There won’t be any plankton or tentacles but community radio station KSQD 90.7 is cooking up a colossal event for Squid Fest West: an all-day musical lineup with six bands, a music memorabilia auction, tasty bites, drinks and more, all in the name of everyone’s favorite mollusk. If you were looking for a calamari feed, well, you’re in the wrong place.
Squid Fest West is KSQD’s sixth birthday concert, taking place March 15, 1–6pm, at the Resource Center for Non-Violence and featuring live music by Painted Mandolin Trio, Sharon Allen & Dusty Boots, Samba Ngo and Manjou Koné, Dan & Laurel, Lucas Lawson and Ginny Mitchell.
KSQD is a community station, independently run by a nonprofit. “It is a fundraiser for our listener-supported, nonprofit community FM broadcaster and streamer,” station manager Dan Bean shares via email.
The station went on the air at 90.7 in 2019, “right before the pandemic,” says KSQD board chair Rachel Goodman, providing music and helping people find emergency information and resources. “We came in as a result of people wanting a local station. We are hyper-local. We reach the whole Monterey Bay.”
In addition to the initial 90.7 frequency, KSQD has added 89.5 and 89.7, reaching a potential audience of 600,000. “There are no commercials; that’s the best part. We are all listener funded,” Goodman says. KSQD is owned by the nonprofit Natural Bridges Media, formed specifically to run the station.
While KSQD always held a birthday party, this year promises to be the biggest yet. “Everything goes to support the station,” which costs about $2,900 a month in tower rent alone. “The money from this event will almost cover a year’s rent if we’re lucky,” Goodman says.
The silent auction includes vacation getaways, music memorabilia, local art and other treasures.
The auction has garnered approximately $22,000 in prizes up for grabs, including a five-night cabin stay in Yosemite, a night at the River Inn in Big Sur, Snazzy Productions concerts, Warriors tickets and concert posters donated by Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. There will be handcrafted jewelry and art, MJA Vineyards wine and more. “We hope people come and bid generously,” Goodman said. “For collectors, it’s going to be a goldmine,” Goodman says.
Keep an eye out for autographed items—photos of musicians, a John Mayall CD, a Maria Muldaur CD—and wrapped vinyl records from Queen (not signed) and Coldplay (signed) donated by Hollywood Records Label.
Commenting on the entertainment lineup, Goodman says, “They’re really different, beautiful kinds of music.” The headliner is Sharon Allen and the Dusty Boots, a six-piece full country lineup with pedal steel player and guitar. Samba N’go performs music from the Congo, and three Painted Mandolin band members—Matt Hartle, Dan Robins and Larry Graff—play a cross of Grateful Dead and bluegrass to bring out the “rainbow crowd.” Homegrown talent Lucas Lawson is a young mandolin and fiddle player from the Bay Area; Ginny Mitchell and Steve Palozzo draw from a large repertoire of bluegrass, blues and country duets; and roots/folk duo Laurel Thomsen and Dan Frechette perform “acoustic Americana” on guitar and violin.
Of course there will be birthday cake with decorative squid on it—ornamental only, not a real cuttlefish. “That would be cannibalism,” Goodman quips. “Vegetarians or vegans are welcome.”
Goodman is host of Talk of the Bay and a producer of radio documentaries. When asked how she became involved in this extravaganza, Goodman says she has been on board since the station founding in 2019. “There are like six of us that have been here from the beginning, pushing to get the license and all that legal stuff,” she says. “I never started out to be a concert producer.” Goodman also teaches journalism at UC Santa Cruz.
It takes about 50 volunteers to pull off this event while operating a 24-7 radio station. All beer is provided by Steel Bonnet Brewery, wine from MJA vineyards, and there will be nonalcoholic beverages too. Sliders, veggie wraps and soups will be courtesy of Sawmill Restaurant in Boulder Creek.
Listen to KSQD on broadcast station 90.7 or download the app for free. Tickets to Squid Fest West start at $28.52. Visit KSQD.org for more information.
