UPPER LAKE >> In the 1950s and 1960s TV was a new concept and many families still spent their evenings around the radio instead, listening to baseball games, news programs, adventure stories and music. This is the setting of Paul Kemp’s childhood and the starting point for his life-long love of the crackling airwaves.
“Ever since I was a kid I was enamored with radio,” he said. “I used to go to the radio stations and watch the DJs work.”
Many years as a guest on a number of shows and working for various stations led Kemp to host “First Sunday Live From the Blue Wing,” a new radio show streaming live out of Upper Lake’s Blue Wing Saloon. The restaurant has been doing their “First Sunday Live” event for many years, but now is the first time it will be spread across the airwaves on KNTI as well from KNTI.com. The station is thrilled to have Kemp on board.
“They’re very excited to have live local programming. That doesn’t happen very often,” Kemp said. He is particularly grateful to Alan Mathews and Paul Thomas, who have been an extremely important factor in helping “First Sunday Live” get online and on the air. Mathews and Thomas do all of the technical work behind taking a live recorded show from Upper Lake and putting it on the air for the public.
Kemp decided to start the show after another live local radio show left the airwaves recently. “There was a gap because the Lake County Live radio show went off the air in July of 2014,” Kemp explained. “Bernie Butcher and Mike Adams and I wanted to keep a live radio show going It seemed like a good idea to take that first Sunday and put it live on the radio from 7 to 8 o’clock.”
Despite never having hosted a show before, Kemp is very prepared for the job, due to his extensive history in broadcasting. “I learned a lot of what to do, what not to do,” he said. “So far with one show under our belt, it seems like we’re doing pretty good.”
As a child, Kemp had a low transmitter radio in his basement, which he huddled over to record and distribute his own show. “I used to play music and make announcements,” he said. “I was very much into the whole idea of radio.”
At a high school in Dubuque, Iowa, Kemp was the editor of a magazine published each month by his journalism class. The journalism teacher took her students on a field trip to Chicago to get their FCC radio licenses, just in case they ever needed them. As it turns out, just a few weeks later a local station called the teacher asking if she knew anyone with a license who could fill in as a technician. Kemp got the job and has been exploring broadcasting ever since.
Kemp plays the piano during the show with his musical partner, vocalist Machiko Shimada. The two rotate performances with the talented musicians from the county and beyond who visit the Blue Wing Saloon every first Sunday to play jazz for an always eager crowd. “We’ve had wonderful world class musicians,” said Kemp. “The best of the local musicians come in.”
In addition to airing musical performances, Kemp makes sure to include a list of art events happening in the community. “About halfway through the show I put on a calendar of events. There might be a poetry reading or an artists’ opening,” he said. “Just to point out that there’s a lot going on in Lake County. It’s just fun to be able to be around art and music and things that enrich our life.”
There is no formula for each show, which keeps everyone on their toes. “There’s a lot of spontaneity that goes with it. That’s why we call it playing. There’s no other job .. where you can have a job or a career that’s called playing,” Kemp said. He did amend that professional athletes play for a living, but he isn’t too interested in the physical risk that comes with that career field.
“There’s a lot of improv and a lot of off the cuff stuff going on and it’s a lot of fun We keep going, mistakes and all,” Kemp said. He’ll sometimes flub his words or slip up during a tune, but the unplanned nature of live music is part of what makes it so special.
“We create our art in the moment,” Kemp explained. “Art is wonderful and there’s a lot of different art forms. For the musical art, we pretty much make it on the spot so it’s pretty spontaneous.”
While there are many different musicians who roll through the saloon each week from singers to piano players to guitarists to saxophone players, the musical genre makes the show unlike much of today’s radio. “It’s got the jazz setting. You don’t hear a lot of the jazz stuff going on around Lake County and Mendocino County,” said Kemp. “We’re very lucky to have the Blue Wing every week.”
In addition to featuring a more unique genre, the venue itself adds to the atmosphere of the show. “With the Blue Wing they’re out of the past, they’re an anachronism, they’re from the 1800s,” Kemp explained. “We do music from the early part of the 20th century. We have all this stuff that’s old and classical and treasured and we want to keep it alive.”
The old-time theme is far from unintentional. “In the first part of the 20th century, radio was it. And that was the entertainment that America had, that was on the radio,” Kemp said. “It’s just kind of a throwback to what I grew up with as a child. It’s good quality stuff. It’s good for the family. People used to sit around the radio and listen to old radio shows.”
With the added invention of the internet, this older motif has received a contemporary makeover. “It’s a throwback, putting it out on the airwaves,” said Kemp. “And we’re able to stream it live on the KNTI website. We’ve added that wonderful modern touch. It’s really exciting.”
Like any form of entertainment, “First Sunday Live” is looking for their audience, but they’re also not trying to start a rivalry with other shows.”I don’t think there’s any other show on in two counties at least that does what we do,” Kemp said. “It’s not really a competition. It’s really just unique,” he added.
The show has no commercials as of now, but Kemp isn’t opposed to the idea. “We’re just doing it for the fun of it, but that could change in the future,” he said. He’s especially interested in taking on some sponsors who might want to get a message out to the public.
Thanks to live streaming services like Spotify and Pandora as well as the ability to download any music at the click of a button, the radio, as with media in general, has gone through some serious fragmentation. “I hope we can find a niche to still have a live radio show that people can talk about and still listen to,” Kemp said.
With such specific content, Kemp thinks he’s found an audience for “First Sunday Live”. “We just think that it’s unique and different enough that it will spark a chord in the community and people will enjoy listening to it,” he said. Through iPods and streaming sites, people can enjoy their personal entertainment now more than ever, and Kemp views the show as another way to get that type of customizable media.
As for the content, all Kemp wants is to make sure that talented artists continue to stop by the Blue Wing. “I just hope that we keep getting great artists keep putting out great music for us to keep on going and keep it alive,” he said. “We put it out there and hopefully somebody’s listening.”
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
