Music & Dance News May / June 2018 Page 12
Fridays are lively on KCHK radio
KCHK radio in New Prague is a simulcast station , which can be heard on 1350 AM and 95.5 FM .
People all over the world listen online at kchkradio . net and via their free downloadable apps for smart phones and tablets .
Those with smart speakers simply need to say , “ Alexa , enable KCHK .”
For more than five years , KCHK radio in New Prague , MN has gone back to the thrilling days of early radio each Friday , by airing performances by live musicians . The offering is called Live Musicians Friday ( LMF ).
Station manager Tom Goetzinger beams with pride when talking about the show he has seen grow and evolve over half a decade .
“ We have never missed a Friday , and May 4 , 2018 , marks 300 shows in row !”
That is impressive , considering the live music starts at 6:50 a . m ., and the musicians come from near and far in all sorts of weather to perform .
“ Amazingly , the person who has travelled the farthest to play and sing is a young lady
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Nelson Peterson and his dad , Hans Peterson .
named Simona from the Czech Republic , and believe it or not , she ’ s been on LMF three times ,” explained Goetzinger .
He added , “ We ’ ve had the Cynor Brothers and the Concrete Cowboy , both from Wisconsin ; Mollie B and Ted Lange drove through the night from Ohio to play on an early Friday morning ; and classic country artist Kelly Stanford came from Missouri .
“ When Christmas fell on a Friday , local musician Doug Traxler came in to keep the streak alive . One of the shows Simona did was on New Year ’ s Day .”
It all began Friday , Aug . 10 , 2012 , when New Prague musician Bob Pexa was asked to come in and play live to promote an upcoming festival at St . Wenceslaus Catholic Church in New Prague .
He played a concertina accompanied by a drum machine .
Goetzinger , who is also KCHK ’ s morning disc jockey , made the
observation that there are a number of polka musicians in the listening area , and live music should be able to be a constant Friday offering .
At first , the intent was to feature only polka musicians , a staple of the station ’ s music programming .
Goetzinger stated , “ We started with one microphone and one person playing either concertina or button accordion . We continued to experiment with more players , different instruments , more microphones , and more equipment , and now have groups of all sizes and musical styles
Clete Goblirsch from New Ulm .
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