Jalisa Bass
Tavis Buchan
Tavis Buchan, Corporate Relations Manager, is the newest team member of KBCS. A 20+ year veteran of radio broadcasting, Tavis comes to KBCS on the heels of his role as Account Executive and On-Air Personality at KRKO and KXA in Everett, Washington. That was the role that brought Tavis back to Washington State! Prior, Buchan was Director of Digital Media and On-Air Personality for Horizon Broadcasting Group in Bend, Oregon, where he achieved online and on-air success. Among his group’s achievements were the 2015 Oregon Association of Broadcasters Best Use of Digital Media Award for MyCentralOregon.com and 2015 Oregon Association of Broadcasters Radio Station of The Year Award for KLTW.
Previous to Oregon, Tavis spent 5 years in the Midwest overseeing the radio operation at NPR affiliate, Lakeshore Public Media, as Vice President of Radio Operations in the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland area. Over his tenure at Lakeshore Public Radio, Tavis created and produced a variety of programs, including a radio documentary on the historic Crown Theater, which won an “Indiana Broadcasting Association Spectrum Award for Special Interest and Cultural Programming” in 2011.
Before his career moved Tavis to Northwest Indiana and Oregon, Tavis was born and raised in Northwest Washington State. In 1999,Tavis entered an internship program with the Cascade Radio Group in Bellingham, Washington. Tavis quickly propelled to a variety of positions and responsibilities within the cluster of stations, including producing the morning show, hosting the afternoon show, and Assistant Program Director at Classic Rock 92.9 KISM, producing content at KPUG 1170 The Sports Leader, as well as the title of Promotions Director for the Cascade Radio Group.
Tavis lives in Bothell, Washington. He is a fan of the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Mariners, and is sure the Seattle Supersonics will return. He continues his interest in filmmaking, with a stint at the Seattle Film Institute on his resume. He will often purposely leave lights on around the house because of the warm, welcoming and inviting feeling it gives him when he enters that room at any given time. This habit has driven all the women in his life crazy.
Dana Buckingham
Dana came to KBCS in August of 2019 from KNVO-FM at the University of Nebraska, Omaha where he served as station manager, program director and executive news producer. There he produced and anchored weekday morning newscasts, hosted a popular midday classical music program and a two-hour weekly classical music program called The Midnight Special that was broadcast statewide over the NET Radio Network.
“I consider it to be an honor and great privilege to be invited to join the dedicated team of broadcast professionals and community volunteers at KBCS. This station is recognized across the nation as a leader in the community radio model of public broadcasting. The tradition of advocating for a more inclusive America, greater community involvement and promoting social justice has been a hallmark of, and is deeply embedded within, the culture of this station. It is a tradition worth preserving and nurturing and an important educational and cultural component of what makes our community such a great place to live.”
Born and raised in Northwest Iowa, Buckingham attended the University of South Dakota at Vermillion. He got his start as a full-time news director at a radio station in Yankton, South Dakota, and worked for the next seven years as a news reporter and announcer at several small market radio stations. He went back to school and in addition to a bachelor’s degree in history he earned a master’s degree in history with a graduate minor in Native American Studies from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Ben Brandow
My public radio experience started at a young age as a “back seat” listener, taking in diverse music, voices, and opinions while riding in the car with my parents. I didn’t know it at the time, but that early listening sparked my curiosity for the world around me and eventually my passion for public radio.
My experience in public radio started as a volunteer at KSMU in Springfield, Missouri, answering phones during radio pledge. After college, I held Membership Manager positions at High Plains Public Radio in Garden City, Kansas, and Lakeshore Public Media, serving the Chicago metro.
I joined the KBCS team in September of 2017. I’m eager to not only help provide great public radio in the region, but also become an active part of the community, and welcome your thoughts and insights on creative new ways to make that happen.
In my spare time you might find me out exploring nature or urban life, skateboarding for exercise, or at home playing the guitar.
Yuko Kodama
Yuko couldn’t go to sleep at night unless she listened to radio when she was growing up. She later found herself producing weekday segments for a number of radio stations in Japan, including J-Wave Radio, FM Yokohama, and ZIP FM.
Today, Yuko has over 30 years of experience in audio news and story production. In 2017, she received a Walter Cronkite School of Journalism Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability. Her work has aired on All Things Considered and National Native News, and she was the Senior Producer of Listen Up! Northwest, a syndicated weekly program highlighting the work of community radio stations throughout the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. She also taught broadcast audio production at Bellevue College for five years, and frequently mentors and trains students and volunteers in audio story production.
Yuko loves that radio is a medium that encourages the listener to use their imagination to participate in stories and art. She also likes that listening to people’s personal experiences can inform and connect listeners to the humanity in others.
Iaan Hughes
One of the first things I remember really wanting when I was a boy, other than a pocket knife, was a radio/tape player. I also wanted Survivor’s album “Eye of the Tiger”. For my 8th birthday I received both.
Well, some things change and some stay the same.
I still love putting my ear up against a radio.
Music Director and weekday afternoon host, as well as a host of Walkin The Floor.
Gregory D’Elia
I’ve been volunteering for not for profit college community radio since I was 15 years old. Starting in high school at our small radio station, KSFH 90.5FM basically transmitting to the parking lot and some houses within 3 blocks of the campus. This low powered station was a pet project by professors and the sports department for broadcasting game info. One of the professors opened the door for interested students to learn programming and create music programs instead of just sports stuff. I co-hosted a 2 hour show with 3 other friends. First song I ever played over the airwaves: The Who “Magic Bus.” Lots of fun and it peaked my interest to listen to other stations in my area.
In summer of 1990 I heard a call out for DJs for the Underground Sound: KSCU in Santa Clara on the Santa Clara University Campus. I signed up and started learning audio production, radio broadcasting and the overwhelming diversity of music. At that time I spent a focus programming shows featuring local, alternative, indie, punk rock and jazz.
In 1992, I transferred to UCDavis in Yolo County, CA. Took a real bite out of music and audio production at KDVS. A saving grace from the stress of college, career, and the future, radio became my other life. I would often spend 6 – 8 hours programming music for late night hours and still coming in during the day for my regular show and my college courses! I won’t forget those times. I often fondly remember those fantastic experiences with amazing music aficionados, friends, musicians and artists.
After 7 years in community and college radio I took a brief sabbatical to pursue experimentation with video art, installation work and video editing. Moving up to Seattle in 1996, I was involved in many video art performances and projects, but I still was longing again for the music sharing outlet and freedoms of community public radio. A friend knew my past radio programming experience and how I felt. He suggested looking into KBCS 91.3FM. What a wonderful find of music enthusiasts, journalists, activists, and supporters of community radio. I have been at KBCS since 2000 playing music for our Northwest and global listening community, producing specific show content, conducting interviews and assisting with KBCS live events and studio recordings.
I am grateful for all the music, artists, musicians, and song creators who have changed my life forever. I am indebted to all the people I have met (and will meet) who I have learned from, been inspired by and who create amazing moments in life through music. Community radio is pivotal to my life and I hope to yours. Thank you.
Greg hosts Variations, Fridays at 11pm.
