This column often features individual program hosts, but volunteers at KZSM.org fill a wide variety of other roles as well. Producers, for instance, set sound levels, time station breaks, play prerecorded announcements, and make sure broadcasts run smoothly. Kirk Fraley produces “Appreciating Classical Music,” “Bookmarked,” “Music Medicine,” and “No Words-Jazz.” Steve Jones produces “Creators’ Corner,” “Philosophy and Popular Music,” and “Veterans Hour,” which he also co-hosts. Both pursue long-term interests by volunteering at KZSM.
Jones has “been playing with cameras and tape recorders as long as I can remember and knew I wanted to have some type of life in media production.” He bought his first eighttrack reel to reel recorder while serving in the US Air Force. After nine years in the military, he maintained a home recording studio and played bass in a cover band while earning a degree in audio and video production. Since then, he’s worked as a video producer and editor for television and private corporations both here and on the West Coast, and worked for touring concerts and corporate events. At present he operates sound at Wake the Dead Coffeehouse.
Like Jones, Fraley is a USAF veteran whose love affair with sound began during active duty. Working part-time as a DJ at the local classic rock station “was a job I felt I would do for free if I could afford to.” After retiring from the Air Force, he earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in recording technology. Now retired from his second career as a designer of audiovisual systems, he sought out KZSM.org to share his knowledge. “Surprisingly,” he says, “everyone doesn’t enjoy pushing buttons and turning knobs as much as I do. I’m happy to do that for them. I have a fairly deep knowledge of audio equipment and I’m happy to share when asked (and often when I’m not).”
