April showers bring May radio power!

There’s something in the air these days that makes the desert extra sweet… it may be the catalpa blossoms, or a spiral of buzzards at dusk, or maybe it’s the sweet sounds of KZMU floating on airwaves near you. As right as springtime and as inevitable as summer, Moab’s Community Radio depends on you through all seasons. Thanks for your unwavering support.

I’m Sam, the vice-chair of KZMU’s Board of Trustees, and I’m reaching out with a couple of updates and ways you can help us in a period of growth and change. We have a lot moving at the station these days, and we’re excited to share job postings for both our next KZMU Station Manager as well as Development Coordinator, a new role which will help to propel our nonprofit going forward. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t first share a few thank-yous…

Thanks!

First, we’d like to thank you! At Radiothon, we experience a joyous flood of community support, both financial and otherwise. We hear the words “vital” and “love” for the station quite a bit, and it truly fuels our dedicated service to the listeners in this dynamic time and place. Thanks to your generous donations, we raisedmore than $37,000! Twice a year, we ask you, our community of listeners and neighbors, to dig deep and help to fund our station. It is incredibly affirming to hear from so many supporters who let us know they are engaged, informed, entertained and delighted by KZMU. Mission validation is so appreciated! Our sincere thanks to you.

We would never be able to pull off Radiothon without our tireless, expert, and charming staff. Many thanks to all those who work for KZMU, including Molly Marcello, Emily Arntsen, Bob Owen, and Adam Pecan. Adam has been a terrific asset to the station in the months that he’s worked with us, and we really appreciate his willingness to step up for the station.

The Board of Trustees would also like to offer enormous and heartfelt thanks to Makeda Barkley, who stepped up as KZMU’s interim station manager for the last few months. Her prowess as a multi-hyphenate music, nonprofit, and organizing maven did wonders for our station. Though you might not have heard it on the air, Makeda was behind the scenes dissecting and improving outstanding projects and new initiatives alike. She gave us life when we needed it, and we thank her! Wish her luck with her summer managing Orville Peck’s Stampede Tour, coming soon to an arena near you…

Though we’ll miss Makeda’s energy, we’re excited to welcome back Crystal Bunch and Christy Williams-Dunton, longtime devotees to KZMU, as they help us fill in gaps during our early summer hiring process. Crystal will be point-of-contact for DJs and Christy will be helping to handle day-to-day station tasks. Feel free to call the station or send them an email for help – stationmanager@kzmu.org

We’re Hiring!

KZMU is hiring! We’re on the hunt for our next Station Manager to helm our ship high atop Rocky Road. We’re looking for someone who loves public media, music, local news, and knows a bit about how to help our small nonprofit make the biggest impact possible. Do you have the skills and enthusiasm to lead our station into the future? Check out our job posting – and share it around to folks who would suit KZMU!

We’re also hiring for a new position of Development Coordinator. Reporting directly to the Station Manager, this role will be responsible for grants, underwriting, and donor relationships. This is also an important step for a small and mighty station like ours, to have dedicated staff power to help us raise the funds it takes to bring you our incredible music, news and public affairs programming and so much more. This is a contracted position, with hybrid-remote work possible. Consider sharing this posting, or applying yourself!

Station Announcements

And that’s not all! If you’d like to get plugged in with KZMU, there are many ways to do so. We are always looking for new DJs! Your show might be someone’s favorite two hours of the week. Start by filling out this form.

Want to join us on the Board? KZMU’s Board of Trustees is seeking new members! We meet once a month and make decisions about the governance of KZMU. We’re especially looking for someone with business or finance know-how to join our budget committee. Think that’s you? Send an email to join@kzmu.org, or show up to one of our meetings – we meet the first Thursday each month at 5pm at KZMU.

Remember, we’ve expanded our signal reach into San Juan County with a new FM station at 90.7 on the dial. We’d love to meet a few more of our neighbors down south, so consider passing our job postings or call for new DJs to your friends and relatives in San Juan.

Thanks for continuing to show up for community radio! We wouldn’t be here without you.

Krank Ze Music Up!

Sam + the KZMU Board of Trustees