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DJ Appreciation Post – Rus Thompson

February 2, 2025 - 9:00 pm

A poster for a DJ appreciation post from KBCS. This post features Rus Thompson, a white man with medium length grey hair, a short grey beard, and a black zip up jacket. He is outside with the sky behind him. Rus Thompson - Host of Road Songs

Rus Thompson has been hosting Road Songs for 22 years and more recently Night Train. Here at KBCS, we would like to take a moment to thank Rus for bringing an eclectic blend of Americana and world music to our listeners in the greater Seattle radio community and around the world. Learn more from Russ in his own words!

How long have you been hosting your show?

I’ve been hosting Road Songs since 2003 and Night Train since 2023. I’ve been a deejay at KBCS since 1998. Since I’m a filmmaker, and since I shoot and edit all of my films, I look at building my two-hour programs as if I’m telling a story, or setting a series of consistent moods, which requires paying attention to the words, the rhythms, the instruments, and the emotions of the music I choose. In editing, the most critical moment is the transition from one scene or sequence to the one that follows. I apply that same sensitivity to crafting Road Songs and Night Train. 

What song or album do you most identify with, which inspired your energy to be a DJ?

“Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” by Lucinda Williams and everything by Townes Van Zandt.

Your most recent concert?

The Local Honeys at the Tractor Tavern. I like to go to intimate shows where I can get close to the stage and I don’t have to pay a fortune to ticket scalpers.

Recent Feature film or a Favorite film?

As a filmmaker and cinephile, my favorites are legion, literally hundreds of films.  Currently, I’m telling people that my favorite all-time American film is The Deer Hunter and my favorite foreign film is Ugetsu. I recently completed a list of my favorites from the first 25 years of this century. The top five are  Children of Men, Michael Clayton, Traffic, Roma, Cold War.  Recently, in the same week, I watched Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America and Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist. Both films are searing works of personal expression that will stand the test of time.

What album do you love or really enjoy that might surprise your listeners?

 A series of world music CDs from the late 90s called Trance Planet; evocative, haunting, and gorgeous ambient and trance-like riffs from around the globe. 

What album do you feel changed your life?

A collection of several Townes Van Zandt CDs I picked up on a trip through Europe in 2001 called Texas Troubadour.

A favorite quote or song that keeps you going?

“I’m chained upon the face of time

Feelin’ full of foolish rhyme

There ain’t no dark till something shines

I’m bound to leave this dark behind”

– Rex’s Blues by Townes Van Zandt

A Note From KBCS:

Thank you, Rus for providing community radio listeners with great music that brings us a feeling of joy and nostalgia. We are grateful to have you be part of our station and look forward to hearing your distinct sound for years to come!

A poster for a DJ appreciation post from KBCS. This post features Rus Thompson, a white man with medium length grey hair, a short grey beard, and a black zip up jacket. He is outside with the sky behind him.

Rus Thompson – Host of Road Songs