Among the reasons I enjoy volunteering with KZSM, by far my favorite is getting to meet the musicians that I play on the air. My experience is that, whether local or national acts, most musicians appreciate being played on the radio. KZSM opens doors into another level of fandom. I have made music connections and become friends with musicians in New Orleans, Nashville, Muscle Shoals, Asheville, the Mississippi Delta, Philadelphia and Texas — far and wide. These musicians now know San Marcos is a place to stop and play a show, and KZSM 104.1 LPFM has been their window into our town.
My latest experience was just this past month when attending the opening of The Charm and Decadence Tour, starring Deer Tick, Thelma and the Sleaze and (my number one band) Drive-By Truckers, at Stable Hall inside the refurbished Pearl Brewery down in San Antonio. As great as the live music experience was, it took a backseat to meeting a young artist named Henry Merchant. After a casual organic conversation about Lone Star, Merchant got one of his songs played on KZSM the very next day, and I learned about another talented musician in Central Texas.
This is no longer a new experience for me, and it is a common occurrence for all the KZSM show hosts who let it be known they are playing non-commercial radio music. It is fun, and the appreciation from the artists and their fans is quite gratifying. Plus, I like being an ambassador for the station and sometimes for San Marcos, too. On one road trip, I plastered KZSM stickers in breweries, music stores, restaurants, night clubs and truck stop bathrooms from Memphis, Tenn., to Muscle Shoals, Ala., and on up to Nashville. Later, we could see some folks streaming our station from those regions, learning about San Marcos and hearing some great original programming.
Because of KZSM, I have seen the hard-scrabble life of a musician. Few hope to make it big and the reality is a lot of sleeping on floors, sharing canned foods and playing to sparse crowds far from home. Musicians make music because they love to create. My being able to facilitate connecting their musical creations to KZSM listeners is cathartic. Meeting the artists is only my favorite perk, and it is one of many being a part of KZSM.
