Iconic Radio Host David Gans Announces the 29th Annual KPFA Grateful Dead Marathon!

"The Dead have kept KPFA alive for many years."--Quincy McCoy, GM of 94.1 FM, KPFA

"I came up in the time when we thought music could change the world, and I still think it
can—the only way the world can be changed: one person, one soul at a time."--David Gans

Hosted by David Gans and Dead to the World co-host Tim Lynch, the marathon promises to continue its long-held tradition of featuring selections of unreleased music from the Grateful Dead archive, live
in-studio musical surprises and an auction of Grateful Dead memorabilia that will be announced shortly in an upcoming press release!

Berkeley's pioneering listener-supported radio station, KPFA, presents its annual Grateful Dead fund-raising marathon on Saturday, January 31, 2015 from 9:00 am to 1:00 am. Host David Gans and co-host Tim Lynch promise a bounty of unreleased music from the Grateful Dead archive, highlights of live performances that have happened on Dead to the World over the past years, and live in-studio musical surprises (musicians TBA) from the KPFA Performance Studio. Just imagine sixteen hours of non-stop musical fun!!

David Gans is celebrating 30 years in radio broadcasting! His first radio program was broadcast live February 18th, 1985 on The KFOG Deadhead Hour. For the past 30 years, David has produced radio programs that deliver insightful, intriguing and compelling interviews and musical selections that confirm him as a well-known expert in Grateful Dead history and culture. He has produced a nationally-syndicated radio program, The Grateful Dead Hour, since the mid-'80s, and he has been a programming consultant and on-air host on SiriusXM's Grateful Dead Channel since its inception in 2007. He has published three books on the subject and has produced several important boxed sets and compilations of Dead-related music. He has hosted a weekly program (known as Dead to the World since 1995) on KPFA since 1990.

Gans is a KPFA listener as well as a KPFA programmer. He has served on KPFA's Local Station Board for several years and is active in station governance. "I am as passionate about the importance of community radio as I am about the music I play in my two unsupervised hours of air time. I see this annual marathon as a gift of service to both the station and to the listening community, and I am deeply thankful to the Dead organization and the Garcia family for the opportunity to broadcast unreleased music from their archives."



In the weeks leading up to the 2015 marathon, as in 2014, Gans will auction desirable Grateful Dead memorabilia via the Facebook page of his weekly program Dead to the World ( https://www.facebook.com/dttw.kpfa ). The auction items will be announced shortly in an upcoming press release. The marathon will be simulcast on nugs.net and gdradio.net

KPFA Program Director Laura Prives has this to say about the marathon: "KPFA looks forward every year to the Grateful Dead Marathon. David Gans fills KPFA's airwaves with the Dead's iconic music and fills the station with enthusiastic volunteers; it creates good vibes all around."

KPFA is the nation's first listener-sponsored, non-commercial radio station, founded by the Pacifica Foundation in 1949. From the station's Facebook page:

"Founded in 1949 by Lewis Hill, a pacifist, poet, and journalist, KPFA was the first community supported radio station in the USA. KPFA broadcasts on 94.1 FM and KPFB 89.3 FM, Berkeley, and KFCF 88.1 FM, Fresno, California. Our signal reaches one third of the state, utilizing 59,000 watts.

"Much of our programming is local, original and eclectic, with a well-produced mix of news and in depth public affairs, an ongoing drama, literature and performance series, interviews, and reviews. Our music ranges from folk to hiphop, Bach to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. We travel the region to broadcast live music, demonstrations, and cultural events. The majority of our staff are unpaid community volunteers donating their time and energy to bring you our programming."

Learn more about the History of KPFA http://www.kpfa.org/history

Marathon will be simulcast on nugs.net and gdradio.net

To donate to KPFA (which you can do any time), visit https://secure.kpfa.org/support/

MEDIA CONTACT: Tanya Pinkerton 510-669-9832 or David Gans 510-469-3424 and david [at] gdhour.com