Saturday Morning Playhouse with Don Fischer Saturdays - 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Don Fischer, longtime host of 90.7 KFSR's Wednesday Night Evening Eclectic 6:00 to 9:00 PM slot is moving to a new time with a new show on Saturday mornings from 7:00 to 9:00 AM. "Saturday Morning Playhouse" realizes his long time dream to do a truly eclectic radio show that incorporates spoken word, comedy as well as music from all genres and eras presented in a format that attempts to link current events, historical references, notable anniversaries and general musical evolution in a manner that is enjoyable and entertaining for the listener. It will be the type of program that can only be uniquely offered on radio and more specifically on 90.7 KFSR. Musically the program will be based in roots and Americana music but will also highlight other musical styles as part of a full spectrum musical experience.
About Don Fischer
Don Fischer
has worked in radio on and off since 1972. His broadcast career began
at KOLI, Coalinga, and took him to San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles and
eventually to Fresno. In 1980, he teamed with former college radio
friend, Dean Opperman to launch the Breakfast Club at the newly
licensed KKDJ. That show ran for 14 years, and during most of the
1980’s was Fresno radio’s highest rated morning music and personality
show. During his career, Mr. Fischer was a successful program director
at both KZOZ in San Luis Obispo and KKDJ in Fresno. His appreciation
for country music occurred as a teenager in Buffalo, New York at a
regular babysitting gig for neighbors who had a comprehensive
collection of vintage country and western records. "They found out I
had worn out the grooves on their collection and they fired me but the
seeds were sown," he says. In 1975 he began the Lone Star Show
on campus station KCPR in San Luis Obispo, programming classic country
along with the outlaw and progressive sounds of the 1970’s. It quickly
became a huge success and lasted until late 1978 when he moved to an
on-air position at KNAC in Los Angeles.
The idea for the Fresno Barn Dance radio show, the a
half-hour devoted to western swing and progressive country western, was
born in 1982 at the Bar LE Western Swing Rancho, north of
Fowler, CA. Don and Steve, listening to old Bob Wills LP’s, decided to
develop a show that would the wave of growing interest in the music of
Asleep at the Wheel, The Original Texas Playboys, Cowboy Jazz, and
others. In the half-hour format, the show worked nicely, and first
appeared on KFSR at 5:30 on Saturday evenings. The show moved to
Saturday mornings, and later to KVPR, appearing just before "Prairie
Home Companion." During the 1990’s, Don and Steve were directors of the
Fresno Free College Foundation, owners’ and operators of KFCF 88.1 FM,
where their show, The Fresno Barn Dance, Western Swing Extravaganza,
aired. At the same time, they were producers and directors of the
"William Saroyan Radio Project," and "The San Benito Street Radio
Players," producing over a dozen William Saroyan plays for radio in ten
years. In 2002, Don and Steve returned to KFSR to host the new National
BIG Fresno Barn Dance, two hours of Old-time Country, Western
Swing, and Honky-Tonk music.
Today, both Barile and Fischer bring a vast knowledge of music to their show, drawing on many years of experience and familiarity with musical genres. Barile is well versed on the subject of western swing music, and has written extensively about its beginnings and history in Fresno. Fischer continues to immerse himself in honky tonk as well as early Rock-a-Billy and Rock and Roll music. He is a connoisseur of the Southern California country rock scene of the late sixties and seventies as well. Between the two of them, there is more radio experience than they’d like to count.
Don Fischer, longtime host of 90.7 KFSR's Wednesday Night Evening Eclectic 6:00 to 9:00 PM slot is moving to a new time with a new show on Saturday mornings from 7:00 to 9:00 AM. "Saturday Morning Playhouse" realizes his long time dream to do a truly eclectic radio show that incorporates spoken word, comedy as well as music from all genres and eras presented in a format that attempts to link current events, historical references, notable anniversaries and general musical evolution in a manner that is enjoyable and entertaining for the listener. It will be the type of program that can only be uniquely offered on radio and more specifically on 90.7 KFSR. Musically the program will be based in roots and Americana music but will also highlight other musical styles as part of a full spectrum musical experience.
Don Fischer
has worked in radio on and off since 1972. His broadcast career began
at KOLI, Coalinga, and took him to San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles and
eventually to Fresno. In 1980, he teamed with former college radio
friend, Dean Opperman to launch the Breakfast Club at the newly
licensed KKDJ. That show ran for 14 years, and during most of the
1980’s was Fresno radio’s highest rated morning music and personality
show. During his career, Mr. Fischer was a successful program director
at both KZOZ in San Luis Obispo and KKDJ in Fresno. His appreciation
for country music occurred as a teenager in Buffalo, New York at a
regular babysitting gig for neighbors who had a comprehensive
collection of vintage country and western records. "They found out I
had worn out the grooves on their collection and they fired me but the
seeds were sown," he says. In 1975 he began the Lone Star Show
on campus station KCPR in San Luis Obispo, programming classic country
along with the outlaw and progressive sounds of the 1970’s. It quickly
became a huge success and lasted until late 1978 when he moved to an
on-air position at KNAC in Los Angeles.
The idea for the Fresno Barn Dance radio show, the a
half-hour devoted to western swing and progressive country western, was
born in 1982 at the Bar LE Western Swing Rancho, north of
Fowler, CA. Don and Steve, listening to old Bob Wills LP’s, decided to
develop a show that would the wave of growing interest in the music of
Asleep at the Wheel, The Original Texas Playboys, Cowboy Jazz, and
others. In the half-hour format, the show worked nicely, and first
appeared on KFSR at 5:30 on Saturday evenings. The show moved to
Saturday mornings, and later to KVPR, appearing just before "Prairie
Home Companion." During the 1990’s, Don and Steve were directors of the
Fresno Free College Foundation, owners’ and operators of KFCF 88.1 FM,
where their show, The Fresno Barn Dance, Western Swing Extravaganza,
aired. At the same time, they were producers and directors of the
"William Saroyan Radio Project," and "The San Benito Street Radio
Players," producing over a dozen William Saroyan plays for radio in ten
years. In 2002, Don and Steve returned to KFSR to host the new National
BIG Fresno Barn Dance, two hours of Old-time Country, Western
Swing, and Honky-Tonk music.