Faith the Music

Some people around these parts have told Bradley they too would like to hear Come Praise the Lord on Sundays. Dewberry’s station serves Valencia, El Dorado, and North Hills in San Antonio. “Online radio is where it’s at!,” relatives and friends keep telling her, and Bradley’s children insist that internet broadcasting and streaming are more popular than terrestrial radio. Bradley wasn’t sure she wanted to go digital. She likes old-school things.

Last fall, she was in negotiations for her show to air on an online station in Fort Worth. The deal fell through after one meeting due to a conflict in vision: The manager wanted all-local while Bradley wanted some wiggle room to include national artists. Bradley left feeling disheartened. Later, she realized the experience made her stronger and smarter.

“I thought, ‘Why can’t I do that?’ ” she said, relating her chutzpah to her favorite TV show, I Love Lucy. “Like Lucy [might say], ‘Ethel, why can’t we do a stream?’ ”

Bradley also began to consider the needs of bed-ridden and elderly listeners, like her father. After moving to independent living with his wife, Bradley’s father had developed pneumonia –– followed by prostate cancer. He struggled with ill health for nearly a year. During his convalescence, he had discussed Bradley’s career plans with her. She had even brought up the idea of starting an online radio stream. As her father’s illness progressed, it became harder for Bradley’s mother to bring him to church, even after they moved to a church closer to their facility.

Bradley realized an online stream might bring comfort to invalids.

“You get older people, then it’s not so easy to get them to church,” she said. “Or, if they do get to go to special productions, it’s quite a struggle for them to get out.”

She decided that if she went into online broadcasting, she would use old-school equipment. That way, it would keep the feeling retro while still keeping up with the times.

“I thought, ‘Well, the new way everybody’s doing this is through internet streaming,’ but I wanted it to be fun, old equipment,” she said.

Back in the studio, as Roberts and Bradley go to a break, a striped, ginger cat strolls past them, taking shelter between the rails of the nearby staircase. Benny Goodman is one of nine indoor and nine feral cats that Bradley tends to. Bradley has affectionately dubbed the cats “The Interns.”

Turns out these felines played a part in the inception of the radio station. One day, Bradley’s daughter Alyssa suggested the station name KATZ radio as an inside joke.

“I said, ‘That’s it! That’s got to be it!’ ” Bradley recalled.

So, on November 10, 2015, KATZ radio was born. To keep the spirit of church service alive throughout the stream, Bradley and Roberts include a sing-along segment each hour, in which listeners can join in either congregational hymns or songs from mainstream Christian artists, like The Gaither Vocal Band.

“I want [listeners] to feel like they’re there,” Bradley said.

Bradley’s latest goal is to have Come Praise the Lord picked up by a local station. However, there is an added problem: finances. On average, hosting her radio show and running KATZ radio cost Bradley and Randy $200 a month. That is without the added expense of maintaining equipment and hiring technicians for tune-ups. To air on a terrestrial station would be even pricier.

Local airtime can cost $500 a week or more.

“It was like, I can understand them not paying us, but even John and I are not big enough hams to put down that kind of money per week,’” she said.

That experience led her to further appreciate the free airtime Dewberry was giving her.

“We call his the flagship station, because it all started there,” she said.

The drive to air on local stations persists, and last October, Bradley’s daughter set up a crowd-funding page on Indiegogo.com. The goal was to raise $5,500 in two months, but the campaign fell short before closing on December 9 at $200.

Asking the public for money did not sit well with Bradley.

“It looks like I’ve got my hand out,” she said, worry written on her face.

After the fact, however, Bradley started to see more broadcasters reaching out for donations. On January 13, a new page was set up so donors can contribute to both Come Praise the Lord and KATZ radio. Bradley’s new target is $6,000. The campaign closes in March.

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For Bradley, Come Praise the Lord would be an important part of local radio because it stems from music that appeals to a different audience from most other stations. While older Christians and churchgoers are part of the show’s listenership, she believes the outreach does not end there.

“It’s not just older people,” she said. “You get people moving to town all the time that go, ‘OK, I need to find a new church.’ ”

With such a ministerial approach, it is perhaps surprising that Bradley does not like to describe herself as religious, preferring the word Christian instead. While the wording may seem similar, she said the difference is important.

“Religion is something you do,” she said, “whereas Christianity is the relationship with Jesus.”

With each recording session comes great attention to detail. Bradley and Roberts’ religious values are expressed in subtle ways, from re-taping discussion segments and adjusting their phrasing, to the order of text in the show’s title.

“I wanted John’s name first,” said Bradley, referring to the Come Praise the Lord promotional banner in her playroom-turned-recording studio. “Guests go first.”

Why such attention to detail? Because, Bradley and Roberts see Come Praise the Lord as their own form of evangelism. In fact, one of the things that attracted Roberts to the show was its potential to serve as a mission.

“I do feel like there’s a ministry there to maybe bring the music and bring the word to those who might not go to church on a regular basis,” he said.

Bradley said music from so many different churches gives the show a feeling of community.

“It’s this little travelogue of churches throughout the area,” she said.

Dewberry appreciates Bradley’s work ethic and, even more, her heart.

“We’re not a religious station here,” Dewberry said. “We’re a music station, but I thought it would be good for our neighborhood and our listeners to have some religious programming.”

Donna Lane, an avid listener in Fort Worth, enjoys Come Praise the Lord while doing jigsaw puzzles. Lane battles arthritis and has trouble leaving the house, but when she listens to Bradley and Roberts on her computer, everything feels better, she said.

“It’s nice, with all the stuff that’s going on in the world,” she said.  “I turn it on and listen to it, and it’s soothing to me and calms me down.”

Anyone outside of San Antonio can listen on Soundcloud, with new episodes uploaded following Sunday morning broadcasts. KATZ radio is available 24 hours a day at KATZradio.org.

As he introduced a recent episode, Roberts leaned into his microphone and announced they had a “special guest” in the studio. It was hard not to smile as they talked about how nervous they were, what with having a writer observing them. I wanted to remind them I am only 23 and hardly an intimidating figure.

Bradley saw my red face, and, with a wide smile, welcomed me to the show. For Bradley, everything is about making others feel welcome, both on-air and off. After all, she said it herself: “Guests go first.”