17 Feb KOTO-FM: Winter Fundraising Concert Features OH HE DEAD, 3/5!
On Wednesday, March 5, Telluride’s KOTO-FM hosts a very special winter fundraising concert at the historic Sheridan Opera House. The event features the pop, indie, soul sounds of OH HE DEAD. Doors open at 7 p.m.; show time is 8 p.m. Come boogie to band and support your community radio station! Textbook win-win. (FREE AfterShow in the Show Bar with DJ Wombat.)
Tickets are $50 for General Admission; $75 for reserved balcony seating. All proceeds benefit KOTO Community Radio! Get your tickets now at sheridanoperahouse.com!
Go here to learn more about KOTO-FM radio.
For more about the station and the concert, listen to Telluride Inside..and Out’s podcast featuring KOTO’s Executive Director Cara Pallone. Also check out a preview of the quintet.
KOTO’s history is the history of Telluride from the days of hippies and cowboys to the present era of financial stability – entrepreneurial cowboys and hippies.
Beyond KOTO, FM and AM radio dials tend to be wastelands crowded with commercial stations offering not very much worthwhile around the clock, an incessant roar of rock, C & W, lots of “oldies,” inane (and insane) chatter and harsh rap. Of all the public radio stations in the nation, very few operate as freely and authentically as KOTO. (One online estimate of the shrinking number of indie stations is 88.)
It all began in the wild and wooly days of the 1970s, at the height of Telluride’s crossover from mining town to hippie ski haven, thanks to a long-haired visionaries Jim Bedford and Jerry Greene.
Back then, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had a small niche in its restrictive regulations that allowed a private nonprofit to build and operate a 10-watt FM radio station. Into that niche jumped an odd assortment of locals, Bedford and Greene taking the lead. An application was filed. Time, money and space were provided by dozens of folks. Town Council came up with $10,000 over two years for equipment. The FCC said “Do it.”
KOTO was legally broadcasting on October 3, 1975. Since then, the radio station has been entirely supported by the greater Telluride community, meaning the station accepts zero advertising and zero underwriting. In fact the guiding and abiding fact of life was and remains that KOTO-FM radio is truly owned and operated by the people of the region. Its music is played by DJ residents (about 80); Town Council meetings are aired live; neighbors get to hear neighbors on local news and events programs. And, to this day, KOTO remains true to its mission to inform, educate, and entertain while reflecting the needs, desires, and diversity of Telluride’s extended community.
Bottom line, with community support, KOTO is free to feature any and all regional residents’ views and other programming without concern for funding that might well be lost if an unpopular or archly critical opinion were expressed.
Underline “community support.”
To that end – and to sweeten the “ask” pill – KOTO is known for producing a series of creative, fun-filled fundraisers, including the upcoming concert featuring OH HE HEAD.
Reviews of OH HE DEAD generally praise the band’s soulful, groovy sound, highlighting the powerful vocals of front woman CJ Johnson and the band’s ability to blend genres like funk, soul, and pop. Many critics note the outfit’s ability to turn melancholic themes into uplifting tunes. Reviewers highlight OH HE DEAD’S energetic and engaging live shows.
The DC-based rock n’ soul band is “Infectiously groovy,” raved NPR.
But the old trope applies: seeing is believing. KOTO’s fundraising concert featuring OH HE DEAD is scheduled for Wednesday, March 5.
Holiday photo of staff, courtesy Gus Gusciora. Luis Tavares, Mason Osgood, Julia Caulfield, Claybrook Penn, Cara Pallone & son Clyde, Ben Kerr.
For more about KOTO and the band, listen to Cara’s podcast.
For a preview of the treat in store, check out OH HE DEAD’s “JAMINTHEVAN.”
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