The latest episode of “What’s Happening Petaluma,” a new show airing Thursdays from 4:30 to 5 p.m. on KPCA 103.3 FM, Petaluma’s low-power, community-access radio station, opened with 45 seconds of music from Texas-based country artist Creed Fisher.

Fisher was set to play the Mystic Theatre the following evening, and co-host Michael Parrish, a proud Grateful Dead fan and acknowledged scholar of the legendary band, mistakenly identified Fisher’s opening act, Casey Johns, as “Casey Jones,” the name of a popular 1970 Dead number.

Parrish caught the error and corrected himself. “Got a little Grateful Dead going on there,” his cohost across the mixing board, Andy Eber, chimed in with a chuckle. 

“I can’t help it, I’m sorry,” Parrish said before recovering to rattle off the next set of listings: a canceled punk show, a film festival, another country show.

The pair’s new program offers a fast-paced, info-packed, often playful conversation centered on local events. Through it all, the hosts weave their years of music knowledge and community connections.

“Thanks for tuning in,” Eber continued. “For the next half-hour, Michael and I are going to help you plan your weekend in Petaluma. We’ve got the latest on concerts, art shows, theater dates, openings, and galleries.”

Parrish and Eber also host their own solo shows on KPCA, which streams worldwide at KPCA.fm, but came together to support the station’s broader goals in town.

“We'd been talking about how KPCA could be more of a voice of Petaluma,” Parrish said in an interview before going on air. His other show, Deep Dive, runs every Friday at 1 p.m. “One of the things that seemed really important was to be able to let people know what's going on. There's so much that's happening.” 

Eber, a 40-year resident of Petaluma with a long career in fundraising and development for nonprofits, also hosts Bear Time every Monday from 3 to 4 p.m. 

He joined the station’s lineup in early 2024; Parrish followed a few months later. Programmers are volunteers, and in fact pay a nominal annual membership fee, said station manager Rob Tomaszewski. The station is always seeking new members and programmers. (Full disclosure: your reporter is one, too.)

“It's all about access,” Eber said of KPCA. “It's what we stand for. We help people come in, create content, and put that content back out to the community. So in essence, that's what we're doing [with What’s Happening Petaluma]. We're gathering content about events, and then we're putting it back out into the community in a way that's, you know, hopefully entertaining and timely.”

The new show debuted on April 2 – quietly, so Eber and Parrish could work out the kinks. In June, the pair plan to expand to a full hour starting at 4 p.m. The longer format will include live interviews with artists and more song snippets to break up the conversation between previews of upcoming performances. 

During their April 30 show, the pair played music by local acts the Incubators, Luke Sweeney, and Nate Lopez, who had upcoming gigs at The Block, Suite G Studio, and Lagunitas, respectively. They also shared information about swing dancing at Hall of the Above, summer camp at Cinnabar Theatre, and a walking tour of historic homes, to name a few. 

In all, they covered dozens of venues and many more events than that in just half an hour.

Tomaszewski said the show recalls a past program, Petaluma Arts and Music Roundup, and aligns perfectly with KPCA’s present goals. “I’ve been focusing a lot on building up our relationship with local artists,” he said. “That dovetails very well with What’s Happening Petaluma and their outreach to the artist community and the music community.”

The station’s parent organization, Petaluma Community Access, launched in 1996 to broadcast public meetings live on television and provide public-access TV channels. It added radio in 2017. In addition to membership fees, KPCA is funded by grants and cable franchise fees, and is developing an underwriting program, according to Tomaszewski.

The Thursday show is just one of several new initiatives at the station. KPCA is in the midst of adding a youth training program, a podcasting studio, emergency operations capacity, and more – including a nascent news partnership with Petaluma Voice – all to further raise the station’s profile and increase its service to the community, Tomaszewski said.