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Meet Chris “K” Kresge of Rocky Mountain Music Network in Dacono

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris “K” Kresge.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Chris. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
How did I get started. Originally, it was my parents – my father was a musician/actor. While living in Anchorage, Alaska (1958-1965) we were involved in little theater, and my father owned a jazz club. I was on stage by age six. That, more or less, became my lifetime involvement with music, theater and ultimately radio. Instead of attending college to major in theater, I joined the USAF where I started dj’ing professionally. I moved to Denver in 1976, where I attended the Ron Bailey School of Broadcast. I began my Northern Colorado radio career at KFKA/KFKZ Greeley in August 1978. I started at TOP 40 99.1 FM KUAD in 1979. I also worked at dance clubs as a dj and as a solo musician.

The 1980s – I wondered from Greeley to Los Angeles to Connecticut and back to Colorado. I restarted my local radio career at 99.1 KUAD and became the assistant program direct/music director and afternoon drive personality at 96.1 K-SKY. I also took a student-work study job at KCSU. In 1990, I became the afternoon drive personality at TOP 40 107.9 KIMN in Fort Collins.

The 1990s – After a stint at 107.9, I co-founded the band that would become “Alien Cowboy,” and formed a direct sales and marketing business with my wife at the time. The business closed in 1998, and in 1999 the band went on tour in England/Scotland.

The 2000s – After returning from England, I left my band, launched a music venue in Fort Collins and a new music project that would become “GOATZ!” I also reengaged with friends at KRFC Fort Collins. In 2006, I launched The “Colorado Sound – Expressly and Explicitly Colorado from the 60s to today.” In 2016, I sold the name “The Colorado Sound” to KJAC and rebranded as Chris K’s Colorado Playlist. The show is now broadcast across over 20 FM and LPFM frequencies in Colorado. I am also the Saturday morning on air host at KJAC, 105.5 The Colorado Sound.

During the early years of the new century, I became engaged with the CHUN People’s Fair as their main stage emcee, stage manager, and as a member of their steering committee, and as a member of Bohemian Nights at New West Fest in Fort Collins as emcee and talent advisor. In 2012, I also helped to launch the annual Carbon Valley Music & Spirits Festival in Dacono. I also book and manage the entertainment for Well-O-Rama in Wellington, Colorado.

GOATZ! officially formed in 2003 with me and my late wife Pattie. Miss Pattie passed away on Feb. 2, 2016. The band continued to perform until Oct 2019 and released a debut ep in March 2019.

In 2017, following the floods in TX and LA, the pain of the flooding in Lyons a few years earlier prompted me to launch Rocky Mountain Music Relief, a CO 501C3 non-profit dedicated to helping those working in local music scenes in times of natural disaster. COVID invigorated our efforts and we were able to raise several thousand dollars to help feed those in need.

Today, like most of us in our industry, I am just trying to survive these times. I am a promoter, teacher, consultant, on-air radio personality, musician… whatever it takes to maintain an income in an industry I’ve been engaged with for the past 50+ years of my life.

Has it been a smooth road?
ROFL. OMG. Anyone who’s ever been involved in music or the arts in general knows it is not a smooth pass to longevity or anything measuring success. So, no, it has not been a smooth ride.

Some of the struggles in no particular order = alcohol, drugs, homelessness, multiple marriages, bankruptcies, and having to do things I’m not proud of in order to simply survive. I was exceptionally fortunate to have a wonderful life partner from 1999-2016, who helped me survive and grow professionally and personally.

Can you give our readers some background on your music?
Rocky Mountain Music Network is a sole-proprietor multi-faceted entertainment/music business specifically working within Colorado.

Producer/host: The Colorado Playlist “Expressly & Explicitly Colorado from the 60s to Today”
Consult/coach Colorado musicians.
“Promote” CO music to CO radio and municipal organizations.
Book/manage regional music events.
Perform in and manage the band GOATZ!

I’m most well known for the Colorado Playlist, and as the main stage emcee at Bohemian Nights at New West Fest in Fort Collins.

I’m most proud of the Colorado Playlist. Celebrating 42 years (off and on) in radio in Northern Colorado, it is the singular accomplishment of my lifelong love of radio. It is also the 2nd most syndicated independent radio program in CO, behind E-Town with Nick & Helen Forster.

There are no other companies to my knowledge that do what I do.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
“Denver” has proven to be a good incubator for music-related businesses. I take a broad view of what “Denver” means. It is the hub from which all of us in the Colorado music-based industries work from and into, regardless of where we live or where our businesses are based out of.

For those seeking to break into broadcasting, there are opportunities in our region at the commercial and non-commercial level. Those seeking to break into the non-performance aspects of the music industry have ample opportunities working for production companies and venues in various capacities. UCD provides an excellent educational opportunity to launch into the industry, and new programs being established at CSU in Fort Collins advance those opportunities.

The main drawback is the cost of living. If you’re young and can manage living with others on the “cheap,” it can be done, but not easily. Another main drawback is the lack of sufficient national-level music industry infrastructure. Many of those working in the entertainment industries in CO work in our restaurant and service industries, where there is ample opportunity.

I don’t know what the city itself can to do improve the cost of living problem. Wages in the restaurant, retail and service industries can be improved. What I can say, personally and professionally, is that our individual ability to make a living depends less on what a city like Denver can do for us, and more on our own initiative and efforts to build our own businesses, COVID currently notwithstanding.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Image 2 and 4 Bobby Deal.

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