Thirty Years

It was in August 1994 I had my first radio show. I don't know the exact date - I should - but it was in-between semesters at the University Of Texas at Austin so there were lots of late-night shifts to cover.

When I first stepped foot inside of KXRX in the summer of 1994 - when it had just changed its name from KTSB in the hopes of getting an FM license later that year - I had no desire to deejay. I had been bored at my work that summer, I saw a KVRX flyer, & I thought, what the hell, let me see if they need any help. & I ended up reviewing a lot of CDs for them.

A very nice fellow named Sam invited me onto his show to help out. He gave me an hour to fool around one night & my gosh it was fun. The program director at the time, a fellow named David, offered me my first show - Thursday mornings 5 to 7am - for the fall semester. & I was fucking hooked.

After KVRX, I started volunteering at KOOP. When we left Austin, I did a radio show at WMUL in West Virginia. After we left Huntington, I deejayed at WRFL in Lexington, & helped out at the low-power station WLXU before we moved again. Back in the D/FW Metroplex I got to do a radio show at KNON. & here in Portland I have been so incredibly lucky to have KBOO, XRAY, & Freeform Portland. It has truly been an embarrassment of riches.

& it all began with seeing a flyer for a KVRX meeting (which I didn't attend) on a tree on a very hot July day in Austin. & me walking down to the station & meeting a fellow named Andrew who was very happy to give me CDs to review. & then that extraordinary community inviting me in. & I've found that community over & over as I've gone from radio station to radio station.

Radio people are the best. Having fun on the radio is the best. I never knew it would be the thing that I would love to do most in my life. It happened almost by accident. It happened because of a flyer & a thought about getting to listen to lots of CDs. It might not have happened.

But it did. Thirty years ago. How amazing it would be if I could be doing this for thirty more years!