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Katelyn is the operations director and concessions coordinator for Live Oak Music Festival. She first got involved with Live Oak and KCBX when she volunteered to assist the concessions team with coordinating vendors for Live Oak, both pre-fest and on site during the event. Katelyn moved to the Central Coast in 2018 and joined the Live Oak family as a way to get involved in the community and combine her passions for live music, event coordination, public radio, and journalism.

Kim Foster Carlson is an award-winning broadcast journalist with decades of experience in radio and television news. She came to KCBX as a substitute announcer in 2021 after many years at stations such as KCBS, KGO and KQED. Kim occasionally contributes interviews to Issues & Ideas When she's not traveling, visiting her grown kids or hanging out with her dogs, you will likely find her in a swimming pool. She was a six-time division I All-American swimmer at Florida State University and Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

You can reach Marty at martygale@kcbx.org.

Jim Dee, co-host of the world music program Global Spin, has broad tastes in music, and a deep curiosity and passion for the arts that developed from an early age. He studied journalism at Cal Poly, where he began DJing at KCPR in the mid-70's. While in school, he and a friend began to show films for fun, and then in 1979 Jim opened the Rainbow Theater, an art film house in downtown San Luis Obispo. After ten years he closed the Rainbow and opened the Palm Theater, which is the first completely solar-powered movie theater in the US. It's not surprising that Jim often runs music documentaries among the independent film offerings at the Palm, since his love for music permeates most of his life activities.

Ryan Orr is the host of Jukebox Revival, an Americana music show every Tuesday evening on KCBX from 6:30-8:00. Ryan has a rich and varied music background. He's currently the entertainment director at SLO Brew Rock, where he books all of the bands and performers, and coordinates events. He worked for many years at an artist management company, where he worked with high-profile performers, such as the Dave Matthews Band. Ryan has DJ'd many weddings and other events, so he feels quite comfortable in front of a microphone and audio console. He's a drummer and his favorite band is Phish.

Melanie Senn was born in Camden, New Jersey (the resting place of Walt Whitman), but was raised in California. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Latin American Literature from UCSB, and after living a couple years in Mexico, Argentina, and Chile, got her master’s degree in English. She had a 25-year teaching career, including 17 years at Cal Poly where she taught essay writing and argument. Now she dedicates her time to writing and audio storytelling, and hanging out with her with her two sons and their dad, musician Derek Senn.

Francisco Martinez joined KCBX in January 2021 as a substitute staff announcer, then became a regular midday host, occasional reporter, and host of Citizen Sound — the alternative music show each Sunday night at 11:00 on KCBX. Francisco left KCBX to move back to the Bay Area in January 2022.

Blair Gillespie's love of country music goes back to visiting his grandparents in downtown San Luis Obispo and throwing some Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and Oak Ridge Boys on the record player.

Betsey Nash is the former host of a wine segment on Issues & Ideas called "The Grape Nut." Betsey moved from Burbank to the central coast to attend Poly in January of 1969, only to be greeted by a horse tied to a tree in front of the English building. "Oh no, what have I done!": Her culture shock didn't end there: there were vacant lots between the houses! People drove on the beach! And, oh look at those gorgeous green hills! A tradition that she and her roommates embraced was started when their Morro Bay neighbors brought a couple dozen chocolate chip cookies and a jug of Pesenti Zinfandel Rose over to help them get through mid-terms and finals weeks. The place became home, and her exploration of the region's wines continued.