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The WKMS Team

These are the folks that keep WKMS going from reporting important stories, to hosting your favorite programs to keeping your membership up to date, and also minding all the technical components that keep WKMS on the air.
WKMS Staff
WKMS Staff
  • Asia Burnett is WKMS Station Manager.
  • Tracy started working for WKMS in 1994 while attending Murray State University. After receiving his Bachelors and Masters degrees from MSU he was hired as Operations/Web/Sports Director in 2000. Tracy hosted All Things Considered from 2004-2012 and has served as host/producer of several music shows including Cafe Jazz, and Jazz Horizons. In 2001, Tracy revived Beyond The Edge, a legacy alternative music program that had been on hiatus for several years. Tracy was named Program Director in 2011 and created the midday music and conversation program Sounds Good in 2012 which he hosts Monday-Thursday. Tracy lives in Murray with his wife, son and daughter.
  • Allen Fowler is the Chief Engineer for WKMS and our technical guru. He enjoys working at WKMS and largely remains a mysterious guy.
  • Starting at WKMS in 2014, Dixie is the station's Corporate Support Manager, working with local businesses and community organizations. She's been an avid supporter of public radio since her teenage years. Other than public radio, her passions include live music, natural health and nutrition, hiking, traveling, and animals. She serves on the Paducah Main Street Board and is a member of the Paducah-McCracken County NAACP and the Heath Family Resource & Youth Services Center Advisory Council. Dixie and her husband, local musician and historian Nathan Lynn, reside in Paducah with their two kids.
  • Jenni holds a degree in Music Education from Murray State University and a Masters degree in Arts Administration from Florida State University's College of Music. She's equipped with knowledge and enthusiasm for fundraising and the arts. She also serves as a Girl Scout Troop Leader and on the Murray Independent School District Foundation for Excellence Board of Directors.
  • A native of western Kentucky, Operle earned his bachelor's degree in integrated strategic communications from the University of Kentucky in 2014. Operle spent five years working for Paxton Media/The Paducah Sun as a reporter and editor. In addition to his work in the news industry, Operle is a passionate movie lover and concertgoer.
  • Ryland Barton is the Managing Editor for Collaboratives for Kentucky Public Radio, a group of public radio stations including WKMS, WFPL in Louisville, WEKU in Richmond and WKYU in Bowling Green. A native of Lexington, Ryland most recently served as the Capitol Reporter for Kentucky Public Radio. He has covered politics and state government for NPR member stations KWBU in Waco and KUT in Austin.
  • George Eldred has lived most of his life in Princeton, Kentucky except for a 15 year stint of studying music in Sewanee, Tennessee and Lawrence, Kansas and working in camera and photo finishing shops in the Washington, DC area. George first went on the air around the 4th grade when the local station in Princeton used to get elementary school students to read children's books from the library on the air.
  • Ariel grew up in and became disenchanted with suburbia early on. Since childhood, she yearned for rural farm life and has now made a chance landing in rural Murray, KY. She holds a BFA and MFA in Studio Art.“ I am driven to collect the stories and histories of rural folk, the people who , in some ways, have the most immediate connection to our history as a country. ” -Ariel
  • Melanie Davis-McAfee graduated from Murray State University in 2018 with a BA in Music Business. She has been working for WKMS as a Music and Operations Assistant since 2017. Melanie hosts the late-night alternative show Alien Lanes, Fridays at 11 pm with co-host Tim Peyton. She also produces Rick Nance's Kitchen Sink and Datebook and writes Sounds Good stories for the web.
  • Dave is a retired Army tank platoon sergeant. During Desert Storm, he helped overrun a Republican Guard bunker complex in Iraq's Euphrates Valley. In the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, he commanded a mountaintop UN Preventive Deployment Force observation post on the Macedonian frontier with Serbia. In Bavaria, he served as news director at the American Forces Network radio station in Wurzburg, on special duty assignment from December 1981 to March 1984. He's a 2003 magna cum laude graduate of Western Kentucky University.
  • Kayla Little is a 2020 Murray State graduate with a B.S. in Music Business.
  • Hannah Saad is the Assistant News Director for WKMS. Originally from Michigan, Hannah earned her bachelor’s degree in news media from The University of Alabama in 2021. Hannah moved to western Kentucky in the summer of 2021 to start the next chapter of her life after graduation. Prior to joining WKMS in March 2023, Hannah was a news reporter at The Paducah Sun. Her goal at WKMS is to share the stories of the region from those who call it home. Outside of work, Hannah enjoys exploring local restaurants, sports photography, painting, and spending time with her fiancé and two dogs.
  • Hurt is a Livingston County native and has been a political consultant for a little over a decade. He currently hosts a local talk show “River City Presents”, produced by Paducah2, which features live musical performances, academic discussion, and community spotlights.
  • Shelby Ashley is the administrative assistant at WKMS. She moved to Murray from Clarksville, Tennessee in 2012 to attend Murray State University, where she met her husband and has continued to grow with the community surrounding her. Outside of the office, she is a visual artist who loves exploring different mediums, but always goes back to painting as her main way of expressing creativity.
Students
Students
  • Zacharie Lamb is a music major at Murray State University and is a Graves County native.
  • Mason Galemore is a Murray State student studying journalism. He was the editor-in-chief of his high school newspaper. Since then has explored different publication avenues such as broadcasting. He hopes to travel as a journalist documenting conflict zones and different cultures. He remembers watching the Arab Spring in 2011 via the news when he was a kid, which dawned in a new age of journalism grounded in social media. His favorite hobbies are hiking, photography, reading, writing and playing with his Australian Shepard, Izzy. He is originally from Charleston, Missouri.
  • Zoe Lewis is a first-year sophomore at Murray State University from Benton, Kentucky. She is majoring in journalism with a minor in media production. She enjoys reading, going to movie theaters, spending time with her family and friends, and eating good food. Zoe is an Alpha Omicron Pi sorority member in the Delta Omega chapter. She is very excited to start working at WKMS and work while learning more about NPR, reporting, journalism, and broadcasting.
  • Abigail Lonsway is a student at Murray State University. She enjoys music, the arts, and pop culture. She majors in TV Production.
  • Francis is a junior at Murray State University majoring sociology. They enjoy writing, music and video games.
  • Laurie Tackett is a freshman at Murray State University with a major in Earth & Environmental Science/Geology with a minor in Nonprofit Leadership Studies. She is a member of the Honors College, Earth & Environmental Science Club, and Racerband. She enjoys music, crocheting, hiking, being with friends, and reading. Laurie is grateful to be at WKMS with all of the other amazing people and staff!
Volunteer Hosts
Volunteer Hosts
  • Dr. Brian Clardy is an assistant professor of history and Coordinator of Religious Studies at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. His academic research hs been published in "The Tennessee Historical Quarterly," The Journal of Church and State," and "The Journal of Business and Economic Perspectives."
  • John Dressler is a retired professor of music at Murray State University. He joined MSU in 1989 after receiving his Masters and Doctorate at Indiana University. John's areas of interest include french horn, musicology and world civilization. His personal works include performances with Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, a featured soloist for the International Horn Society Conference, and "Recording Reviews" in the Journal of the International Horn Society volumes 33 and 34. John is now the host of Classical Encore, on WKMS Classical
  • Mike Gowen is a lecturer in the Department of Wellness and Therapeutic Sciences. He visited Murray for the first time in 1988 and has called it home off and on for the last 23 years. He stays busy raising two children, Gabrielle and Jacob, two dogs, Sadie and Lakota and a cat, Socks. Mike is thankful for the Murray & WKMS community. He loves the local art & music scenes, as well as, the ever expanding farmer's markets. This is his second time around on Music From the Front Porch after a ten year hiatus. His words of advice, "go see more live music."
  • Todd E. Hill is the Director of Jazz Ensembles at Murray State University. He holds both the BMEd and MMEd degrees from MSU, and an EdD from Boise State University. He held positions in the public schools of Milan, Tennessee, Northwest Mississippi Community College, Boise State University, and University of the Cumberlands, where he served as Director of Bands before returning to his alma mater. He has been guest conductor for concert and jazz honor groups in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Idaho, Washington, Montana, Oregon and Nevada.
  • Matt Markgraf joined the WKMS team as a student in January 2007. He's served in a variety of roles over the years: as News Director March 2016-September 2019 and previously as the New Media & Promotions Coordinator beginning in 2011. Prior to that, he was a graduate and undergraduate assistant. He is currently the host of the international music show Imported on Sunday nights at 10 p.m.
  • John McMillen has been co-host Music From the Front Porch since 1996 and The Jive House since 2012. "I just enjoy a good song no matter if it is jazz, punk, blues, pop, country, bluegrass, folk, soul, funk or a mashup of all of the above." He lists as his all-time favorite musical acts as Husker Du, The Descendents, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, Gillian Welch, Chris Thile, Neko Case, Tim O'Brien, Wilco, Tony Rice, Bill Monroe, Los Lobos, Bill Evans, Earl Scruggs, Bad Livers and so many many more.
  • Nick Morris is a Recreation Agreement Specialist with TVA's Public Outreach and Recreation organization. An MSU alumnus, Nick first moved to Murray as a student in 1998 where he was grateful to find WKMS and its rich variety of music. "I grew up in a musical family," Nick says of his formative years. "Some of my earliest childhood memories are of my parents taking me to a small opry house in Henry, TN, to hear my uncle's band play bluegrass and country music. My father played bass with the band for a while and it seemed like every family gathering was infused with some form of live music." While his tastes in music have broadened to pretty much every genre, Nick says he devotes the most time to Bluegrass, Americana, Singer/Songwriter and Alt Rock. A fan of the Front Porch for more than a decade, Nick says he's honored to be part of a select few that have hosted the WKMS juggernaut.
  • Rick Nance is notorious graphic artist and designer. He graces the airwaves with The Kitchen Sink, an eclectic show for brave listeners, featuring everything but the kitchen sink. Rick also enjoys Elizabethan poetry, long walks in the park and painting himself blue from head to toe during full moons. Check out his amazing graphic artwork around the region and on the hit TV show Nashville.
  • John Null is the host and creator of Left of the Dial. From 2013-2016, he also served as a reporter in the WKMS newsroom.
  • Brad's first musical memory was dancing on a Good Humor ice cream cart to "I'm Your Boogieman" by KC & The Sunshine Band on repeat (there are pictures, no, he will not share them). An avid live music connoisseur, he spent high high school/college years as a mobile disc jockey playing dances, parties, weddings, etc. Brad is a Murray State alum (class of '97!) and got his DMD degree from the University of Louisville in 2001. He's the owner/dentist at Dr. Charles B. Robertson DMD, Inc. and is on the boards for the Murray Art Guild and the West Kentucky Highland Society. Brad's amassed an impressive vinyl collection, from which he and John spend hours pulling music for The Jive House.
  • Creator and Host of Old Kentucky Tales podcast
  • Host of Old Kentucky Tales podcast