Diane Crumley's blog

The Davis Music Fest turns "Lucky 13" this year, and KDRT is thrilled to continue our tradition of live broadcasts, this time on Friday June 20 and Saturday June 21.

Davis Music Fest offers three days of live performances presented by the all-volunteer Davis Live Music Collective. With seven downtown venues and 40 bands, this all-ages, multi-genre event from June 20 to June 22 has something for everyone.

KDRT is broadcasting live from the fest on days one and two:

• Friday's opening night at Sudwerk Brewing Co. includes two stages and six bands. KDRT (95.7 FM/kdrt.org) will broadcast from 4 to 8:45 p.m. from the Hopyard Stage featuring the Smoking Data Guns, Ian George, and The Gold Souls. We've also scheduled interviews with Broken Compass Bluegrass, The Big Poppies, The Gold Souls and Boot Juice.
• On Saturday KDRT will be live from 3 to 8:15 p.m. at Armadillo Music featuring Ian George, Nat Lefkoff, and David Luning, and we'll have a booth on F Street for interviews with Katie Knipp, EleNah, The Snares, Son Cafe, and Tinvis.

Tickets are available here. The festival is a fundraiser for arts and music education in Davis public schools. It's funded partly by a Sacramento Foundation Arts and Culture Grant and by the City of Davis.

On behalf of all of us at KDRT and Davis Media Access, thank you for listening, supporting, and attending our events during last week's On-Air fundraiser.  As a "volunteer-powered" grassroots station, we depend on the support we receive from our community, and last week was a record-breaker! We're also grateful to our friends at Armadillo Music, Davis Odd Fellows Hall, Blue Note Brewing, and Davis Manor Winter Bazaar for having us, and to the musicians who brought the live music - Alex Roth, Green Grass Snakes, the 410s, and Dave Nachmanoff.  In case you missed it, there is still time to support our community radio at kdrt.org/donate

Nov. 6 update: Davis elects Deos, OKs tax increases

Davis Media Access (DMA) will present a live election-night program from 8-9:30 pm PST on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. The show airs on KDRT 95.7 FM and streams live at kdrt.org. Hosts Don Shor and Autumn Labbe-Renault will conduct short interviews with some candidates for local offices, as well current elected officials. Due to the short length of the show and its individual interviews, hosts will not field call-ins from the public.

The show caps a busy election season for the nonprofit media center. DMA records “Meet the Candidates” statements for local contested races, candidate forums, and pro-con statements for local ballot measures.

Local election coverage is integral to DMA’s mission to highlight voices and opinions that typically do not receive mainstream media coverage. DMA has been proud to offer free election coverage to local candidates and measure representatives for more than 35 years. Reach DMA at info@davismedia.org or (530) 757-2419.

KDRT invites the community to our 20th anniversary celebration, presented by Davis Media Access and Sudwerk Brewing Co., today, Friday, Oct. 18, from 6 to 9 p.m. The event will take place outdoors at the Sudwerk Dock and Hop Yard, 2001 Second St., with music by Cowboys After Dark, and opening with Max and Julian of The Big Poppies. 

Local artist groups will staff tables, KDRT DJ Preacher will spin tunes chosen by KDRT show hosts to showcase the many sounds of KDRT, and we'll hear kind words and accolades for our beloved grassroots station. The Dock will have beverages and items from a limited menu for sale.

DJ Rodriguez loves to contribute to our holiday soundtracks and has crafted another 4th of July Special for you to enjoy at your celebration with family, friends, and freaks! Tune in Thursday July 4, 4-6 p.m. as Rodriguez cracks open his red, white and blue archives for a spirited 2-hour salute to honor our nation's birthday ....KDRT style!

We're thrilled to be broadcasting LIVE again at the 12th annual Davis Music Fest.  Friday, June 14 opening night we'll be live from Sudwerk from 4-9:15 pm with musician interviews and a live stream from the north Hop Yard Stage including Alex Togashii, Yekeno, and The Snares.  We'll also be speaking with the Sudwerk South Stage bands including Lucas Lawson, Guerro, and Ten Foot Tiger.  Saturday, we'll be at the Armadillo KDRT Listening Lyrics Stage 3:45-9 pm with live streams of Anton Barbeau, Sam Chase, and Megan Slankard, and special interviews from Misner & Smith, Broken Compass, Routine Layup, and Milly.  More information at Davis Music Fest   

Yesterday on Big Day of Giving 2024 close to 130 local nonprofits participated in BDOG, including our "mothership" Davis Media Access. Regionwide, a total of 826 nonprofits came together and the $100 million mark was surpassed in total since the area's first giving event 12 years ago. We too broke our record this year surpassing our biggest goal ever! We are extremely grateful for your support and hope to thank you in-person this spring as we are out in the community with live broadcasts from Davis Pride June 1 and from the first two days at the Davis Music Fest June 14-16. Your support on BDOG2024 goes a long way toward implementing these efforts and is greatly appreciated!

Filmmakers Glenda and Jesse Drew of Davis made Open Country, a journey into the roots of American country, to reclaim the music as the creative expression of working people of all colors. The movie features interviews with well-known musicians, performances, archival clips and animation, and it sold out the venue when it recently screened in San Francisco.

The Drews will screen their movie in Davis Sunday, March 10, at the Odd Fellows Hall, doors 6 p.m.; show 6:30 p.m.; Q&A 8:15 p.m. All proceeds from ticket sales and donations will benefit KDRT. We hope to see you there! Tickets available online here. Keep reading to learn more:

KDRT DJ Jim Buchanan typically includes his live recordings of local bands on his Live Tracks show, but tonight (Jan. 25) he also has the pleasure of hosting longtime Sacramento/Davis-based musicians Natalie Cortez and Christopher Cassels live in the studio. Lately, many may have seen them playing as part of the 5-piece Natalie Cortez Band, which plays regularly in Sacramento and Davis (Davis Music Fest, Music for Natalie Corona Benefit concerts, and a 2019 benefit for KDRT to name a few).

Tonight they also talk about playing as a duo in the upcoming "Cozy Concert Series" at Morgan's Mill in Woodland, Friday, Jan. 26, from 7-9 p.m. This new series is organized by Left of the Dial Promotions, and features unique duos from several local 4-to-5 piece bands on the second and fourth Fridays in January and February.

Davis Media Access staff, board, and all the KDRT volunteers are thrilled to report that the Fall 2023 Fundraiser exceeded our goal by close to 25 percent, and was our most successful KDRT fund drive to date! In its 19th year of broadcasting, our grassroots station relies on its very dedicated 30+ volunteer DJs and a supportive listener community.

 As 2024 begins, we're happy to be moving forward toward training several new programmers and getting out in the community for more in-person events. In case it slipped your mind, you can still show your support here. Thanks again!