by Lorie Lewis Ham
Despite all of the terrible things happening in the world right now, there are a lot of amazing things happening online. Performers of all sorts are going online to provide concerts, classes, readings, and many other wonderful things-both locally and worldwide. Local musician/actor Nate Butler is involved in something local that not only provides entertainment for the rest of us, but helps out local musicians who aren’t able to go out and play their normal gigs. I chatted with Nate recently about this.
KRL: For anyone who doesn’t know you, please tell us just a little bit about yourself and what you do.
Nate: I’m a professional musician and sometime actor. I’ve lived in Fresno all my life, and performed in my first play at Fresno Children’s Playhouse at the age of ten. I’ve played in many Fresno bands over the past 40 years, but I currently make my living as a pianist in restaurants and bars.
Nate Butler in the studio
KRL: I understand that you host a radio show; can you tell us more about that and how long you have been doing it?
Nate: I host KFSR’s Local Show (90.7FM and streaming online at kfsr.org.) The station is licensed to California State University, Fresno and broadcasts from the Fresno State campus. The show has been around for many years, but I’ve been the host for a little over two years, starting on New Year’s Eve 2017. KFSR’s Local Show features music made by artists from the Fresno area and the surrounding San Joaquin Valley. It airs every Sunday night from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. Pacific Time, and can be heard on air at 90.7 FM, or can be heard online via the station stream on KFSR’s website at www.kfsr.org, (includes free listening apps for your phone.) Also, you can hear archived podcasts of past episodes of KFSR’s Local Show on the station’s website at: kfsr.org/music/specialty-music-shows/the-local-show (That’s over 100 hours of music made by local artists!)
KRL: During this time of shutdown/quarantine, I know you are doing something special for local musicians what exactly is that?
Nate: KFSR’s Local Show has a couple of projects related to the ‘quarantine’ including a special edition of the Local Show program on Sunday, March 29 and an online campaign that connects the local music community. On KFSR’s Local Show Facebook page (@KFSRLocalShow), we’re hosting a forum for local musicians and the community. We’ve invited local musicians to submit content related to the ‘quarantine’ (current video/audio recordings of themselves performing at home during the ‘quarantine’) that we are sharing online. Local artists are also encouraged to send in photos, links to live-stream home concerts, and other info that they would like to share with our online audience. The goal is to support local musicians and to provide a sense of community during this ‘quarantine’ period. (Information on where artists can send their media is below; please don’t try to send it to our Facebook page.)
KRL: What is the reason you wanted to do this?
Nate: KFSR and the Local Show recognize the unique challenges local musicians have when live performance venues are closed. Our first thought was to support that community by sharing info that would help them in their alternative efforts to support themselves. We also realized that we could provide fans of local music with a way to stay connected and engaged with the music and the artists. So this is a way to keep our local musicians in touch with their audience, and everyone in touch with one another. We also hope that KFSR’s Local Show listeners and social media followers will discover artists that they may not have been previously familiar with.
KRL: How can people watch these videos, where, and when do they go up?
Nate: The videos (and other related content) is available on the KFSR Local Show Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/KFSRLocalShow (@KFSRLocalShow)
At last count there are more than 50 posts related to this project, including links to live-streamed home concerts that can still be viewed days after the original performance!
KRL: If someone is a local musician, how can they be a part of this?
Nate: Local musicians who would like to submit content should send it via email at:
nbutlerdidit@aol[dot]com If the files are too big to send as an email attachment, you can use that email to send it via a file-sharing app like WeTransfer or Dropbox. Or, you could post your video to YouTube and send the YouTube link via email. Remember that we’re accepting audio-only tracks recorded at home during this time, to be included in the KFSR’s Local Show program which airs every Sunday night!
KRL: Anything you would like to add?
Nate: Here is the social media post related to this effort:
LOCAL MUSICIANS:
KFSR’s The Local Show Fresno wants to support you, and wants to share your art with listeners.
Please share with us (via nbutlerdidit@aol[dot]com) your songs and/or words of encouragement (audio/video) about the current fight against COVID-19. Let us share information about any of your live stream opportunities, links to available no-charge music downloads, photos of you “sheltering at home”, or even online services opportunities (virtual instruction, etc.) Let’s stay connected. We’re in this together.
~ KFSR/Local Show
If you love local entertainment, be sure to check out Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast, which features mysteries read by local actors–many of whom were mentioned in this article. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Play, and also on Podbean. A new episode went up this week!
Check out other local entertainment articles in our Arts & Entertainment section.
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