NEDERLAND -- On Saturday night, March 15th, KGNU Radio is presenting a Grateful Dead Special from 7pm to Midnight. According to long time Dead show DJ Mike Massa, this show will be a special one. “I’m excited, because the radio show is falling on the very night of Phil Lesh’s 85th birthday. We’re putting together a Phil tribute and will be playing a lot of high quality, bass-driven Dead tunes that you are sure to enjoy.” Phil Lesh, the bass player of the Grateful Dead, passed away last October at the age of 84.
Massa, who with Eugene D’Alessandro ran pirate station RadioFreeNed from 1994 to 2002 out of their office in town, started deejaying Grateful Dead radio specials at KGNU over 40 years ago. “In those days the show was 12 hours long, from 6pm to 6am”, he says. “The normal guys would handle the 6pm to midnight segment, and then me and my crew of Nederland hippies would take over and play Dead from midnight to 6am. It’s amazing to me they let us do that! KGNU is an awesome place”. The Grateful Dead Special is part of KGNU’s Spring pledge drive, and Massa hopes you will call in during the show and contribute to locally sourced independent media. “All kidding aside, KGNU is an incredibly important resource for Boulder County, and we are very fortunate to have this independent media access to local news, music, and information.”
Massa has long been a supporter of the Grateful Dead and of KGNU. “Both the Dead and KGNU have always, more than anything, meant ‘Community’ to me. I feel blessed to be a part of the Nederland family for all these years, and being a Deadhead and KGNU junkie have further expanded the sense of community that is so important to me.”
Join Mike and his co-host Chris O’Riley Saturday night, March 15th for the Grateful Dead Special on KGNU. KGNU broadcasts at 88.5 FM in Boulder, 93.7 FM in Nederland, and online at KGNU.org.
