THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1999

KLON host has"Nothin' but the Blues"

By Kerry Bromberg

On-Line Forty-Niner

The cool jazz that plays on KLON - FM fades away every Saturday and Sunday afternoon at 2, and is replaced by Snooks Eaglin's "Nothin' But The Blues." This signals the start of the program by the same name. For Gary Wagner, it's showtime.

Wagner, known to thousands of listeners as the "Wagman," has hosted this Southern California blues staple for six years and shows no sign of stopping.

"You wouldn't believe how this show has grown since we first started back in 1993," Wagner said. "Today, we have the largest blues audience on the West Coast. The crowds are almost as large as those back in Chicago."

Wagner spent some time in the Chicago area. While working at WJKL in Elgin, Ill., in 1979, the blues bug bit him when he had to cover an interview with Muddy Waters for another host.

"Muddy walked in, and that was all she wrote," Wagner said. "The music that he played just shook me."

In 1993 Ken Borgers, an old friend from the early days, asked Wagner to be a temporary host for a blues program on KLON. This June marks his seventh year at the station.

The programming on KLON has been jazz-based since it started broadcasting in 1958. But for Wagner and the other disc jockeys at the station, there is a connection between the two music styles.

KLON is a member-supported radio station. It receives little money from corporate sponsors and must generate most of its operating funds from the pledges that are collected during membership drives and special events.

"Nothin' But The Blues" is responsible for nearly 40 percent of KLON's membership revenue. Its pledge membership has grown steadily since it started and has carved out a larger time slot accordingly, going from eight to 10 hours total on weekend afternoons.

Wagner is pleased with the increase from four to five hours. "Some radio hosts like the four-hour format," Wagner said. "For me, I'm just hitting my stride. I feel that I've done my best work after five hours."

"Both jazz and blues represent the struggles and challenges that we have faced as a nation and a culture," he said. "It is an inherent part of who we are. It is a part of the American soul."