Cindy Howes

Cindy Howes is a radio professional passionately motivated to connect communities through meaningful music.

She is based in Boston, with her cat Dottie. She enjoys yoga, hiking and playing the three chords she knows on a borrowed parlor guitar. She grew up in suburban Massachusetts playing clarinet in the high school band while belonging to both a sheep and rabbit 4H club.

She began broadcasting at just 14, at Walpole High School’s 10 watt radio station, which 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/WKSU, a radio station based out of Kent, OH, which has 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. She currently is helping prepare the next generation of radio talent back at Emerson College’s WERS.

A zealous folk music fan, she also worked briefly at the historic Club Passim in Harvard Square and was deeply immersed in Boston’s rich singer/songwriter and Americana community. In 2018 Cindy launched her own music podcast: Basic Folk, featuring honest conversations with folk musicians.

In addition to her radio 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.