Yass FM studio hosted two Good Morning Country hosts from the national Community Radio Network (CRN) on Tuesday and Wednesday November 7–8.
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Rod Thomas and Kevin Walsh broadcasted live from the Yass FM studio, speaking from Yass about Yass to the nation.
Each year, the hosts choose only two sites across the nation. In 2017, it was Yass and Port Pirie, SA.
The studio also hosted a meet and greet on November 6 at the Thunderbird Motel and a breakfast on Wednesday.
The men behind the microphones
Kevin Walsh was born in New Zealand and from a very early age started compering local Friday night and Sunday Youth Club Dances.
He toured as roadie/compere with Ian “Hewie” Hewitson and his Battle of the Bands winning group Cellophane who were based in Wellington.
Relocating to Auckland, Kev shared a house with Rob Guest (Phantom) and worked for his band The Inbetweens.
He did his first commercial radio in Auckland. In the early 70s the lure of Australia beckoned and one of his first jobs was on the Indian Pacific.
He produces and presents the very successful Album of the Week segment and also produces and presents a standalone weekly country program on the Community Radio Network under the banner of Spotlight.
He’s been involved with the Tamworth Country Music Festival as an announcer and judge for more than 20 years and the Gympie Muster as a compere and judge for over 15 years.
He is also currently involved in radio in Taree and the Forster district.
Rod Thomas has been a truckie, taxi driver, troubadour and trouble maker in a life full of surprises.
Born in Melbourne and brought up in Sydney, he couldn’t wait to get out of the place, so rode his motor bike to Perth – but that’s another story.
Whilst there he was an actor, singer, voice artist – anything to earn a quid.
He ended up with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, but the miracles of modern medicine cured that.
While recovering, he decided that he wanted to give return thanks to his community for saving his life, so volunteered at the local community radio station, where they played mainly jazz.
There he met the ”duchess of my heart, Deborah” and married her. And then community radio took him back to his musical roots in country music with “Good Morning Country”.
He travels to Mildura and Tamworth to broadcast those festivals, meet even more people at other community radio stations.
