What’s going on at KXSF
Now that we’re a month into 2022, we want to share with you some of the changes afoot at KXSF.
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Last year was challenging for us as a station. Longtime KXSF DJ Brother Bruno passed away in September. This was a profound loss for us. Additionally, we went through some staffing changes that brought to light some of the problems at the station. Community radio is not immune from implicit bias; we are part of a larger culture that, even on the fringes, favors white people, men, and those who identify as cisgender and heterosexual. This is not to say that “hate” was ever tolerated, but certainly, we can and are trying to do better. We are taking steps to create a culture of belonging and realize that it is never-ending.
Belonging takes different forms. As a community radio station, KXSF must reflect San Francisco and the greater Bay Area community. We’re diversifying our programming so that our shows connect with a broader range of people. We’ve added a few new programs such as Resonate (Wednesday, 4 p.m.), which plays a spectrum of Latino-focused music, The Grey Area (Tuesday, 6 p.m.), and Love Line on Monday nights, where you can call in for love advice! ❤
This is just a start; we have a way to go. We also started working with a justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) consultant and will make training in this area mandatory for all our volunteers.
When we say volunteers, we are talking about DJs, board members, and others who help the station. We want everyone to feel heard and know that they have a voice that matters. So instead of having one executive director, we’re trying a shared form of leadership with an executive committee comprising three people that will oversee but not lord over different departments. Here’s some information about the executive committee members:
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Fari Agharabi is one of the original KXSF volunteers. She started at our prior station, KUSF, in 2000 when she moved to San Francisco. Now she has several shows, including Ad Lib (classical music), Francofun (a French music culture show hosted in French), Don’t Fret (instrumental guitar music), and Stories Uncovered (teaching radio to students, kids, and others who want to learn about radio or have a story to tell). Fari is a musician and teaches web radio journalism at the French School in San Francisco and trained several young DJs to host and produce radio shows, including her children.
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Pamela Busch is the new kid on the block. After being on Supper Sessions and guest-hosting it once, they started thinking about having a show that focuses on gender and sexuality and found a home for it at KXSF with 5th Wave Radio/Queerly Drinking. They founded and run The Vinguard, a non-profit dedicated to promoting equity, belonging, and environmental stewardship in the wine industry. Their shows often, but not always, feature other wine professionals. Pamela joined the KXSF board of directors in the summer of 2021 and left in January to become part of the Executive Committee.
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Zach Southern has been working in community and college radio for 12 years. While at Virginia Commonwealth University, he co-hosted Feed Ya Head that specialized in Psychedelic music of all sorts, and volunteered at WRIR in Richmond after college. Zach moved back to his hometown Austin in 2014 and began volunteering at KOOP, a cooperatively run station, for five years. He came to the Bay Area in 2019 and started volunteering at KXSF in January 2020 with The Chasm, a metal-focused show. Zach was the executive director at KXSF from June – December 2021, and he was a leading voice in the call for shared leadership.
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The executive committee is just three of the people who are working to make KXSF the radio station our community wants us to be. In future newsletters, we’ll spotlight other volunteers. Please send us your feedback. Let us know if you have any ideas on how to improve upon what we’re doing, if there are shows you love or don’t, topics we need to cover, or if there are local musicians, we should know about it. We love bringing you music and other content that means something to us, but we are here to serve you, the community.
Thank you,
The volunteers at KXSF
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Top Local Songs of 2021
We asked our deejays “What’s your choice for the single best local track from 2021?” They came up with some inspired choices.
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Every week we compile our
Top 30 Releases of the Week
Week of January 29–Feb 4, 2022
- Toro y Moi — Postman (single) (Dead Oceans)
- Lewsberg — Six Hills (single) (Speedy Wunderground)
- Blanche Blanche Blanche — Fiscal, Remote, Distilled (la Loi)
- Cate Le Bon — Pompeii (Mexican Summer)
- The Soundcarriers — Wilds (Phosphonic)
- Calexico — El Mirador (single) (Anti-)
- Artsick — Fingers Crossed (Slumberland)
- Garcia Peoples — Dodging Dues (No Quarter)
- Pierre Kwenders — Papa Wemba (single) (Arts & Crafts Productions Inc.)
- Papercuts — The Strange Boys (single) (Slumberland)
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Hi everybody, it is time (Omicron willing) for the return of Damin’s Birthday Benefit show! We’ve had a year off but you know the deal — a few local bands, shenanigans, fun times and money raised for a good cause!
We’re doing our matinee show at the Ivy Room in Albany on Saturday, February 19. Doors at 1:30 p.m, show at 2 p.m.
- When: Sat. Feb. 19. Doors 1:30, show 2 p.m.
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Where: Ivy Room. 860 San Pablo Ave., Albany CA
- Who: Bellyfruit, Street Diamonds, Captain Flapjack
- Donation: $10
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