Published January 29, 2026
BY ZANA BALABAN
Curated by real people, the music on 94.7 FM has been the station’s promise to the community for more than six decades. While most radio stations are programmed thousands of miles away, KRML’s choices are made by people who surf before work, attend local shows and know when it’s raining in Monterey to set the mood accordingly–a hyper-local intuition that has kept the independent station thriving in the age of streaming.
“We focus on playing a really inclusive and eclectic mix of music and helping local causes, events, nonprofits and businesses,” says Jeff White, KRML’s radio host, general manager, program director, promoter and on-call janitor, roles he has juggled for the past 13 years. “It makes it a lot harder because it’s all about relationships in the community, while for some of the bigger radio stations, it’s all about numbers.”
Jasmine Jones and Jeff White make up KRML’s mighty live radio team, working for and with the community from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. photo by ZANA BALABAN
White splits the station’s 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. live coverage with Jasmine Jones, together forming the backbone of KRML’s small but mighty team. Joining shortly after the station’s transition away from jazz programming, White headlined the airspace that initially stirred controversy, but ultimately aligned with the region’s deep musical roots.
“I finished surfing one morning, and I remember going through the dial, and KRML was playing the Pixies and Death Cab for Cutie,” White recalls. “I said, ‘Whoa, we don’t have a station that plays this here. What’s going on?’ I drove out on my lunch break–I didn’t have an appointment or anything–I knocked on the door and said, ‘Are you guys really doing this? I’m gonna do this with you.’ I got a job offer two days later.”
That sense of discovery is deliberate. Unlike most commercial stations that rely on tight rotations–sometimes as few as 30 songs–KRML pulls from a library of roughly 6,000 tracks. White describes the station’s sound as a wave: beginning with something familiar, introducing a new or lesser-known artist, then returning listeners to comfortable ground.
“Our goal is to beat the algorithms because our competitors now are Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora,” says White, adding that big platforms like these are also perpetrators of a huge shortfall between what artists deserve and what they are paid. “As people with human ears, we have the emotional knowledge to understand how these songs go together in a way a computer can’t.”
From overflowing CD racks to live performance instruments squeezed into every corner, KRML’s studio is a colorful, lived-in space where local radio is made by hand. photo by ZANA BALABAN
Programming is shaped not only by the seasoned taste of self-proclaimed music-heads like White and Jones, but by time of day, weather and audience, creating a balance that appeals to their bell curve of listenership from teenagers to retirees. This local, human-centered approach has not limited KRML’s reach, with more than 160,000 individual monthly listeners tuning in to the station’s streaming platform from across the Bay Area and as far away as Germany and the Netherlands.
Every weekday just after 2 p.m., KRML turns its attention to a local music spotlight sponsored by Monterey Regional Airport, featuring artists from Big Sur, Salinas, Santa Cruz and surrounding areas. Some are invited into the studio for live performances, while others join for on-air interviews, offering listeners a chance to hear the voices and stories of their talented neighborhoods that they might otherwise miss.
Their emphasis on connection extends beyond music. On Thursday nights, KRML hosts “Pub Talk,” a weekly live show most often held at Alvarado Street Brewery. The program brings together local brewers, musicians, theater groups, distillers, nonprofit leaders and politicians for conversations meant to feel less like interviews and more like what White describes as the kind of talk you hope to have when you walk into a good pub.
For Jones, the afternoon host, that sense of intimacy is what drew her in three years ago. Jones joined KRML after relocating to the Monterey Peninsula and pivoting from a 20-year film career in New York City. A lifelong live-music enthusiast and devoted listener of WFUV, a similarly curated adult album alternative station on the East Coast, she says KRML immediately felt familiar–just on a smaller scale.
“I’ve never been a part of such a small community or small professional team, and I love it,” Jones says. “We serve and connect the community to the best of what’s around and the perfect playlist for the Monterey Bay.”
Behind the mic, KRML broadcasts live from their local studio, curating and airing a hand-selected lineup of songs, interviews, weather updates and more for local listeners. photo by ZANA BALABAN
Beyond music programming, Jones produces creative spots for local clients, conducts weekly interviews and spends much of her time connecting with people doing work across the region.
“Being on air and connecting with listeners through music and community happenings is what hooked me,” she says. “I’ve found my place.”
KRML’s commitment to local radio is deeply rooted in its history, beginning regular operations in 1958. Every so often, a listener still calls with a whisper, “Play ‘Misty,’” a reference to Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut “Play Misty for Me,” a 1971 neo-noir psychological thriller featuring an obsessive radio stalker set and shot at KRML. The current listeners’ requests are half joke, half homage, but they capture its unmistakable presence in Monterey’s cultural memory.
In an era dominated by streaming platforms and corporate consolidation, White believes in bringing back an essential aspect of community and presence that has been lost.
“We have all this technology at our fingertips,” he says, “but it’s also made us more insulated. Music brings people together; it allows people to get out of their AirPods or whatever else and be present. That’s what we need more of, and that’s the basis of our station.”
In many ways, KRML functions like the classic neighborhood record store–offering recommendations, context and a running commentary on what’s happening locally. That philosophy extends to KRML’s close relationship with local record shops and performance spaces like Pop & Hiss, Vinyl Revolution and Siren Records as well as venues like Golden State Theater and Catalyst Club, the Music Hall, Sunset Center and Moe’s Alley. When featured artists come through town, White’s sentiment is that the support is mutual.
“If they’re bringing in bands we’re playing, we can help each other out,” the local says. “Having a communal approach like that is healthiest, but it’s not feasible with big corporations. They’re not boots on the ground, while our type of radio has always been friends of artists.”
KRML also operates as an indicator station, nominated for the title as a station that takes chances and breaks new music. White notes that the station was among the first in the nation to play artists like Lorde and Childish Gambino.
For the KRML’s small but mighty team, the station’s value lies in its ability to gather people around a song, a cause or a local event.
“The irony is this is what radio used to be,” White says. “There’s nothing novel about it. There was this unique flavor and local engagement before it became about the money. I still believe in radio.”
Tune into 94.7 FM or listen anytime from anywhere at KRML.com.
