadcasting that all began with a clock radio stuck on the 90's top 40 station in Boston.

"She seems to be a practical mind who believes in the power of music the way an engineer believes in strength of steel and concrete."

- Letitia VanSant

A fierce folk music advocate for over two decades, She began broadcasting at just 14, at Walpole High School’s 10 watt radio station. This led her to seek a degree in Media Arts at Emerson College. Driven to secure a place on WERS’ hallowed airwaves, Cindy ended up hosting and running the station’s folk program, The Coffeehouse, for most of her tenure at Emerson. Her resume also includes WBOS, WBUR, WBZ, and WYEP. She spent ten years at WYEP hosting The Morning Mix and then The Evening Mix. Since 2014, she’s been hosting online at Folk Alley, an online radio station that's part of The Freshgrass Foundation, which joyfully connected her with folk music again. Folk Alley, WYEP and WERS are public radio stations deeply involved in community and advocating for music fans and musicians alike. Cindy’s has thrived at this intersection and knows how to bring music fans and music creators together in many different ways.

At the dawn of the COVID Pandemic, Cindy found herself at historic Club Passim in Harvard Square as their Marketing Manager in a time of crisis. This position not only reunited her with a community she's been a part of for 20 years, it also put her on the front lines of connecting musicians with listeners. She spearheaded live streaming innovations for Passim as well as conceptualized and created The Passim Emergency Artist Relief Fund (PEAR Fund), which handed out micro grants to musicians suffering from lost income due to the pandemic. In 2018 Cindy launched her own music podcast: Basic Folk, featuring honest conversations with under the radar folk musicians.

In addition to her radio and marketing work, Cindy has worked in playlist curating for restaurants and retail stores. She’s familiar with many different genres of music: folk, rock, world, hip-hop, blues and more.

View Resume

Listen to Cindy on Folk Alley →

Monday - Friday:
5:00am - 9:00am
2:00pm - 7:00pm

Saturday/Sunday:
Midnight - 5:00a