David K on KAMA

David K has been on Charlando con la Gringa lately and he is funny, for a white guy. Although he mostly likes to talk about politics, I like to talk about hot politicians, like Beto O’Rourke, who I admitted yesterday (on live radio) is very hot, for a white guy. (Speaking of hot politicans, City Representative Beto O’Rourke will be on Charlando this Friday with County Commissioner Veronica Escobar.)

David K is a frequent guest and I’ll blog more on him later, I’ve got to get to the studio.

Margie from the Eastside

When calls come into the radio show (880-5262), the board operator holds up a piece of paper with first name and side of town, from here I introduce the caller and welcome them into the conversation. Last Friday, Margie from the Eastside called and we invited her into our conversation, we being County Commissioner Veronica Escobar and myself. We had been talking about swimming as a work out option and Margie wanted Veronica to recommend the best swim cap. The fun part of the call was that Margie spoke only Spanish. Veronica answered her and Margie addressed me, saying how nice it was to have met me at the Best of El Paso Party in June with Theresa Fendi de la Cruz, how she listens to the show everyday and that Charlando con la Gringa is such a great show. I replied in my best basic Spanish “si,  gracias and muy amable” as I was scrambling to understand what she was saying. And then Margie hung as the show was over.

A radio show that appeals to a bilingual audience is one thing, a radio show that successfully attracts callers and listeners  (both men and women) to listen and participate in both English and Spanish is truly innovate in the El Paso market, but totally normal in places like Guadalajara, Mexico. See this recent response from a listener: “I had a girlfriend come back from Guadalajara recently and she told me about the radio scene there, this is a city like a mini L.A. the people are totally bilingual like here and they have all English rock with Mexican host and it works. She barely speaks Spanish so she gravitated to the English rock even though she could hardly understand the DJs. You could be the first person to start a bilingual station that is successful. There will be bumps in the road but it is all about your lineup and getting talent that is already familiar … you have a short window here to create something new that has never been successfully done at least not in this market.”

El Paso Media Group has introduced several innovative media projects over the last two years, and this project (Charlando con la Gringa) is yet another example of how we are successfully raising the bar in media in El Paso. If you haven’t listened yet, tune in weekdays from 4-6 p.m. on 750 AM. Help be a part of this new project by listening and calling, you too can hold up the bar up.

Mi Vida en Radio KAMA 750 AM

We are now into week 5 of Charlando con la Gringa, the bi-cultural, bi-lingual radio show that brings the voice of El Paso Media Group to Southern New Mexico, Northern Mexico and West Texas.

One of the best parts of the show is the chance to humanize guests (namely politicians) on live radio by asking them totally silly questions. And part of the show will definitely be dedicated to politicians as they are local celebrities in El Paso and they can be very funny. One such politician that is very very funny is County Commissioner Veronica Escobar (pictured here). Several Fridays ago, she imitated a screeching monkey (flailing arms and all) for the listeners, labeling the imitation the “full frontal monkey.” This screeching brought about a new series “Politicians imitating Animals” where I ask every politician that comes on the show to imitate an animal and then we’ll pick a winner. City Council Representative Susie Byrd was on the following week, she imitated a cow. Scheduled to appear in the next month are City Council Representatives Melina Castro and Emma Acosta and Senator Eliot Shapleigh. I wonder what animals they will imitate?

Check out Charlando con la Gringa weekdays from 4-6 p.m. on KAMA 750 AM, you can listen on the radio or stream it live from epmediagroup.com, just click on the KAMA link on the homepage. Call the show and join the in the conversation, 915.880.5262.

Summer Intership at Chinati Foundation

We recently published a photo essay by Luis Porras, a UTEP student and intern at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa Texas, on epmediagroup.com. The photos show the art mecca in the middle of nowhere that Marfa has grown to be, attracting tourists from all over the world. Marfa doesn’t get much play in El Paso media and we guess many El Pasoans have never even visited. The contemporary art exhibits feature some of the biggest names in art from Donald Judd to Dan Flavin.