In keeping with our mission to serve and celebrate our community, most of the shows you hear on KZSM 104.1/KZSM. org are created right here. Eventually, we hope to provide locally generated programming 24/7. But for now, we vary our schedule with a few shows generated elsewhere. Recently, we have added the countdown country show “Dance Time in Texas” (Mondays 2-3 p.m.) and “Big 80s Radio” (Wednesdays 3-4 p.m.). “Make Believe Ballroom,” a show that began on WNEW radio in New York in 1935, is coming soon.
Our longest-running and most widely-syndicated show is “The Mop Tops and the King” (Mondays 9-10 p.m.). Host Steve Chelmsford strives “to spread a little joy and happiness to the entire world one listener at a time through the music of Elvis and The Beatles.” Over 100 stations in 13 countries help achieve that goal. Steve has consistently supported KZSM, and features two San Martians as regular commentators on his show. Through a guest appearance on “Bookmarked,” he met two fans who called in to talk about the artists they had loved and read about for years. Now, Librarian Priscilla Delgado Hermiller regularly shares her vast knowledge of the life and times of Elvis Presley as “Priscilla Rose of Texas,” and Jennifer Kabay of the San Marcos Public Library narrates “The McCartney Diaries,” drawing upon extensive reading and years of experience as a dedicated Beatles fan.
A different kind of local connection underlies “Freethought Radio” (Mondays 11 a.m. - noon). On their nationally-syndicated show, hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor offer programming for nonreligious listeners, including music and interviews with authors and activists. The broadcast is underwritten locally by the Hill Country Freethinkers, an educational, charitable and social organization that carries on the legacy of the German Freethinkers who settled this area in the mid-1800s. The organization underwrites the broadcast as an effective way of sharing their values and message. As Lamar Hankins of the Freethinkers explains, “we saw it as an opportunity to promote reason and other humanistic values in the community, while supporting KZSM, a local institution. We are making it easier for local people to listen to an informative and entertaining series.”
If there is a syndicated radio broadcast with a message you or your organization would like to share, contact us at [email protected] to learn how to underwrite it and get it on the air.
