Radio Free Kaslo — with host RG Morse

The Tattooed Poets Department

A six song EP by RG Morse, recorded at Octavo Productions, Edmonton, Alberta, produced by Tomas Brabec. It's Up to You (3:54) If George Harrison had written a song inspired by a plant medicine and a yoga class, this would be it. Janet (full mix, 3:47) Everyone should (a) write, and (b) receive a love song. This is (a) — I'm still waiting for (b). Africa Bound (4:32) Inspired by an expedition from South Africa to Tanzania with my buddy, Professor Hassan Kaya. An adventure that included a b...

RADIO FREE KASLO, April 19, 2024

The much anticipated new Taylor Swift album, The Tortured Poets Department,  drops today. So does RG Morse's new EP, coincidentally titled, The Tattooed Poets Department, recorded at Edmonton's Octavo Productions, produced by Tomas Brabec. Today's RADIO FREE KASLO features tracks from that EP, including: It's Up to You (3:54) If George Harrison had written a song inspired by a plant medicine and a yoga class, this would be it. Janet (full mix, 3:47) Everyone should (a) write, and (b) re...

RADIO FREE KASLO, April 12, 2024

Scott Galloway is one articulate dude. He's also a a successful entrepreneur, a professor of marketing at New York University's Stern School of Business, host of the Prof G podcast, co-host, with Kara Swisher of the Pivot podcast, and author of the forthcoming book, The Algebra of Wealth. Galloway sat down recently with CBC Radio's Matt Galloway (no relation), host of The Current, to discuss his views on masculinity, the root causes of today's enormous wealth gap, the need to break up 21st...

RADIO FREE KASLO, April 5, 2024

Why do Canadians seem to care so much about "place"? They write about it. They sing about it. And it matters when it comes to choosing a place to live. So what does it take for young, city-dwelling Canadians to contemplate a move to a small rural town — like Kaslo, BC, pop. 1,000?

RADIO FREE KASLO, March 29, 2024

Easter is almost upon us. Then it's April — which is, of course, as any civilized person knows, National Poetry Month! To celebrate, an evening with five outstanding poets is being held on Saturday, April 13, at the Silverton Memorial Hall, at 8 PM  — nothing in this life is free, with the exception, apparently of poetry — there is NO CHARGE for this fascinating gig! On this episode, poetry by three of the poets who will be in attandance in Sliverton on April 13 — Slocan Valley authors a...

RADIO FREE KASLO, March 22, 2024

Spring, that happiest, most hopeful of seasons is upon us. This week the UN marked the International Day of Happiness, which set the stage for the release of this year's World Happiness Report. The World Happiness Report is a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR’s Editorial Board. It's become an annual marker, letting us know who's happy and who's sad around the world. In 2012, the first year of the Re...

RADIO FREE KASLO, March 15, 2024

Electronic music — what is it, and why is it cool? Host RG Morse chats with producer/performer Sami S. — thisissami — on this episode of Radio Free Kaslo!

RADIO FREE KASLO, March 8, 2024

On today's show, audio excerpts from novel-in-progress, Dodge. Swedish developer, Lars Lindvall, proposes to build a new ski resort in the Selkirk Mountains, west of Kaslo, BC. While a number of locals are enthusiastically supportive of the resort, many are not. In the first two of three segments of this podcast, we're introduced to Jemima Kiss and her partner, Achilles Bergstein, the leader of the proposed resort's opposition. He and Jemima live on Icefall Creek — it, and the surrounding ...

RADIO FREE KASLO, February 23, 2024

The surf is UP! Today's show features a conversation with the fascinating Mahalia... the Mermaid! Park your cynicism and treat yourself to just under 30 minutes of uplifting listening!

RADIO FREE KASLO, FEBRUARY 16, 2024

On today's show, a veritable smörgãsbord of content, including Facebook & Putin, Kaslo's Winter in the Forest festival (Monday Feb. 19, 10AM to 3PM at the Kaslo Aerodrome), and today's Kaslo Community Acupuncture Clinic (St. Andrews Heritage Hall, from 1PM to 5PM). Plus music by Bill Withers, Sister Sledge, and the Beatles. Enjoy!

Radio Free Kaslo, February 9, 2024

An involuntary shut-in due to foot surgery, host Randy Morse riffs around his kitchen table on subjects that include this year's Grammys, Valentine's Day, North Kootenay Lake as the personal transformational capital of North America, and cats up a tree. Featuring tunes by Grammy Award winners Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, and Taylor Swift, Chet Baker, Serge Gainsburgh & Jane Birkin, and Morse.

Radio Free Kaslo, February 2, 2024

Some people just have excellent taste. Take, for example, Jill Holland, who splits her living and working time between Kaslo, British Columbia,  unarguably one of the loveliest mountain villages in North America, and Florence, Italy, spectacular birthplace of the Renaissance — possibly the world's most beautiful city On today's Radio Free Kaslo, host Randy Morse reaches out to Jill for a conversation centred on what life is like in the city of Dante, Michelangelo, and the Medicis. 

RADIO FREE KASLO, JANUARY 26, 2024

John Gottberg Anderson is a widely published American travel journalist and educator. A former news editor for The Los Angeles Times and a senior editor for the Michelin Guides, he has written or co-authored 23 books, and hundreds of feature articles for magazines and newspapers around the world. Anderson studied journalism at the University of Oregon and did graduate work in Asian culture and history in Seattle and Honolulu. He is perhaps best known for his work in Asia, beginning in the 1...

Radio Free Kaslo, January 19, 2024

As most of you are no doubt aware, Saturday, January 20, 2024 is... National Cheese Lovers Day! This is a big deal in places like Wisconsin and Emilia-Romagna — and Kaslo, BC! On today's show, I wander down to two of our tiny (pop. 1,000) village's sources of excellent cheese — Eric's  Meat Market & Delicatessen, and Cornucopia Foods — and learn about their outstanding offerings. Toss in some appropriately cheesy tunes, and you have the makings of a heart-warming winter's mac & cheese of ...

RADIO FREE KASLO, January 5, 2024

It's impossible not to be aware, at some level, that virtually all the news we consume is... bad. It's as if there are no positive stories out there to report. Well, it turns out there is plenty of positive news out there — and I'm not talking about the "dog on surfboard" videos on Tiktok and Facebook — it's just not being reported. Today's RADIO FREE KASLO sets out to do something about that. Today's show highlights good news, on subjects ranging from advances in women's rights to the era...

Radio Free Kaslo, DECEMBER 22, 2023

Today's Radio Free Kaslo celebrates Solstice, with a look at traditional midwinter celebrations from around the world, along with readings by host Randy Morse of O. Henry's Gift of the Magi, and Winter, by Khalil Gibran. Music today by Annie Lennox, The Hound & the Fox, and Loreena McKennitt. Enjoy — and happy holidays!

Radio Free Kaslo, December 15, 2023

Travelling by car over the holidays? Tired of the same old schlocky Christmas tunes blasting through your speakers? Then crank up the volume on this tuneful holiday episode of RADIO FREE KASLO!

Radio Free Kaslo, December 8, 2023

December 2nd marked the official start of the holiday season in the tiny, isolated mountain village of Kaslo. It also happened to be the day we received our first, perfectly timed heavy snowfall of Winter '23—'24. The day began with the annual Christmas Craft Fair at the Kaslo Legion. Vendors and shoppers were joined by members of Kaslo's Kuimba Choir who, accompanied by conductor Tamara Sunsong, performed a handful of seasonal gems.  The day ended with a delightful Light Up Parade down F...

Radio Free Kaslo, December 1, 2023

Times are tough for many residents of BC — this is particularly true of folks who live outside the province's major urban areas.  According to Food Banks BC, 32 percent more rural British Columbians are using food banks this year when compared with 2022.  On today's Radio Free Kaslo, host Randy Morse visits the Kaslo Food Security Hub, where Food Security Coordinator Patrick Steiner and Food Hub Manager Erin Carr explain the organization's impressive operations.

RADIO FREE KASLO, NOVEMBER 24, 2023

Today's show is a tribute to (American) Thanksgiving, the Fighting Ducks, and all things Oregonian!

RADIO FREE KASLO, November 10, 2023

Kaslo and the North Kootenay Lake region generally is blessed with an amazing array of talent. Turns out remoteness can be a creative virtue! Here is a bunch of musical evidence to prove the case.

RADIO FREE KASLO, November 17, 2023

In case you don't follow the Canadian pop music charts, here's a taste of who was (and/or is) hot this autumn in the True North Strong & Free.

Radio Free Kaslo, October 13, 2023

At a time when barbarians are clearly at the gate, it is more important than ever to ensure they never take from us that which we hold most dear — our beloved friends and family, and all those myriad, simple things that when combined make life worth living. Like a bracing October breeze rippling the surface of a mountain lake, yellow larches jostling for attention among the green fir and pine on peaks whose snowlines are slowly creeping downward. Or the unmistakable seasonal smells of wet, ...

Radio Free Kaslo, September 22, 2023

On today's show, Leni Neumeier and Elise Arnaudin discuss the rousing success of the Kaslo Community Acupuncture Society, its goals and challenges as it seeks to continue to provide outstanding complementary healthcare services for residents of Kaslo and the surrounding area.

Radio Free Kaslo, September 15, 2023

This week's RADIO FREE KASLO features a conversation with Rossland, BC-based Australian singer/songwriter, Peter Reed. Familiar to festival and club fans for his work with the band, Dirt Floor, Reed's music draws inspiration from the likes of master musical storytellers Guy Clark, Townes van Zandt, and Paul Kelly. His songs feature tales of everyday life, love, longing — and laughter — delivered through a roots/folk lens. Reed discusses his music — and performs a few tunes with a borrowe...

RADIO FREE KASLO, SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

Join host Randy Morse on an ascent of Mt. Loki, a striking, 9,200' high peak in British Columbia's Purcell Range. Dominating the eastern skyline of north Kootenay Lake, Loki's beautiful steeply pyramidal shape, it's prominence, and its relative proximity to Morse's hometown of Kaslo, make it a must-climb for locals, lungs and legs allowing!

Radio Free Kaslo, March 31, 2023

It's Springtime at Radio Free Kaslo. Invite the robins to join you & enjoy this musical tribute to all things spring!

Radio Free Kaslo, March 24, 2023

If ever there was a stark reminder that short term gain can lead to long term pain, then surely the fact that less than three percent of British Columbia's old growth forests remain intact, is it. Physician and conservationist Dr. Dan O'Connell joins host Randy Morse in a conversation on the fate of BC's few remaining great trees — how we've allowed the wholesale devastation of this irreplaceable planetary resource to happen, the complex interrelationship between successive governments and ...

RADIO FREE KASLO, MARCH 17, 2023

On this week's RADIO FREE KASLO, host RG Morse welcomes Dustin Murray East into the studio for a conversation that ranges from Murray's Sun Temple Sanctuary, nestled on a mountainside west of Kaslo, to Double Radiance, an upcoming  conscious breathwork + ecstatic dance workshop. Always optimistic, exuding kindness, Dustin East — aka "Captain Moonbeam" — is downright inspirational. If you'd like to feel better about yourself, or the world, generally, this is a podcast you'll want to be sure t...

Radio Free Kaslo, March 3, 2023

In a RADIO FREE KASLO first, guest host Harel Challmie mans the mic and interviews RFK's RG Morse. The subject? The upcoming pilot filming of a new satirical late-night TV talk show,  Waterproof Tonight! Discover the whys and whats behind this, the first-ever TV show produced smack dab in the middle of Alpine Nirvana!

Radio Free Kaslo, February 24, 2023

Pizza.  If there is a global food, pizza is it. Here in the isolated West Kootenay we're blessed with some of the finest pies in the land, crowned by Nelson's Thors Pizza, and Kaslo's Buddy's Pizza. Radio Free Kaslo host RG Morse pulled on his parka (a must when trudging through temps approaching -20) and headed down through the late-February darkness to the warmth and hospitality that awaits customers at Buddy's.  Once he'd plunked down at a table and ordered a nice glass of red, he proce...

Radio Free Kaslo, February 10, 2023

When it comes to communications, truly small, isolated towns like Kaslo would appear to be have-nots, on the face of it. Independent daily newspapers are almost unheard of.  There are no TV stations,  and when it comes to radio, save for the occasional tiny public broadcaster, what's available originates somewhere else. Ah, but small towns have a communications ace up their sleeves — locally owned, charming, friendly, coffee shops. Places where locals can — and do — gather to catch up on e...

Radio Free Kaslo, January 20, 2023

Today is, of course, National Friends of Cheese Day. To mark this auspicious occasion, RADIO FREE KASLO host, RG Morse, marched down to Kaslo's (population 1,000) bustling Front Street, and checked in with the proprietors of two fine local establishments — Eric's Meat Market and Cornucopia Health Foods — both of them offering cheesy specials in honour of this day of the Big Cheese. Enjoy!

Radio Free Kaslo, January 13, 2022

First there was Radio Free Kaslo....  .... Next? WATERPROOF TONIGHT, a televised, satirical late-night talk show, shot in the historic Langham Theatre in the tiny mountain village of Kaslo, British Columbia, population 1,000. The brainchild of RFK host Randy Morse, WT is explained in this podcast — and YOU are invited to help make the new show rock! Send Morse you suggestions for WATERPROOF TONIGHT guests, musical or otherwise! You can find him on Facebook and Instagram. Or email him, at:...

Radio Free Kaslo, January 6, 2023

The long-running Kootenay Co-op Radio show's first 2023 episode!

Family Podcast

A look back at the early days of the Morse & Williamson clans. Featuring Charlotte Morse, Sue Williamson, Merle Williamson, and Randy Morse. Recorded live at the Williamson home in Portland, Oregon.

Radio Free Kaslo, December 30, 2022

On today's RADIO FREE KASLO, a conversation with outstanding musician and music educator Jay Danley.  Jay brings a large dollop of Afro-Cuban and jazz heat to the music scene here in Alpine Nirvana — Toronto's loss is most definitely Kaslo's gain!

Radio Free Kaslo, December 16, 2022

This part of the physical world is dominated by two features: mountains (lots of them), and a deep, 100 km+ fjord-like body of water called Kootenay Lake. So perhaps it's not a total surprise that, in a region famous for its musicians, artists, thespians, authors, yogis, and healers, it turns out we are also home to... a mermaid. On today's RADIO FREE KASLO, host RG Morse chats with Mahalia, bliss conductor, founder of the Academy of Brain Bliss, and... mermaid. RFK — radio that goes deep!

Radio Free Kaslo, December 9, 2022

Winter has arrived in snowy Alpine Nirvana! And with it, Kaslo's Kuimba Choir's annual Christmas concert, at historic St. Andrews United Church. RADIO FREE KASLO host RG Morse sits down for a lively chat with Kuimba conductor Tamara Sunsong, and plays a few songs from the choir's holiday repertoire on today's episode. Enjoy!

Radio Free Kaslo, December 2, 2022

Music brings us together. We wander into the snowy woods of British Columbia on today's RADIO FREE KASLO, to  a cozy home where a few friends (and family) come together, chat, have some laughs, and play some tunes after a multi-year hiatus.  Thanks to Tina McLaren, Marilyn Roberts, Eric Moon, and Maggie Oliver for a fun gathering!

Radio Free Kaslo, November 25, 2022

On today's RADIO FREE KASLO, trumpet player, entrepreneur, and all-around nice guy Eric Boudreault joins host RG Morse in the studio for a lively conversation.

Radio Free Kaslo, November 18, 2022

On today's RADIO FREE KASLO, host RG Morse wanders downtown with his pal, Harel Chalmie, for a latte. That's it. That's the podcast. Enjoy!

Radio Free Kaslo, November 11, 2022

Kaslo, a tiny, isolated mountain village nestled along the shores of magnificent Kootenay Lake in British Columbia's rugged West Kootenay region, punches way above its weight class when it comes to music. The venerable Kaslo Jazz Festival, with its stunning setting and floating main stage, has been called one of the 10 best places to enjoy summer music in the world by both USA Today and Reuters.  The Kuimba Choir, the Langham music series, Kaslo Hotel and Angry Hen open mic nights, and band...

Radio Free Kaslo, October 28, 2022

Great music is great music, wherever it's found. On this episode of RADIO FREE KASLO, host RG Morse introduces listeners to some talented musicians who are making waves far from their home base, a remotely rugged corner of mountainous SE British Columbia. Truly music by — and for — the adventurous!

RADIO FREE KASLO, October 14, 2022

Kaslo attracts a wild assortment of fascinatingly colourful, creative characters. On today's show, host RG Morse sits down for a chat with wilderness guide, life coach, and world traveller, Steve McGrath.

DAWN LANG, candidate, School District 8 trustee

A conversation with Dawn Lang, candidate seeking re-election as a trustee for School District 8. Voting for SD 8 trustee occurs Saturday, October 15, at the following locations: Ainsworth Community Hall Argenta Community Hall Kaslo Legion Lardeau Community Hall

ROB LANG, Kaslo council candidate

A conversation with Rob Lang, candidate for Kaslo council in the 2022 election. Voting will be held Saturday, October 15, from 8 AM to 8 PM, at the Kaslo Legion.

South Eugene High School Class of 1967 Reunion

Radio Free Kaslo, September 16, 2022

On today's RADIO FREE KASLO, host RG Morse takes us back to 1967, as he hangs out with some former classmates celebrating the South Eugene (Oregon) High School Class of '67's 55th reunion. The people may be getting old, but the music from that year never does!

Radio Free Kaslo, Kaslo Jazz Fest Special, August 12, 2022

On this one-hour RADIO FREE KASLO SPECIAL, a look back at the 2022 Kaslo Jazz Etc. Festival — an event both Reuters News and USA Today agree is one of the 10 best outdoor summer music festivals on the planet! Host Randy Morse was an MC at this year's Festival, giving him a bird's eye view — and microphone access — to a wide array of outstanding musicians. The result? A very personal account of one of the world's best — and quirkiest — music festivals, Enjoy!