KDHX Donor Spotlight: Denise Massa

KDHX Donor Spotlight: Denise Massa

Denise Massa has been listening to and supporting KDHX since 2014. She has supported the station with individual gifts as well as with a vehicle donation and is always out there spreading the word about KDHX. She has sent so many inspiring notes about her love of KDHX’s programming over the years and we are thrilled to be able to share some of her thoughts and feelings about KDHX with other listeners.

We thank Denise for her longtime commitment to KDHX and for demonstrating her ambassadorship with her financial support and her kind and powerful words. 

Where do you live?

Edwardsville, IL

Tell us about yourself: 

I grew up in Collinsville, IL and now reside in Edwardsville. I discovered music as a kid, in the days of transistor radios. I frequently fell asleep listening to KXOK with the radio hidden under my pillow. The radio is always on in my house - it’s the first thing I turn on in the morning or when arriving back home from somewhere else. Music is really essential to me, just as much as good food, pure water and clean air. Music feeds my soul and soothes my spirit. I am retired these days and stay busy gardening, cooking, practicing Tai Chi and doing what I can to stay vibrant and healthy. KDHX provides the soundtrack to my life's adventures.

How long have you been listening to KDHX?

I have been listening to KDHX nearly every waking hour since 2014 when I came back full-time to this area after being away studying and working in Southern Illinois.

Do you remember when you first discovered KDHX? Do you have a KDHX "origin story?"

I came to KDHX in a funny sort of way.  While living in Southern Illinois, I met the person who started WDBX radio, which is a sister station patterned after KDHX; he discovered it on a trip to St. Louis. I started listening to WDBX down there and then started listening to KDHX while home in Edwardsville on weekends. I found that where I lived in Southern Illinois was just on the edge of the KDHX signal and if the weather was right and I moved the antenna around to the right spot I could get KDHX at my house in Ava, IL.  So thankful today for the live stream and the archives that makes it possible to listen from anywhere the internet is available!

Why is KDHX important?

KDHX is so important because of the enormous amount of wonderful and amazing music out there in the world that would never be heard if it wasn't for KDHX. With the wide variety of musical genres available on KDHX and the freedom each DJ has in programming their own shows, each show ends up becoming a masterpiece of expertly curated musical knowledge and joy. Commercial radio can't even come close to this because of their focus on selling products. The internet streaming services lack the emotional connection KDHX makes by being a supportive member of the local music and arts community, and that also comes through via the musical curation, personal knowledge, and musical joy that each of the DJ's share. I especially love how so many shows honor artists with tributes for significant occasions like birthdays, or on their passing.

Do you have any favorite KDHX programs?

I have a wide variety of musical tastes and have so many favorites that to list them all here would probably end up being nearly every show. This is a list of some of them, in no particular order, and is by no means the entire list! Memphis to Manchester, Feel Like Going Home, Pop the Beat Bubble Burst, Radio Rio, Soul Selector, Wax Lyrical, Howzit Bayou, The Interstate, Songwriters Showcase, Down Yonder, Bluegrass Breakdown, The Big Bang, Sound Salvation, Night Grooves, Music at Work, The Other One, Higher Ground, Hip City, The Rhythm Section and Time Warp Radio. I'm usually listening all day long.

How do you listen to KDHX? Live radio? Via the stream? Through the recorded archives?

I listen to live radio when I can get a good signal and use the Tune-in app or KDHX.org when I can't. I also am a big user of the archives for catching all the shows I love when I am unable to catch them live. Living in Edwardsville, my fancy-shmancy Onkyo stereo receiver wants to pick up the local SIUE station at 88.7 even when I tune it to 88.1 for KDHX. Most of the time I can't seem to get the antenna to distinguish the right signal so thank goodness for Tune-in being available on the Onkyo as well!

Is there anything else you would like to share about how KDHX has impacted your life?

Words cannot really express how much love, joy, and positivity KDHX has brought into my life.  My heart is filled to overflowing every time I listen. Music just does that to me; as I said earlier, it feeds my soul. I feel blessed to have found you and grateful that I can support this awesome station. I thank each one of you for creating this vibrant energy and for beaming it out to us all daily.