As co-hosts of Girls, featuring music made by women, Alex Cox, 25, and Katie Osborne, 26, spend every Thursday night in the KABF studio, a place with slick equipment and inefficient air conditioning.
"We always try to have a girl from the local community who makes music or art," Osborne says. They've been joined in the studio by a rapper, a burlesque dancer and vegan chefs, among others.
Girls is part of a programming revamp that assistant station manager Bryan Frazier spearheaded in 2013, which included the return of local music show Shoog Radio; Tuesday night's psychedelic rock The Mystic Crambo Jones Show; Frazier's college-rock morning show, Nevermind; and Big Gay Radio Show, with music, guests and talk.
Cox, who originally produced Girls alone, says the show was inspired by "the resurgence of girls in the media, Girls on HBO, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, all these things that say it's OK to be loud and proud ... and just to give girls in the community something like kinship."
Sometimes Osborne tells "dad jokes," literally jokes that come from her dad. The on-air banter is by turns awkward, endearing and comical. Cox, a barista by day, speaks impulsively and giggles frequently, while Osborne, a fourth-grade teacher, backs Cox up and levels her out.
Girls doesn't get bogged down or political. Like many KABF shows, its charm is in its immediacy. Cox and Osborne are real people whom listeners are likely to run into at the local female-led events they promote.
Other KABF shows include Rural War Room, Backroads Blues, Bharati Sangeet (Indian music from Bollywood to classical sitar), La Banda, Check It Out Y'all (local hip-hop and rock), Salsa From A-Z, Radio Roundup (classic country), Tomorrow's Dream (metal) and the indie dance party of Rhythm Room.
A complete program schedule is available at kabf.org.
-- Cheree Franco
Style on 08/24/2014