Photo by Kevin A. Roberts
When KDHX and the Folk School merged, in 2012, the two organizations already had one important thing in common: Kelly Wells.
Over the past half-decade, she’s held such jobs as education director, engagement director, and, now, executive director. She oversees a full-time staff of 11, as well as 20 part-timers and dozens of volunteers. During her tenure, both station and school migrated to Grand Center. She feels that both entities have gained much from the resettlement—especially KDHX, with the addition of The Stage and Squatter’s Café, “which serves as the station’s front door.” But the greatest value in the move, she says, has been tying into a neighborhood of progressive media and arts institutions.
“There are so many other important arts institutions that live here,” she says, noting that the station and school have forged some key partnerships “just by osmosis.”
Wells hosts Steam-Powered Radio on Wednesday mornings, and her husband, Ryan Spearman, hosts Sittin’ on Top of the World on Tuesday mornings. Together they perform as The Aching Hearts. Last year, the couple helped form the Short Round Stringband alongside Kansas City–based duo Betse & Clarke. The new group “plays Southern mountain revival, old-time music, and new compositions,” explains Wells. “What’s exciting about this band is that it’s music that tells a story and reminds us that we all have a human connection. Writing songs with this group focuses on the cross-cultural exchanges that’ve created this American music. We’re all students of American music and want to be educators as well. This music came from a conglomeration of people’s experiences, and it’s music that used to be shared more. The goal is to give depth to the context of that old-time music that we love to play.”
Though Wells believes that it’s not essential for a musician to head up KDHX, she says it certainly doesn’t hurt: “Ultimately, to be a good director of an organization, you have to care about the mission. Being a performer and DJ helps inform the lens through which I look at things… It allows me to look at it from an alternative perspective.”
Pick Three
Like Wells, many other KDHX DJs are performers. Here are just three of their shows.
Rawthentic with Needles and Cleo Jones (11 p.m.–1 a.m. Wednesdays): “Needles is performing all over the place,” Wells says. “If you listen to his show these days, it’s not only great music but he also tells you why this music is important.”
Wrong Division with Mabel Suen and Joe Hess (midnight–2 a.m. Fridays): “They’re both performers and promoters and conveners, getting people together for different things. They bring a lot of freshness to the programming, and I love how they take that to other parts of the community.”
Down Yonder with Keith Dudding (11 a.m.–1 p.m. Saturdays): “[Dudding] teaches at The Folk School and plays in a lot of old-time pickup bands. He’s the fastest-talking DJ this side of the Mississippi. He’s got a busy day job, but he’s taught Intro to Mandolin since almost the beginning.”
