John and Cathy Muggee’s increased support for The Current

Sep 30, 2025

Cathy and John Muggee’s roots as radio listeners began in Southern California. John’s parents played classical music on KUSC in the car. Cathy’s family listened to multiple stations on long road trips, including plenty of Country Western.

As graduate students in Massachusetts, John and Cathy listened to the local public radio station, WFCR. John especially enjoyed the noon “Story Hour,” when the host read a book aloud over the lunch hour. “It broke the day up from the intensity of my research by taking me into a different world for a while.”

After moving to Minnesota, they started listening to the MPR morning show and enjoyed the variety. When they learned about the launch of The Current, “we started listening and were hooked.” A few of the artists they first heard on The Current include Adele, JD McPherson and Dessa. Now, Cathy and John serve on The Current’s 20th Anniversary Committee. They look forward to discovering more of these early-stage musicians who will become influencers as The Current continues to grow.

As longtime members, this year the Muggees decided to make a larger, multi-year gift to The Current to sustain and expand its impact. As John said, “It’s important to have this community resource which enables up-and-coming artists to reach a broader audience.”

A portion of their support is dedicated to the work The Current is doing to offer business coaching and guidance about making music a productive career to these newer artists.

Cathy explained, “No career is easy to get started. But being a musician, out on your own, creating your music, that’s a whole different space than John or I have ever been in. My younger brother had a band, and I watched what they had to do to get into performance venues, get their name out, and struggle through the business aspect.” 

John and Cathy also directed support to The Current so it can increase people’s exposure to a variety of music and mediums, whether it's live concerts, podcasts, web streams, or broadcast. Cathy shared, “For me, it's about access. I want people to be able to hear great music and to do this without financial barriers.”

“We enjoy bringing people together, and music brings us all together,” said John. 

They invite others to join them and invest in a strong future for MPR.