Editor’s Note: This is the second part in a series profiling some of the local radio station’s programmers.
LAKEPORT — Andy Weiss, who works six days a week at KPFZ, can rattle off what programmers work on which days. He said, “One of the joys of managing the station is everyday it’s a different group of people coming in, unlike a normal job where you see the same people each day. When I wake up, I first have to remember what day it is and then I think of which programmers will be in. It’s different than the day before and different than the day after. It’s a rotating cast of characters and it’s a joy.”
Burly, bearded Ben Weiss, 58, broadcasts “Ham Radio” on Mondays from 1 to 3 p.m. along with Alan Spivak, 76. “A nerd (Weiss) and a rocket scientist (Spivak),” said Weiss. He is passionate about his listeners becoming interested in and excited about ham radio and, by extension, disaster preparedness and electronics. He said that he also hopes to “share my love of science and technology with like-minded folk. I hope to remind people that the only way we’re going to learn what’s really going on in the world and with our country’s government, is if we cultivate the ability to talk to one another civilly and respectfully about politics and by teaching a little civics and economics and by explaining some of the history behind how powerful interests came to dominate our formerly democratic systems of government.”
Quiet, slow talking, Spivak, fully supports Weiss’ views. “There’s a fairly large population of radio hams in the area, but I’m not sure how many are listening. Religion, politics and national economics are considered impolite and sensitive subjects for ham radio on world-wide radio bands because people in other countries often get the wrong the impression of what it’s like here. KPFZ does stream on the internet, yet I’ve only gotten one international caller, from Australia, and he liked what he heard. We use VHF bands which only reach the maximum around here of 150 miles, so we can talk about anything.”
Spivak added that Weiss relies on his technical expertise when electronic questions come up. “That’s why he calls me the rocket scientist, that, and I worked at NASA’s Ames Research Center for 18 years. I rely on Ben for his world view. He’s traveled all over so he’s seen different governments and has seen different ways of living.”
When not in her District Attorney of Lake County shoes, Susan Krones has two radio shows on KPFZ. Sunday noon to 2 p.m., she has “Celtic Collage,” which exposes her listeners to a variety of Celtic music; Scottish, Irish, Canadian, American and also music that’s a combination of Celtic and jazz, Celtic and African, Celtic and Salsa, Celtic and French. “It’s for listeners who already know Celtic music and for those who haven’t heard it. I hope that what I bring to the listeners is a wide variety to see if they like it.”
Krones said, “I look forward to doing the show. It helps to concentrate on the music and to listen to it, which is a great diversion from my regular job, which can be stressful.”
Krones’ own background is Scottish and Irish. “When I went to Scotland for the first time in 2000, I visited various pubs with singers and had a chance to speak with one particular fellow. From him learned about traditional Scottish music. Since then, I go to Celtic music festivals to collect music and have about 600 CDs and about 400 songs on my iPod. I’ve also gone to secondhand CD stores and wiped out their collection of Celtic music.”
Very organized about her show, Krones has every show she’s broadcasted over the years on a spreadsheet; listed by date, artist and song list and various notes.
For her show “Book Ends,” she encourages people to read books. “It’s like a book club on the radio. A call-in show. I talk about books that I’ve read and then the audience can share about books they’ve read.”
Krones said her own reading leans toward historical fiction, political books, biographies and auto biographies. “I also talk about book series such as Sue Grafton’s and detective books. There are very few books that I don’t like. I also bring in local writers to talk about their books.”
“It’s good for anyone to read. It takes you places and you learn about different cultures, different situations.”
Besides his radio program, which began in 2001, Tee (Thurman) Watts is a deacon at Praises of Zion Baptist Church in Clearlake, who plays the trumpet at his church and writes for various newspapers and publications. Whip-smart, Watts’ music show, “In the Free Zone,” broadcasts Saturday at 2 to 4 p.m. “I usually start the program with meditative jazz and then I interject other; classic jazz, funk, rhythm and blues, rock n’ roll, reggae, gospel. There is an occasional call-in,” Watts said, “to make a request, but it’s not a talk-show.”
Although Watts believes Lake County is typically not a demographic for his music, he said he hopes he is educating people with his musical choices. “With my patter, I bring up little known facts,” he said.
“My mother took me to the Cow Palace when I was 10 years old to see ‘Chubby Checker’s Twist Party’, headlining Checker and 20 other acts like Bobby Freeman. Oh wow! I was sprung musically for life. That’s what started me on the trek.”
Knowledgeable about the music history he plays, Watts spoke about a segment on his show of the music of Tina and Ike Turner. “Afterward I played ‘Nasty Gal’ by Betty Davis (née Mabry), who was married to Miles Davis, 19 years older than her, for a short time. Betty introduced Miles to Jimi Hendrix’s music and Sly Stone’s music, which influenced him greatly.” He said of the young singer, “Davis made Tina Turner look like Mary Poppins.” ‘Nasty Gal,’ (1975) was banned on radio stations due to pressure by religious groups and the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).”
Full of stories about meeting B.B. King twice, about his activist days during the civil rights movement, his sobriety of 20 years, being a ghost writer for the sister of Sly Stone, his co-writing a book about Lester Chambers (lead singer of the Chambers Brothers), about his massive collection of vinyls in his man-cave, Watts is still on the trek.
KPFZ, 88.1 FM, broadcasts 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily and can be contacted by phone at: 707.263.3640 or via their website: https://kpfz.org
