Day 1 - Monday 14, 2002 Monterey, CA

THE LOAD-OUT

Donna and I headed out as early as possible on this Monday msorning. That would be 9:30 am. In Internetland that's about 6:30 am. We often work late into the night getting in the new music on the Web station, updating our backend programming, putting up new images for banner campaigns, and the like. There is no such thing as "9 to 5" in this industry as there is still so much more to prove (from financially responsible business models to cutting-edge, comprehensive artistic content). Not complaining. Love it. Or we wouldn't be doing it.

TheSmoothjazz.com van is filled with way too much luggage, plus radio station gifts including two cases of Monterey County's finest juice from Monterra (Chardonnay and Syrah), two dozen Smoothjazz.com baseball caps, Art Coco chocolate pressed logo CDs, two cases of water, a cooler filled with imported cheeses and a dry crate packed with Trader Joe's provisions 'cause lord knows what we'll encounter out there. You know how Californians are, reliant on their gourmet dry goods. There's even a bag filled expressly for one Ms. Basil the Wheel (as we call her), who enjoys assorted milk bones and especially the tartar control snacks from Iams. There's also assorted R.E.I. gear for overnight camping incase we don't make it to a town where we can find a room in a motel that takes dogs and/or has high-speed connection and a high-speed coffee maker. Oh, and we also decided to throw in a guitar just incase Donna felt inspired to write a great American song about driving across the country too much stuff and a dog.

KEZL/FRESNO, CA

We pulled into Fresno just after 12:00 noon to visitJ. Weidenheimer at long-time Smooth Jazz outlet, KEZL. J's directions were good, although finding Shaw Avenue in Fresno is about as challenging as finding Sade CDs in a smooth jazz radio station. The station is Clear Channel owned and shares a cluster office with a half a dozen of Fresno frequencies. The good news here is that J wears only a Smooth Jazz hat. This allows him to be 100% focused on KEZL's programming, it's promotions, events, etc. Which seems to make him very happy as he looked quite well.

J and I go way back to the very beginning days of what is now commonly known as "Smooth Jazz" in the U.S. He and I have one very big thing in common and that's devoting over a dozen years to keeping the format on a radio frequency in a California market (J in Fresno and me in Monterey). He's ahead this round because KEZL's still cranking and the most recent Smooth Jazz influenced station that I was affiliated with in Monterey, KTEE, was just recently taken off the air in early September.

THE STORY OF THE DEMISE OF KTEE/MONTEREY, CA

It was unfortunate as the ratings were picking up nicely and the station, consulted by Carl Weiding in Oregon, was a hybrid of soft Triple A with Smooth Jazz at night (which I was programming in the recent months). In fact and as an aside, (you can afford asides when you're driving across this great country of ours; lots o' time), when Mapleton Communications acquired KTEEearlier in the year, they elected to move the station to their compound with the other gazillion Monterey stations they bought (with the exception of KPIG which Mapleton does own, however, regardless of ownership, KPIG is a stand alone and always will be as long as there is a KPIG).

During the move in June, I was told that I would be welcome to continue hosting the highly rated 7:00 PM-Mid time slot, however, and in so many words, I was told that unless I was willing to put in a Smooth Jazz library of songs, there would be no Smooth Jazz at night. Apparently, there would have only been Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up The Sun" playing over and over, just like the post-move daytime programming. For some reason the old computer system wasn't "compatible" with the new computer system and I guess in this day and age, while living so close to the Silicon Valley, there just wasn't a way to find the technology to transfer KTEE's library of songs.

So, in the middle of what has gone down as the most hellish summer of my life, I went from nightly 45-minute tracking sessions to 4 to 5 hours of music converting sessions using the Smoothjazz.com CD library. I didn't have much choice in the matter, as we were in the middle of a hemorrhaging concert series and without the support of the station we would have been totally dead in the water. So in I went for two and a half months, night after night, inputting songs until we had close to 500 tracks. All tunes by the way, were put in real time. I guess the same technological challenges that plagued the station during the move, seemed to play havoc on converting songs over in a high-speed conversion. After there were enough songs rotating to create a deep mix, I was actually getting high off of the idea that I could tailor the sound to match the Monterey Bay area again, and I even had notions of running an all night lounge show featuring the Verve Remixed stuff and all the new chill jazz that appeals to Smooth Jazz fans as well as the younger listeners.

I've been in radio my whole life. I mention this, because I should have seen it coming. On of my first radio jobs, while still in high school, started with a salesman hanging himself with his tie in a drunk tank after doing the pub crawl in Carmel, and that was my first week. In the third week I had to take over for the afternoon man who was having a nervous breakdown on the air. In 1983, when I was 20-years-old, I was shot off the air (literally) by a crazed gunman who shot his way into the radio station in the middle of the night and destroyed nearly a quarter of a million dollars in equipment. A few years later, when I was MD (Music Director) for a very cool Triple A station, I was handed a last paycheck with a bottle of Corona on the afternoon that the station switched to an all-Spanish format. In the 1990's I lost KXDC/Monterey 4 times in 4 different ownership scenarios, one was involving my family. (KXDC was the station that prompted my return home to Monterey in 1990 to introduce contemporary jazz to the community. I had been working on the air at The Wave in Los Angeles.) Like anybody in the biz can tell you, the radio industry offers a unique perspective of business. Yet for some reason, I just didn't see this one coming. Because I didn't want to see this one coming, probably. I was side-swiped. Lost in my passion for keeping the music on Monterey Bay airwaves, I blindly went in and put in song after song each night, with careful cuing so as to generate artful segues. The station sounded great and was pulling out of the ratings slump that the move cost it (it was only down for one trend).

I got the call from the Mapleton Monterey GM at 11:30 AM in the middle of the week, just days before the big 9/11one-year anniversary. When I was told that the station was changing format to accommodate a frequency move for their alt rock station and the opening that move created was going to be filled with a classic rock station, I naturally asked when, thinking that there would be a little time. "At noon." he said. - Nice.

That night I went in to retrieve my headphones, CDs, and the other personal affects of an idiot, and found an entirely new station in KTEE's booth, complete with a new logo and posters and all of the trimmings of a station where someone actually cared about it. I was like the jilted lover whose significant other had been sleeping with everyone in town and everyone in town knew except me. I was reminded, hopefully for the last time, why I started Smoothjazz.com and Smoothjazz.com Radio in the first place.

Recording artists don't understand what it's like for a radio artist. If an artist gets dropped from a label, they can still make music and even record it in the hopes of either signing with another label or starting up their own label. A radio artist needs those antennas and frequencies to get their art heard. Without all that, there's no art. This promped me to get out of town, quite honestly. I can't go anywhere around the Monterey Bay without getting accosted by inconsolable KTEE listeners asking what happened to their music. I've had over a hundred people confront me since early September. Last week I had my eyes examined and both ophthalmologists at Lenscrafters cross-examined me about the station. I stepped outside to water my garden last weekend and several church-goers who like to park by my house on Sundays as it's in a mini-bible belt, felt the urge to chop it up about the tragic loss of another great radio station. I have been more inspired lately to discuss the tragic loss of what was left of my credulity. In all fairness, I should point out that Mapleton Communications offered me continued employment with their Monterey properties. My frustration regarding the loss of another Smooth Jazz outlet in Monterey does not belong exclusively to Mapleton. I realize there is a combination of factors and principals involved in this reoccurring situation. This doesn't change the fact however, that the home of the oldest jazz festival in the world and the sophisticated lifestyle of the area, commands a jazz outlet for a community of people who are so vocal about their preferences.

KEZL/FRESNO, CA (continued)

So while that was a very long aside and I'll admit, a rant, it leads me back to J Weidenheimerand KEZL. J has dedicated his life to keeping the sound of our format on the air in Fresno. This has been his mission for nearly 15 years. Back in the day, he talked a station owner into letting him program the station and with little to no budget he was forced to put songs on small, quarter inch reel-to-reels and he would mix those on old machines that clunk-started each song. But being the true artist, he would wind back the tape just so, and mask over the thud with a directed introduction into the microphone. The audience heard smooth and thanks to J they are still hearing smooth. Clear Channel owns a nice handful of Smooth Jazz radio in this country and as far as we could see in Fresno, there's a commitment to this visionary programmer and keeping the sophisticated sound of Smooth Jazz vibrant in his community. READ INTERVIEW

KSSJ/SACRAMENTO, CA

It was difficult leaving Fresno (ever heard anyone say that?). We were having such a nice visit at KEZLand the offer of lunch was tempting, but Sacramento was calling. So we hit U.S. 99 North and nibbled on Brie and crackers to tied us over. (Pretty disgusting, I know.) We pulled into the parking lot of KSSJ later than we promised, but Lee Hansen was a true host none-the-less. I would describe Lee Hansen as a kind, confident man with a welcoming smile. Lee's tapped into stability, you can feel it. Married to the same woman for 25-years, Lee and wife Linda have two sons living with them in their Placer County home as well as a daughter and grandchildren residing in Santa Rosa, Ca. Now mind you, he doesn't look old enough to have this kind of extended family, but I'm inclined to believe him when he tells us that he does. In fact, I'm inclined to believe just about anything Lee tells us. He's the kind of person that you just go, "yeah, that's right" after nearly everything he says. That would explain why he's been affiliated with some of the greatest calls in the format (WNUA, KKSF, et al) and is considered one of the most influential programmers Smooth Jazz has known.

We met some time ago at a Gavin, I'm sorry to say that we never really talked much back then, I was probably too busy sucking down 'Mind Erasers' with Roger Lifeset. Lee was excited to share with Donna and me the success that KSSJ is experiencing and the growth in sales as well as the success of their concert series, which they book themselves each year. As I recall, he said that this year's sales were up nearly 30% from last year. He attributed that to a GSM "who gets it". He and I spoke about sales teams who don't get it and for some reason it ends up being the fault of the format that the stations switch to classic rock.

I told Lee that we appear to have the programming consulting covered in our format, but what we don't seem to have covered is sales and marketing. Smooth Jazz sales and marketing philosophies may just be more important than programming. In fact, I think that we have had too much input on the music and not enough on how to keep the bloody stations on the air outside of P-1 markets. Lee has had similar thoughts and has actually broached the subject with BA. It would stand to make sense that an agency that understands the power of the format and how it reaches the 'dream demo' ought to set up a consultancy for stations in smaller to medium markets. They could coordinate advertising for clients who target their products to Smooth Jazz audiences and at the same time offer consultation services on setting up local sales teams in each market with stats, collateral materials and a strategy to go after the right advertisers. Just a thought.

The thing that impressed me the most about Lee Hansen, was the fact that he is still into the music. He interrupted us to point out the new Kenny G tune that KSSJ is playing. He likes the flamenco guitar element on the piece and feels that while Kenny's image is a bit in question, his music still feels right at home. Lee also mentioned the latest from Marion Meadows and told us that he plays Santana's "Smooth" and thinks it's a great compliment to the format. Really the only bit of trouble we had with Lee was the fact that he couldn't recommend a good sushi bar.

As an aside, (road trips open lots of windows for these asides), Donna and I really enjoyed the sound of KSSJ on this visit. We had been put off by the station some years back when all we heard were AC crossover hits in between classic Smooth Jazz. READ INTERVIEW

 

Day 2 - Tuesday, October 15, 2002

DRIVE DAY

It was a beautiful California morning waking up in the Sierras. We had hoped to visit the Smooth Jazz station in Reno, NV, as we entered the state, but alas there was no response, perhaps on the way back across the country we can convince them that we're friendly and we mean no harm. (Since this entry, Jay Davis, program director for KJZS in Reno, NV, has agreed to meet up with us on our way back to California in early November.)

Heading to Salt Lake City, Utah. Skin looking rather reptile like in the Nevada desert. Folks are nice in Carlon, NV where you can stop to gamble along side the freeway in a large box of a building in an isolated area. In this same building you can also eat a Subway sandwich or a Taco Bell burrito or purchase electronic equipment (which I did). A Mecca for weary travels who are bored out of their minds.

Pulled into Salt Lake City late in the evening; organized the California radio stations interviews and photo segments to post on Smoothjazz.com. After driving nearly 10 hours, we stayed up 'til 2am working on production.

 

Day 3 - Wednesday, October 16, 2002

KBZN/SALT LAKE CITY, UT

Salt Lake City is such a beautiful city. It actually feels more like a town than a city. Wide, clean streets and manageable traffic. For a weekday the downtown traffic was very light compared to other cities. Lots of walkers around town and SLC's light rail probably helps keep auto congestion down. Whatever the deal, it was a pleasure driving through town, although I think I was getting on Donna's nerves because I couldn't quite figure out the grid system. I'm sorry but when you've got two directions in a street name that's pretty much where I just check out. I can feel my eyes roll back in my head when I see a sign that says East 200 South Street.

We pulled into KBZN (The Breeze) in the early afternoon. The Breeze shares an office building with the FBI by the way. Maybe I watch too much TV, but when a tall, dark haired gentleman appeared wearing a crisp suit and tie I wasn't sure we were in the right office. As it turned out, this was KBZN program director, Rob Reisen.

Rob's office over looks the scenic mountains that surround Salt Lake City. A gazillion CDs are neatly stacked next to his computer. He's quick to quip that he's listened to them all.

Donna and I were impressed by the fact that KBZN is a stand-alone (with an AM). It's all about the Breeze when you visit the station. Furthermore, Rob programs the station. No consultants.

The Breeze utilizes a little more of an organic sound in their smooth mix of music with the help of New Age elements (Enya, David Arkenstone, etc.). The station also plays a 50/50 mix of vocals and instrumentals. Rob explains that this is an attempt to reach out to adult contemporary listeners in his market. In our opinion, The Breeze is a highly listenable radio station and seems to match the mood of the Salt Lake City, Provo, Ogden market. We heard a nice balance of new music, smooth jazz hits, classic New Age pieces and vocals from artists such as Michael McDonald, Sade, and Elton John. In the time we were listening to KBZN, we heard tasty tracks from the above vocalists, rather than their over-played hits. Heading to Yellowstone for a detour and a long weekend. READ INTERVIEW

 

Day 4 - Thursday, October 17, 2002

LEISURE DAY - YELLOW STONE NATIONAL PARK

Idaho Falls, ID is a lovely town and a nice place to wake up. Although the motel we stayed in was a throw back to the Brady Bunch pad. A large, double bed room with brown shag carpeting and a balcony that over-looks the falls (hence the name).

Got up early, let Donna sleep in, and took Basil for a chilly morning walk along the river.

Grabbed breakfast and hit the road to West Yellowstone to visit the park and spend the night at one of the coolest inns. The Hibernation Station. After a day of scouting out bison, elk and coyote and watching Old Faithful blow, we needed a nice comfy cabin with a fireplace, Jacuzzi tub and down comforters. Hailing from a hospitality-driven part of the world (Monterey Peninsula), I can confidently say that this inn ranks up there with Ventana in Big Sur and others of this spa-like ilk. Plus they take doggies!

 

Day 5 - Friday, October 18, 2002

LEISURE DAY - YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

Drove through Yellowstone's northern side (Mammoth) and exited through the east gate. Spotted a Grizzly bear just outside the park.

Stopped in Cody, WY for a bite and to pay our respects to Buffalo Bill Cody. Also hit the ball back and forth on the Cody High tennis courts. Made our through what apparently is hunting season in Wyoming. Never saw so many trucks in our lives. Also caught a few mullets along the way (seems to go hand and hand with hunting).

The day ended with an intense, moonlit drive over the "Big Horn" mountains. Won't be forgetting that anytime soon.

 

Day 6 - Saturday, October 19, 2002

LEISURE DAY

What we pulled off on this Saturday would make the Griswold's envious. Visited Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands. Two states, three parks and a very cold South Dakota overnight stay in a full motel parking lot, next to large trucks with lifeless deer slumped in the back.

 

Day 7 - Sunday, October 20, 2002

DRIVE DAY

This day was all about driving. We made it to Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the late evening to meet up with the folks at KCCK on Monday morning.

 

Day 8 - Monday, October 21, 2002

KCCK/CEDAR RAPIDS, IA & WNUA/CHICAGO, IL

October 21st is a big anniversary for me. On this day in 1983, when I was a 20-year-old, overnight disc jockey for KWAV/Monterey, CA, a shooter broke into the studio at 2:50 AM and shot up the entire radio station while I hid from him under the console. The story made Dan Rather as well as several front pages of prominent newspapers in the U.S. and Radio and Records. Fortunately, despite the crazed gunman's efforts of unloading over a hundred rounds in the station, I left the building nearly 45-minutes later unscathed. Shell-shocked, but physically unscathed. All these years later, I'm still not clear on how I survived without a scratch, you should have seen the station and the studio. It did earn me a reputation of staying 'calm under fire'.

On this day, 19 years after that life altering event, I find myself visiting two very cool radio stations (yet entirely different from each other).

We arrived at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, IA at 9:00 AM and met up withKCCK music director, Bob Stewart and station manager, Dennis Green. The station is a public radio station in nice digs at this attractive mid-western college. They have a unique sound in that they blend jazz with smooth jazz. You'll hear Joshua Redman and Boney James in the same set. The morning show, hosted by Marc Yothers is pretty jazzy. It's smooth, but it's not "smooth jazz". The morning hours sounded like a sophisticated coffee house which made for a nice start to the day.

Bob Stewart is also KCCK's mid-day guy and he sounds like a million bucks with a wonderful voice, a solid airwork style with an affable personality. We enjoyed listening to Bob on the way out of Iowa.

It was also a pleasure meeting station manager, Dennis Green. Dennis told us that he coined the term "New Adult Contemporary" back in the day when he was interviewed by former R&Rer Donna Brake. He said that in the early 1980's he was with a radio station that dabbled with contemporary jazz before there was really consideration of the format. READ INTERVIEW

We bid the station a fare-the-well and absconded with two of their station T-shirts. Off to the Chicagoland area we go.

Got into the Windy City in the early afternoon. Tossed the Frisbee for Basil in a beautiful park near Lake Shore Drive. Made reservations at the Hilton, where we came to find out was host to a Boys & Girls Club event the night and was attended by former President, Bill Clinton.

We got to WNUA around 4:00 PM to visit program director Steve Stiles. Steve made us feel right at home and toured us through the station's facilities, including morning host and legendary jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis' studio. Ramsey's studio included a lovely, Steinway upright where he plays on the air in addition to hosting WNUA's popular morning drive program. We heard Ramsey on the air by the way, and he's a fantastic talent. Not just a musician who can do radio. He's a great radio personality who just so happens to be Ramsey Lewis, internationally acclaimed jazz musician.

Visiting with Steve in his office was comfortable. He was inquisitive about Smoothjazz.com and how the company generated an income. Donna and I explained that Internet media is still in its infancy stage, however, we do have support from forward thinking recording labels, recording artists, and businesses who understand that the smooth jazz demo is definitely on-line and can be reached in a unique way on a global level at Smoothjazz.com.

The former XM programmer is quite aware of alternative media. I appreciated his view that satellite radio and Internet radio are really just another slice of the pie and all three are not necessarily threats to each other. They can co-exist and serve their individual purposes. READ INTERVIEW

Back to the Hilton for a long night of computer work. Thank goodness for the Executive Level rooms with a high-speed connection.

 

Day 9 - Tuesday, October 22, 2002

WORK DAY

Late check-out. Getting the pages live from the Road Trip thus far. We are off to Cleveland to visit with Bernie Kimball at WNWV first thing Wednesday morning.

 

Day 10 - Wednesday, October 23, 2002

WNWV/CLEVELAND, OH

We checked into a Comfort Inn in Elyria, OH very early this morning. The gal at the front desk actually mentioned the word 'yuck' when she saw that my driver's license was issued in California. I told her that weren't all bad but she didn't seem to buy that.

It was actually raining in Elyria, which is just outside of Cleveland and the home of WNWV studios. This was first inclement weather we have hit thus far on the road trip. The room was exceedingly comfortable with high beds and quilted mattresses. But the night was not without interruptions. While we requested a non-smoking room it was directly above a smoking room. The window had to be closed and the fan was really loud. After we finally fell asleep, Basil got sick and Donna in her delirium attempted to coax her into getting sick in the toilet. Had to learn the hard way that Basil doesn't get to share in the road food. All I can say is that we didn't open an eye until well after 9:00 AM and the gray Ohio morning didn't help jolt us out of bed. We loaded the car, I grabbed coffee and tea from the lobby and we headed out in search for WNWV for a 10:00 AM appt.

Good thing for us that Bernie is really cool about time and was totally flexible with us, 'cause we showed up closer to 10:30 AM. Despite his tremendously busy schedule, he was completely available to us for nearly 2 hours and was more than accommodating. Donna and I both enjoyed Bernie's company very much. I reminded him that he and I had met on a few occasions at the famous Gavin's in San Francisco back in the day.

Bernie's one of the most interesting pioneers in the format. He's a straight shooter who isn't afraid to roll up his sleeves to get the work done. His experience puts him in the driver's seat as far as I'm concerned. He's got WNWV sounding very much in the pocket.

Bernie told us about his Sunday morning show he does that skews New Age. He said that he programs these two hours as pure self-indulgence and all the while he gets great feedback from his audience, especially from long-time fans of the format. We discussed the possibility of him programming a version of this show for Smoothjazz.com. READ INTERVIEW

Bernie hooked us up with CDRs for backing up Donna's ailing (brand new Apple G4). Not only does she have a screwed up screen from the minute she took it out of the box a month ago, but now apparently there's a wicked virus destroying her data. She's been on the phone with Apple several times on this trip.

Off we go to Albany, New York's capital. Bernie suggests we do the drive in two days, but we don't. We do however, stop by Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to capture a few images, play Frisbee with the dog on their lawn and purchase a couple of T-shirts from their gift shop. What a cool place! I got Donna a perfect T for her. It says, "If it's too loud, you're too old."

The drive from Cleveland to Albany was the longest haul of the entire trip. It seemed like 10 or 12 hours. We rolled through Buffalo, NY right around drive time traffic, so we pulled off into the city to investigate Ani Difranco's hometown. Donna and I are both huge Ani fans and have been listening to her music since the early 90's and really wanted to see what kind of city spawned such an incredible poet and artist. We loved Buffalo. The city is pretty much the gateway to Niagra Falls. It's located on Lake Ontario. This is a New York town for sure. The people were great. We ended up finding a little sushi & noodle place to eat next to a Starbucks and we spent the majority of our time visiting with the Buffalo citizens we met and talking about our trek. They were genuinely fascinated with the fact that we drove all the way from California to the East. We gave away several SJ.com hats and stickers before we were free to leave. These people are the salt of our country. When you are told that New Yorkers are not friendly, do not believe that. They have a different demeanor perhaps, but they are soulful and hearty people.

On this night we drove through Rochester, NY where we tuned into WGMC. We had attempted to reach Tony Gaspare prior to the trip, but he apparently wasn't available for or interested in a visit from SJ.com. Tony is heavily involved in Jazz Week, which is an excellent on-line source for jazz radio programmers. What we heard of WGMC was cool and very jazzy. Unfortunately the signal didn't exactly blast onto the Pike and we couldn't hold the station for as long as we would have liked.

 

Day 11 - Thursday, October 24, 2002

WZMR/ALBANY, NY & WEIB/NORTHAMPTON, MA

We fell in love with Upstate New York's rest areas. They are beautiful with cool architecture housing clean restrooms, snacks and fuel. We stopped a few times to stretch and wake up in the cool night air. It wasn't until very early in the AM that we pulled into Albany. We were so tired that we ended up driving into the city and into the parking structure for the Empire State Plaza Convention Center (aka "The Egg"). It was a gothic nightmare. Let me put it this way, we felt as if we were in Batman, the movie. Way bizarre for this time of the night.

Fortunately we found our way out and blurry-eyed we drove into a Red Carpet Inn. This was a total throw back to the motor inns of yesteryear. Where you drive right up to your room, grab your bag and walk into your bed. We passed out.

Got up at as early as humanly possible to make our 10:00-11:00 AM window with Tim Durkee at WZMR. Keep in mind that we crossed another time zone in Cleveland and getting it used it is not coming easy. Tim had told me that they were located in a plaza that had a billiards hall and a pizza place. We found the station anyway. Only because we called several times and bugged the heck out of the receptionist.

New Yorkers take their driving very seriously Even outside of NYC. I got honked at for just thinking about doing something stupid. We found ourselves on Route 9, which is just the coolest. Beautiful old homes, fall trees, car dealerships, outlet shopsÉ We didn't have time to stop for breakfast so we pulled into a gas station store that was very upscale, featuring a dozen different blends of coffee, great teas and breakfast breads and muffins. We ate in the car and made our way to see Tim.

Tim is the youngest programmer we've visited with so far. We really enjoyed his perspective. He's tapped into what makes for a solid foundation for Smooth Jazz. And he truly knows his audience. He gets it. He told us that he's fighting the good fight for the format at Albany Broadcasting. In markets of this size, it's challenging for the format to pull huge ratings. But the audience is there when you host an event. They buy expensive tickets and shop at the high-end advertiser's stores and eat at their restaurants. Again, sales and marketing have to approach this sophisticated format in such a way that they sell the quality of the listeners not the quantity. Because while we know there are a lot of listeners, the ratings don't always reflect that. Unfortunately Arbitron is not convenient for the Smooth Jazz listener. Tim pointed out that he's been to remotes where he is signing up people to win free T-shirts, and they pull out cash to buy them. They don't care about the discounts or the coupons. They care about quality and accessibility.

WZMR has a nice sound cohesive, consistent and slightly progressive. We think it is dead on for the market. The mid-day gal we were listening to was friendly and easy-going. In fact, she was the first person that we heard the news from about the apprehension of the D.C. snipers.

Tim showed us each and every station in the Albany Broadcasting cluster. The building is very large and filled with hard-working folks. We visited with Blaise, WZMR's morning guy and Mike who is the V.P. of Programming for all of the stations. Mike is direct sort of guy, he wanted to know how SJ.com made its money and if we would make a profit from having WZMR report their playlist to us. I let Donna mostly chat with Mike since she's originally from Miami. I'm a sensitive Californian and can easily get my feathers ruffled. We bribed him with a hat and left hoping that WZMR will report to us next week because we'll hit our goal and get that toaster oven. READ INTERVIEW

On our way to Northhampton we got a call from Roger Lifeset who told us we were doing the Lord's work as far as he was concerned. Roger told us that we were traveling to a town that would be fun for Donna and I because well, there are a lot of women there. Northhampton and the surrounding area is home of some of the country's best schools including Smith University the oldest women's college. We were in for a treat alright, and not just because of the gals, but it's a quaint, quaint town with old gothic churches, cool restaurants, farm houses and fun shops including an Apple store we plan to visit before we leave the area to see if they can help with the "G4 Crisis".

Roger went on to tell us that he's originally from Mass. And gave us a few ideas on the areas to hit while we were visiting New England.

WEIB is a very cool station. It's totally happening as far as my tastes go. They call the format "Cool Jazz, Smooth Sounds & A Touch Of Soul". That pretty much describes the sound. It's just great to listen to. There's consistency in the feel or vibe of the music and there's a freshness that we hadn't heard across the country. New artists like Mike Phillips and Michael Manson are played, as well as neo soul from Jill Scott, India.Arie, etc.

We were really excited about visiting WEIB. We had been in communication with the station several times prior to our visit and they were even kind enough to invite us to see Karrin Alyson in concert with them at the Iron Horse in Northampton. (Which we did by the way.)

Carol Moore Cutting, the station's owner, president and manager, is a fireball. An interesting woman of great strength, she moved to the area out of college in 1969 with her husband, who is a leading veterinarian in Chicopee, a few miles outside of NH. She applied for a construction permit from the FCC in 1984 and didn't get the thing on the air until 1999 after a world of red tap and challenges from folks who would have preferred that she not get the station.

Carol and WEIB was a refreshing change for us. At this point, we had been to at least 3 Clear Channel outlets and the rest of the stations other than Salt Lake, were owned in clusters. WEIB was like the old days when commercial radio was owned by the community for the community. While Carol keeps her priorities straight regarding running a successful business, she is passionate about the music and determined to get the station to a successful place financially.

We also were able to catch up with WEIB's program director, Ben Scott. Ben is passionate about the station and the unique road they are pursuing with the Urban AC slant. He's very energetic and obviously brings a lot to the

WEIB is a family venture. Carol's daughter Alicia, a bright 30-something, is the station's mid-day personality and heads up promotions. There are other familial ties in the staff, but they all work so professionally and seriously it was difficult to point out who was related to whom. We had a great visit at this radio station. Hope to come back soon. READ INTERVIEW

Later that evening we met up with Carol and her husband Bruce, as well as Alicia and Ben at the Iron Horse were we caught an early show with Karrin Allyson. Karrin put on a great show with her band of 11+ years (a quartet of players, including Karrin on vocals and piano).

The Concord Records artist goes for that vamp-esque thing with fake eyelashes , off the shoulders blouse, and go-go hair, but her voice is elegant and jazzy. She just killed me with her last song, a stunning version of "Everything Must Change".

We ended the night with a brisk walk around town and then headed back to our Holiday Inn retreat in Holyoke where we have locked ourselves away doing laundry and Internet work for over 24 hours. The weekend provides days off and time for us to explore New England. We'll head to NYC either Monday or Tuesday.

 

Day 12 - Friday, October 25, 2002

WORK DAY

Donna and I made a temporary home at the Holiday Inn in Holyoke, MA. High speed connection, and great ammenities including a swimming pool, gym and a foos ball game. We spent the better part of the day getting the Road Trip pages up and taking care of laundry. We'll get our work out of the way so that we can enjoy this incredibly beautiful part of the country over the weekend.

 

Day 13 - Saturday, October 26, 2002

LEISURE DAY / WORK EVENING

Shopped in Northhampton, ate lunch at Fitzwilly's and drove through the most incredible countryside we have every seen. Despite the rain, the trees were so bright you practically had to wear sunglasses to see them. We returned back to our room in the evening and worked late.

 

Day 14 - Sunday, October 27, 2002

LEISURE DAY - MASSACHUSETTES / VERMONT / NEW HAMSHIRE / MASSACHUSETTES

Checked out of the Holyoke Holiday Inn around noon. Drove through Northampton one more time to grab something to eat at Fitzwilly's. (Great pub environment and over the top menu with exciting culinary ideas reminding us of home. Any place that uses artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and field greens is A-OK in our book.)

We drove up to Vermont and found a remote highway in New Hampshire to travel on. The trees were just unreal. Donna spotted a little gift store nestled into an isolated wooded area. Lit candles and strung lights around the windows offered a warm invitation to the place. We picked up some New England maple syrup to take home with us.

Called it an early night and stopped into a Holiday Inn in Nashua, Mass where we turned in early in the hope of an early rise to catch the sun coming up from the ocean in Gloucester (less than an hour away).

 

Day 15 - Monday, October 28, 2002

LEISURE DAY - GLOUCESTER / SALEM / BOSTON / HYANNIS

Got on the road at 5:00 AM to drive to Gloucester to see the dawn. The sunrise was powerful this morning with bright shades of pinks and oranges in a clear morning sky. We actually arrived in the fishing villiage before it had awakened. Found a little coffee shop that surprised us entirely. First appearance might lead you to believe that the Morning Glory was an average eggs & bacon joint. Breakfast was anything but average. We both ordered specials; I had the pumpkin pancakes and Donna had the Bruschetta Scramble. Wow.

After breakfast we went for a nice long walk along the ocean. Met a nice gal named Elizabeth who was walking her Tibetan Sheep Dog. Turned out that Elizabeth was recently a concert promoter in town and produced local artist gigs. She promised to send us music from some of her musician friends. Need I say we also played a rousing game of Frisbee in Gloucester?

After a 30-minute power nap at the visitor's center, I drove us to Boston by way of Salem. Donna thought I was silly to think that the whole witches thing would still be an influence in the city. Funny, just about everything had a reference to the 'witches thing'. We were amused by some of the stores and business names and their logos that conjure up thoughts of the witch hunts that took place in Salem some long, long time ago. We saw a cleaning service van that had a witch on a broom stick on the side of it and a tatoo shop that was called the Evil Tattoo Shop or something like that.

Donna and I discussed the history of Salem and how the women who were burned for being "witches" were primarily healers who practiced holistic health techniques that threatened society at the time. Men were trying to establish order and medical practices and these women had other ideas. Isn't it funny after all these years that some men are still threatened by the ideas of women and instead of calling us witches, they have simply replaced the first letter and they call us by another name.

Boston was cool. Literally. We love the place. Got lost in Cambridge but found our way to Quincy Market where we had a late lunch at the Kingfish. Really, really good food. We told the server about our morning in Gloucester and he told us that his best friend's brother was Bobby, the fisherman portrayed by Mark Wahlberg in A PERFECT STORM, the movie based on a true story that also starred George Clooney. Small world.

We made a last minute decision to go to Cape Cod as we were driving out of Boston. It's like this, why come this far and not check out Cape Cod? The traffic was really thick and it was taking forever to work our way out onto the Cape so we opted to stop for the night in Hyannis at what must have been the world's nicest Comfort Inn with an indoor pool and Jacuzzi. We went swimming and soaked before calling it a night after a very full day.

 

Day 16 - Tuesday, October 29, 2002

LEISURE DAY - PROVINCETOWN, CAPE COD

Hyannis is only an hour from Provincetown. We had some computer issues to sort out before heading out. I make that sound light, but in reality we ended up having to wipe the hard drives clean on both of the Macs and reinstall operating systems. This procedure just sucks and when you're trying to take a day off, it really sucks. The good news I guess is that I have the new OS X on my iBook.

Cape Cod is exactly like what you would imagine if you have never been. All of the images that come to mind of the Cape, like the washed out colors of the beaches, sail boats, sea birds, all of the things that James Taylor sings about; they're all there. In the off season, the Cape is, I'm sure more serious and somber than on sunny summer days. The further out we traveled, the more cold and blustery it become.

Rumor has it that Provincetown is a party town during the high season. We wouldn't have known based on this afternoon. It appeared more like a quaint, sleepy sea town with more than a third of the shops and restaurants closed until 2003. There was plenty to see and do however, in the time we had, so we weren't complaining. We had some of that famous New England clam chowder at Betsy's on the water and walked and shopped for several hours. Basil was allowed in the stores as P-Town is pet-friendly. Basil got to meet other dogs on the beach before we headed out. A great day had by all.

Tomorrow morning, it's New York City.

 

Day 17 - Wednesday, October 30, 2002

SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO/NEW YORK CITY, NY

WQCD hadn't returned our email or phone calls about stopping by while we were in the city so we had a really loose agenda. We decided to get into NYC before it woke up completely as quite honestly, the thought of driving around that city during the morning rush freaked us out. We sneaked in at dawn and saw the lovely lady with her torch lit up as we entered Manhattan. I had more energy than I knew what to do with. I was so excited to be in here, even if only for a few hours.

We started our day in Rockefeller Center at the Today Show at NBC. They wouldn't let Basil in the televised crowd, so Donna puppy-sat while I got right up front with the Smoothjazz.com car decal. We received several calls from back home later in the day with reports about seeing me and the Smoothjazz.com logo on TV three different times between 7-8 AM. I felt like a kid, it was just a ball to see how smoothly they produce that show.

From there we walked all over and gawked at Letterman's studios and offices. Gotta go see a taping one of this show one of these visits. Right around this time, Theresa Kincaid from Sirius Satellite Radio returned my phone call from the day before and was kind enough to invite us by for an impromptu tour. As it happened, we were only a couple blocks from Sirius when she called so we hoofed it over. I put in a last minute call to Theresa the day prior because we didn't realize the satelite network was in NYC until our Scott O'Brien reminded us in a phone conversation.

Sirius is serious. Their headquarters were so very cool. Pretty much a dream come true for any tech-minded individual. A youthful staff of music programmers, production managers and rocket scientists comprise this network. Siriusly. They have a control room where 5 guys watch for atmospheric conditions so that their satellites are offering the best coverage for their customers.

We all know this is a new medium and an expensive one, but the vision is right on. Educating people to buy their audio programming like their television programming is the key and the challenge. READ INTERVIEW

Totally got charged up by driving all over the city before leaving. We drove through Central Park, and through all of the neighborhoods that are so famous. We did visit Ground Zero. The emotion was overwhelmingly strong. Both Donna and I were speechless for some time after seeing the enormity of the space. It's the size of the entire downtown of my home town, Pacific Grove, CA.

Ended up hitting snow on the Pennsylvania Turnpike late in the night as we headed westward, so we stopped earlier than we had planned. While the trucks didn't seem to give a good hootie hoo about the weather, Donna and I were fried and in need of a hot shower and good night's sleep. 18-wheels slamming by you at 75 miles an hour while you're trippin' to a snow globe effect in your windshield is not a fun combination. Californians and snow, pretty much oil and water. Donna's not any help here as she's originally from Miami.

 

Day 18 - Thursday, October 31, 2002

DRIVE DAY

From the road we checked in with Phil Raney (Urban Jazz Coalition bassist/band leader) in Columbus, Ohio as we were driving through some wickedly wet mountains in Pennsylvania. Phil totally hooked us up with a great place to stay with a big, fat connection to the Internet and he got us in touch with WJZA/WJZK The least we could do is take him out to dinner when we got into town.

The farm lands of Pennsylvania are simply gorgeous by the way. I mean, lush and soothing to the eyes. With the early in the season snow, the mountain tops were white, which made for lovely viewing as well.

We took our time getting into Columbus as the roads were not ideal. We really didn't know what to expect of the city. Much to our surprise we found the suburbs to be very similar to San Diego's suburbs. The city of Columbus is considered downtown and much of the life goes on around the city in the outer areas. We stayed in a new development area they call Polaris. A very upscale mall is just a stone's throw from our hotel.

We met up with Phil and UJC's percussionist Hector Maldonado at a fantastic restaurant called Molly Woo's owned by Columbus area restaurateur Cameron Mitchell Molly's offers cuisine with an Asian fusion including Thai, Japanese and Chinese influences. In other words, you can order Sushi, Pad Thai and Kung Pao all at one place.

We spent the evening discussing the business of music and radio as well as life in general. Before we knew it the restaurant was closed and we were still there. Phil is an educator as well as an musician. He teaches numerous subjects at inner city schools around Columbus. He's a very together guy as we used to say. Very knowledgeable and completely clued in to how the industry works. He's done the L.A. thing and realized that he can make music anywhere, so he returned to Columbus with his family in the 90's. Since then, he's been playing regularly and recording with what we think is one of the coolest bands to come up in a long time. Hector has a senior position with the federal government; he works with the courts systems. These guys were great company for two road-weary girls like us.

 

Day 19 - Friday, November 1, 2002

WJZA/WJZK - COLUMBUS, OH

Station PD Bill Harmon was out on vacation while we were in town, but APD and afternoon air personality Gary Wolters was kind enough to meet with us at their studios located outside of Columbus in Dublin. A very impressive set-up at WJZA/WJZK. The comfortable, state-of-the-art office space clearly reflects a great deal of pride and care. Owner/manager, George Scantland appears to be a hands-on owner who from what we understand, spends a great deal of his efforts handling the station's self-produced/promoted concert series. We didn't get an opportunity to meet Mr. Scantland, but we did see him in the offices working on their upcoming Christmas concert featuring Dave Koz.

We met in Bill Harmon's office which was exceptionally neat and had an impressive collection of teddies (stuffed bears that is) and green M&M toys (we didn't ask). Gary answered all of our questions eloquently and we complimented him on what seems to be very cool sounding Smooth Jazz outlet for Columbus.

The thing we admired the most was that the station has really made inroads in owning jazz in their market. While the station is Smooth Jazz, they appear own everything Jazz in Columbus in terms of branding and marketing. All of the concerts, the venues, the happenings, every bit of it filters down to their branding on the air or on their Web site.

They are the first station that I've come across that actually gets the Internet and understands it's marketing power. Rather than making on-line visitors search for and/or remember their call letters and frequency followed by dot com, they are simply ColumbusJazz.com on Web. Now this not only serves their core listeners just like the call letter Web sites that are so prevalent among radio stations (all formats), but it also attracts more potential new listeners. Anyone who searches for jazz in Columbus will find ColumbusJazz.com at the top of the list and may elect to tune into the station that has created the magazine-like site. Gary is actually the guy behind the scene on this and he has a lot of great things to say in his interview with us.

Grabbed lunch at Molly Woo's as we were so taken by it the night before. We had the same waitress who was so nice she gave us certificates to eat at another Cameron Mitchell restaurant in town called Martini's.

URBAN JAZZ COALITION LIVE

We decided to stay over another night in Columbus so that we could catch a live show with Urban Jazz Coalition. This is a band to watch. They won the Jazziz battle of the bands last year, and have a brand new release called "Contempo" that Cliff Gorov and All That Jazz is promoting to radio. It's Chartbound on Smoothjazz.com and we are wild about several tunes on the project, in particular, "After Dusk".

I've said it before, I'll say it again and now that I've seen the band live I can confirm it, this group needs to be playing all of the festivals including Catalina in 2003. They are so good and so solid and really fun to watch. Locally they perform a mix of originals and thrill the audience with favorites like "Birdland" and new songs from Boney James and Euge Groove. As a live ensemble the group holds true to the core sound of the format but eases in and out of improv with a nod to jazz fusion which offers a level of excitement and intellect that surpasses the usual Smooth Jazz show boat fare. The songs were segued tightly with little to no down time. Their first set was 2 hours.

The band's talented saxophonist, Ben Sherburne, struck me as a budding Brian Culbertson. Ben plays two saxophones at once and with a supplemental keyboard helps out the band's keyboardist Brandon Howard Ben and Brandon were actually college mates at Capital University when UJC recruited Brandon, who in turn hooked Ben up. The band is diverse featuring a great mix of youth and experience. Each band member is exceptional, trumpeter Lee Savory is a graceful player who switches seamlessly between flugelhorn and trumpet with a tone to die for. The UJC front line consists of guitarist Joe Gothard, my favorite kind of guitarist who nonchalantly lays down engaging solos and rhythm support, Lee, Ben and Brandon. UJC's rhythm section is drummer Jim Bridges (has a Harvey Mason thing going on), bassist/band leader Phil Raney who is inconspicuously funky, and percussionist Hector Maldonado who livens things up with percussive textures, timbales and an assortment of rhythmic goodies.

READ FEATURE

 

Day 19 - Saturday, November 2, 2002

WORK DAY

Donna ventured out and found a laundramat and car wash to get us squared away for the coming new week. I sequestered myself in the Westgate Inn and did Web work and got caught up on the digital images and journal. We redeemed the vouchers at Martini's for a truly fantastic dinner featuring Italian. We told the server that we are from the squid capitol of the U.S. and we eat calamari regularly, but couldn't compare the Monterey Bay calamari to their recipe. In Ohio?

 

Day 20 - Sunday, November 3, 2002

DRIVE DAY

Stopped by the Easton Mall on the way out of Columbus per the suggestion of the Raneys. They even have better shopping than we do here in Columbus. This is like a village not just a mall. Grabbed bite at an Irish Pub called Fado. Looked in a few stores and hit the road for Indianopolis where I am writing this.

Tomorrow we meet with Carl Frye at WYJZ.

 

Day 21 - Monday, November 4, 2002

WYJZ/INDIANAPOLIS, IN & WSSM/ST. LOUIS, MO

Found our way to Radio One on this Monday morning. I have to say that we are getting a little road worn. But we're holding up. I keep on my vitamins most every day. When I start to feel my resistence go down a bit, I shoot an Airborne (Vitamin C straight-up). We met up with Carl Frye, program director at WYJZ, the Smooth Jazz outlet for Indy. Carl is an interesting guy. Very comedic in that radio kind of way. He has certainly got his ship in shape. The station sounded good, but didn't offer us any earth-shattering listening. Pretty conservative for the most part. After talking to Carl for a bit I began to understand his approach to the format. Donna and I enjoyed hanging out with Carl because he made us laugh a lot. Unfortunately on this visit we didn't get to see much of the city, but I'm sure we'll be back again. Maybe for the station's yearly jazz festival. Carl said that they had over 50,000 in attendence at the festival this year. READ INTERVIEW

We hit the road for St. Louis around noon. We had already moved the time of our appointment with David Myersat WSSM a couple of times so we were hoping to drive like the wind so as not to be terribly late. Time was working in our favor this afternoon. We gained an hour crossing into the central time zone and because of that we arrived right on time. It seems like we've slowed down a bit this far out on the road. We'll stop at a Cracker Barrel for lunch and sit a spell and play some checkers just to avoid getting back on the road. Although on this day, we scurried along the highway to cross the Mississippi.

We got to the Bonneville owned stations in St. Louis and we were greeted by a sign in the lobby that said "106.5 Smooth Jazz Welcomes Smoothjazz.com". I can't tell you how much that meant to us. It was such a warm welcome. We crashed David's afternoon show around 4:00 PM. The studios of the St. Louis properites were stunning. Stunning. High design, warm colors, beautiful use of woods and just some of the coolest studio I've ever seen in my life. Donna and I were completely taken aback. David Myers was a very kind host. He put us on the air, asked us questions that allowed us to promote Smoothjazz.com to his St. Louis audience and then asked us if we were going to see their famous Arch. Absolutely, I told him. We also wanted to know if there was a special food item we should try that's exclusive to the area. He ordered in "Toasted Raviolis" and a thin crust pizza from Imo's.

The visit to WSSM was by far the highlight of our trip just because we felt so at home and so comfortable. Also, for me there was so much more to the visit. I got a chance to see that radio can be done properly and humanely. Kind owners who know how to surround their people with working conditions that bring the most out of them. We have seen some wonderful stations this on this trip, but there was something extraordinarily unique about the Bonneville properties. And as far as we are concerned, David Myers can write his own ticket. He has star quality. He's fantastic on the air, knows how to relate to his listeners and off the air he's a geniune person. He treats his co-workers and staff, as well as his guests, with respect and grace.

WSSM was exciting to listen to. While we were in the studio, David played something new from Sunnie Paxson and George Duke We listened to the station as long as we could on our way out of town the next morning. READ INTERVIEW

 

Day 22 - Tuesday, November 5, 2002

KCIY/KANSAS CITY, KS

Got into Kansas City late in the day and again, we crashed another programmer's radio show. Mark Edwards is live each afternoon on KCIY We cruised into town and heard Santana's Oye Como Va actually done by Santana. It sounded cool and Kansas City just felt cool. We were happy to be there and looking forward to meeting Mark. He proved to be another hospitable host for us. He was interesting to visit with and the studio was comfortable to hang out in. There's something to large, roomy studios where you can spread out and feel at home. Mark's been in the format for many years and very much an activist for doing it right. He's got a good handle on the financial side of things so that the station proves viable for it's owner. Clearly a priority for him after his 7 years of programming investment in Atlanta.

While we were visiting with Mark, night host, Dave Washington popped in and raved about how useful Smoothjazz.com is to him for prep work on the air. He was so enthusiastic about the site that we couldn't help but feel great about meeting him. It turned out that Dave is also doing a good amount of voicetracking for other Smooth Jazz stations around the country including Richmond, VA. READ INTERVIEW

We pressed on that night through the eastern portion of Kansas to get a head start on the long drive scheduled for tomorrow. Ended up grabbing a night's stay in Salina, KS. Not a whole heck of a lot going on there, but some motels and a handful of restaurants. Made for a great night's rest.

 

Day 23 - Wednesday, November 6, 2002

DRIVE DAY

Drove many, many hours across the state of Kansas. Saw snow as we got closer to Colorado and once we entered the state, there was a good amount of snow on the ground. About 60 degrees outside with snow scattered about. Very pretty. We made our way to Boulder to visit with our friend Tony Longhurst and have some dinner with him. We met Tony when he came to Monterey a few years back to see one of our shows at our Concerts by the Bay summer series. We are hoping that we can work with him in some capacity in marketing and sales as he has a very extensive back ground in this area and a keen enthusiam for Smooth Jazz and what we're doing with Smoothjazz.com.

Tony pointed us in the direction of a very hot sushi spot in Boulder called Japango. Donna drank some sake called "Purple Haze". Don't have to drink much of anything in this altitude to get a haze going.

 

Day 24 - Thursday, November 7, 2002

WORK DAY - BOULDER, CO

Spending the day getting caught up on Web work and email. Hope to see a little more of Boulder. Unfortunately, we won't be seeing Denver's Smooth Jazz station this trip as Michael Fischer is not yet in place as program director and he was unavailable to return our phone call.

 

Day 25 - Friday, November 8, 2002

a name="greely"> JONES RADIO NETWORK - DENVER, CO & KUNC - GREELY, CO

Started our day at the Drury Inn in Englewood, which coincidentally turned out to be less than 5 minutes from Jones Radio Network HQ. We met up with Steve Hibbard, Operations Manager for JRN NAC and Cheri Marquart, Music Director for JRN NAC. Got a nice tour of the network and we were able to see each of the format studios and meet other format managers. Jones has 25 stations airing their Smooth Jazz format. And while Steve and Cheri have their hands full, they managed to steal away for a nice lunch with us at an Indian restaurant nearby.

We enjoyed our time with Steve & Cheri. We discussed the format extensively over chai tea. We grimiced and griped about the way music testing is conducted throughout the country and how 100 people or so playing with knobs in an auditorium is determining what's getting airplay on Smooth Jazz radio. We also delved into the importance of the Internet for radio and how much work there is to do in this regard. The more chai the more opinions. Great lunch. READ INTERVIEW

Scooted down I-25 to Greeley, CO to hook up with the folks at KUNC. Winds are picking up on the drive and Donna is dodging tumbleweeds right and left on the highway. We can see some incredible clouds brewing up a storm over the Rockies. We're getting a little worried about the weekend's driving conditions since we'll be heading back to California.

We arrived in Greeley a little after 4:00 pm and we were greeted by Music Director Kyle Dyas who introduced us to KUNC's Program Director Kirk Mowers. We gathered around a table and discussed the station, which by the way, is a public radio station serving Northern Colorado. NPR programming compliments their in-house "Diverse Music" programming. Their in-house programming includes a mix of Smooth Jazz, New Age, Jazz, AAA, Folk, World and Classical. Clearly the name for their sound fits. This programming runs 9:00am - 3:00pm, Monday - Friday. We arrived too late to listen, but they are on the Net, so we'll check 'em out soon.

Kirk & Kyle are very tall. They are also very sharp and totally tapped into community radio. We hung out for a bit discussing their contributions to music in Northern Colorado. Kirk told us that the station had been owned by the University of Colorado nearly a year ago until the University decided to sell the station to another public radio station in Denver who was seeking an additional FM. The format would have been lost in the deal, so the board of directors of KUNC put their heads together and raised nearly 2 million dollars to purchase the station from the University. It truly is owned by the community now. READ INTERVIEW

Donna and I pressed on to Cheyene, WY to spend the night to gear up for our big drive towards home.

 

Day 26 - Saturday, November 9, 2002

DRIVE DAY TURNED INTO REST DAY - CHEYNE, WY

Well it was supposed to be a drive day. But we opted to camp out in the La Quinta Inn in Cheyene and wait out what appears to be a really intense snow storm over the Rockies. We checked the road conditions and they were reporting slick roads and drifting snow, oh and high winds. So, it's a rest day. Which honestly we could both use at the moment. We're getting a little laundry done and had the oil changed ithe car. We'll be good to go when the roads are safe to travel.

 

Day 27 - Sunday, November 10, 2002

DRIVE DAY - WYOMING

Opted to head out this morning and see how far we could get down the road. WYO road conditions called for mostly favorably conditions except for over the pass in Arlington. That pass was not favorable by any means. It was Donna's turn at the wheel at this point of the drive and she managed to power through some rather scary conditions. We passed by a turned over horse trailer stuck in a snowy gultch (horses seemed to be OK), an 18 wheeler totally on its side and many, many vehicles pulled over during several flurries.

Stopped at a place called Little America where they have pretty much everything you need in the middle of nowhere. Hotel, restaurant, 24 hour mechanic on duty, fun gift shop, grill, cafe, really, really nice restrooms and 35 cent ice cream cones.

Slowly we pressed on from Little America and made it to Evanston, WY just before dark. Evanston is right on the state line. We decided to call it a night before passing over another mountain pass into Salt Lake City, UT. We'll save that for tomorrow should weather conditions permit. Camping out a Super 8. Woo-hoo. Lots of snow everywhere and satellite TV.

 

Day 28 - Monday, November 11, 2002

DRIVE DAY - WYOMING/UTAH/NEVADA

Looks like our travel strategy of hanging back in Cheyene an extra day paid off. We left late this morning from Evanston, giving the weather a chance to simmer down and to allow for the overnight ice to melt off the roads. We encountered just a bit of snow with mostly 'favorable conditions'. Been watching a little too much of the Weather Channel lately. They are right, we are "living by it".

We enjoyed a stunning drive over the Wasatch Mountain pass. Just enough snow to make things fun not frightening. We drove through Park City, Utah where the Winter Olympics were held last year. It was completely white with snow and it was snowing as we passed through. It was so beautiful. I would love to come back and ski Park City. This day, we played 'Snow Frisbee' instead, with our Olympic puppy, Basil. Basil loves the snow. She just has a ball snow mounds, and never seems to tire of it.

Salt Lake City was surrounded by white mountains. Just under a month ago, when we drove through here to head east, the mountains were clear. Now SLC is a winter wonderland. We tuned into the Breeze which was still mixing up vocals and instrumentals in equal parts. Elton John into Down To The Bone, Kenny Loggins into Special EFX Very unique compared to the stations we've encountered on this tour.

The skies outside of Salt Lake were just like a painting. It was unreal. The view in front of us was that of speckled snow hills and mountains reaching right up to huge, puffy white clouds across a multi-blue sky. At least three shades of blue. Baby blue. Cornflower blue (remember the Crayola?). And robin's egg blue. Every bit of space was filled with color and texture. The elevation created such an amazing perspective. It felt like we were driving in the sky.

Checked into a Shilo Inn in Elko, NV just after sundown. We're really getting good about stopping early in the night so that we can have some comfortable surroundings and rest. We went for a swim at the Shilo and watched CSI Miami. Tomorrow we plan to hook up with Jay Davis in Reno, NV at KJZS

 

Day 29 - Tuesday, November 12, 2002

DRIVE DAY / KJZS - RENO, NV
Left the comfortable and cozy Shilo Inn in Elko around 9:30 AM. We're back into the Pacific Time Zone and less than 12 hours from home. I'm looking forward to getting home, honestly. Don't they say if you do something 30 times, it's a habit. Tomorrow will be Day 30. Our two week turned to three week drive across the U.S. has pushed the edges of feeling like we'll never see our strange and sleepy little town again.

I've always held hope that Pacific Grove would turn into one of those hip little towns that people visit on the weekends. The place where you can sip a latte while you shop at cool boutiques and stores. We certainly have the restaurants to participate in such a dream. But there's some locked-in city vision for Pacific Grove that calls for more bizarre antique sellers and second hand stores per capita than most cities in the country. In fact, our large, upscale furniture store went out of business before we left.

65% of the homes in our town are owned by people who don't live there. They are second homes for people who don't care to get involved in the politics of the community and they don't seem to mind whether or not we have cool things to do and places to shop. This likely isn't important to these people because they are coming from the cities and towns that have cool places to shop and things to do and when they come to visit their second home on the weekends they just want to go for walks and play golf and not bother with much else until they get home on Monday.

I love my town, don't get me wrong. I always have. Growing up in this small, foggy California coastal town was a blessing. My folks moved us to the Monterey Peninsula in 1969 and I was fortunate to do all of my schooling in one city. One small city. I do think that a place as rich in natural beauty and tourism as the Monterey Peninsula should have a more progressive growth plan however. Not one that will alienate locals or make the place more city-like, but one that will encourage more culture for locals and visitors alike. Like Boulder, Coloradio or Northhampton, Mass.

John Steinbeck called the people of Carmel "pixie people" because they live in fairy book homes and don't seem to care to move the community forward. The funny thing about Steinbeck is that he had a love/hate thing for Monterey County where he grew up. Most people don't know that the city of Monterey wouldn't even rent him office space because of his reputation as a writer and a occasional drinker (this occured even after he won the Pulitzer).

Driving through Nevada seems to inspire venting sessions in this journal.

Jay Davis at KJZS is a hoot! We had a great time visiting the Reno station and chatting with Jay. She's got a great sense about radio and about the Smooth Jazz format. The station sounded great! One of the best sounding stations who had heard on the entire trip.

It was exciting to be in Reno as that put us only a hop, skip and a jump from California. We drove over Donner Pass just after dark. Since Donna was driving we called it the Donna Pass and fortunately there was no weather to worry about such things that concerned the Donner Party back in the day.

We called our friend Chris Webster from Mumbo Gumbo and talked her into meeting us for dinner in her hometown of Davis, CA. Chris should be the next Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Bonnie Raitt. She's in my Top 5 favorite song writers of all time, she's tall and adorable and has such a smooth, silkly voice. We're playing some of her solo music on Smoothjazz.com Radio, including an incredible version of "Since I Fell For You". Chris met up with us at an Indian Restaurant called Katmandu and we chatted for several hours. Chris wanted to see our road set-up and jumped in the back for a bit to watch a Mary Tyler Moore episode with us on DVD.

We're gonna make it after all. We pushed homeward and got in just after 2:00 AM.