User:Bryan Practice

While tapping her foot to the Bobby Darin music playing on the speakers and flipping through her endless collection of CDs, Christa Wessel decides what song to play next. She calls her collection a “problem,” but it’s not a bad problem to have. She has her own weekly radio show called “Divaville” on 89.1 KMHD, which is located on the campus of Mt. Hood Community College. Wessel is just one of many volunteer radio DJs at KMHD, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Art Abrams has been a DJ at KMHD for 23 of those 25 years, and his work as a volunteer DJ has led to a long career as a bandleader and trumpeter for the Art Abrams Swing Machine Big Band. Jan Mancuso was a DJ in the ’70s and is at it again in the new century. She hosted a nighttime show with her husband Ric for several years, and now she fills in for other DJs when they are unavailable. The volunteers DJs vary in their level of prior radio experience. Some are professional DJs at other stations, such as Steve Pringle (101.9 KINK), some worked as DJs years ago and want to do it again, and some come from the radio program at MHCC. A few even became DJs after hosting a program called “60 Minutes of Fame,” which KMHD, a public station, lets their fans host for a financial donation. Sometimes volunteering as a DJ can lead to other careers or other opportunities in radio. Wessel got her first experience as a DJ at Duke University in North Carolina 15 years ago, where her “Divaville” show started. Now she works as a DJ for 89.9 KBPS, Portland’s classical station. Abrams was previously a trumpet player in California before he moved to Oregon and heard a call for volunteer DJs on KMHD. At the time, Abrams was not involved in the music industry, but KMHD knew of his prior experience and asked him to form a band to promote the station. In 1987, the Swing Machine was born, and they’ve been playing ever since. KMHD Development Director Calvin Walker says the factors that separate KMHD from other jazz stations are “first of all, the dedication of the volunteers. Secondarily, it’s the support from the community we broadcast to. If you’re not getting support, you’re not going to be on the air.” Not only has KMHD stayed on the air, it has become one of the most popular jazz radio stations in the country. It is consistently number one or two in the country among jazz stations in listenership per capita (within the respective broadcast area). It would have been hard to imagine 25 years ago that KMHD would be so popular. It started as a student-led station with a supervisor, but because the students changed every term, the station needed a base of people that would be more permanent. They decided to go with a volunteer system. In a time when people are turning to their personal computers and iPods for music, jazz fans tune in to KMHD to hear music selected by people who really know jazz. While most home libraries consist of a fair amount of music, KMHD has well over 7,000 CDs, and DJs can supplement that with their own libraries, many of which are quite extensive. KMHD has adapted to the technology age with their website (www.kmhd.fm). The KMHD website allows people to donate online, look up which song was played at a particular time, and find local jazz shows, but the DJs still get a chance to use technology of another era. “We’re one of the few stations that still uses LPs,” said Abrams. “I don’t think a lot of current stations have that.” Loyalty is high among the station staff, the DJs and the fans. “I don’t have a favorite because I love them all,” said Walker. “The community that we broadcast to keeps supporting the station year after year.” Abrams summed up the opinion of many fans: “It’s the only station I listen to.” Most DJs have a four-hour shift each week, which adds up to quite a few songs over time. How do the DJs decide which songs to play? “Oh boy! Well, sometimes it’s based on mood,” says Mancuso, “or the weather, music news that’s occurred, but really it’s just an artistic expression. It’s like painting, you know, only you’re painting with music, just like Duke Ellington as a bandleader. His instrument — sure he played piano — but his instrument was the band that he wrote all that music for. So people who are programming music shows are using the recordings of artists in a similar way. It’s a palette of textures and sounds and colors, not to be too woo-woo.” Mancuso, a business consultant for small record labels, plans what songs she will play at home before her show so that she can coordinate with pre-recorded announcements and NPR news. However, not all DJs plan their shows this way. “I try to think about it when I drive up there,” said Abrams. “I try to pick different genres and vocalists. I don’t like to play two vocalists in a row, because that’s bad programming. I try to play 3-4 instrumentals to a vocal.” Abrams’ personal rule of thumb doesn’t apply to Wessel, who only plays vocalists from the ’20s-’60s. She brings her music collection with her and selects tracks on the spot as she takes requests from her loyal “Divaville” fans. Being a volunteer DJ week after week is a big commitment. So what makes these people come back year after year? “It’s a sharing thing,” Mancuso said. “I think it challenges me as a person to keep my ideas about music fresh, to look for new stuff, listen for new stuff. Being able to share music with people — that’s why I got into radio in college.” Wessel enjoys the people who listen to her show as well as being able to share some of her favorite music. “I would love this music regardless of whether I was getting to play it on the air or not. Getting to play it on the air is a bonus because the feedback is lovely.” “Divaville” has become such a hit that from time to time she hosts listeners’ parties at Tony Starlight’s (a Portland nightclub) where she gets to meet her fans in person. Wessel told a memorable story of a recent listeners’ party. “One woman, she was probably late 30s or something, she came with her mom, and she said to me, ‘My mom and I have never had a really close relationship, but I discovered your show, and I knew she’d like it. And so I told her about it and now because she likes it, we get together every Wednesday night, and we come to her house, we play cards, we listen to your show, and our relationship has blossomed.’ It’s lovely that even when you least expect it, little life decisions like this can make a big impact in somebody’s life.”