There are lots of ways to get music these days, but I prefer the radio. There is just something about the authenticity and spontaneity of the radio experience that speaks to me more than tuning into an algorithmic Spotify, Amazon or Apple Music playlist. And my favorite place to get music on a regular basis is KDNK Community Radio.
And today, Friday the 13th of March 2026, I get to listen to what is hands down my favorite radio program: Grateful Ed’s “Chasin the Groove.”
If you know it, you know it. If not, you are in for a treat. Every other Friday, from 2 to 4 p.m., Grateful Ed takes control of the airwaves at KDNK’s 2nd Street studio in Carbondale and plays an eclectic mix of live music, with a heavy emphasis on the Grateful Dead and bands associated with, or spun from, said Dead.
But here is the twist: “Chasin the Groove” plays live music that was recorded exclusively on the date that the show airs. In other words, for two hours, Grateful Ed spins live tunes from another place and another time — but a time that coincides on the calendar with the day you are listening. Got it?
For example, his last show, on Feb. 27, began with a Grateful Dead performance of “St. Stephen’s” recorded live at the Fillmore West in San Francisco on Feb. 27, 1969. That would mean you were listening to early Dead from an iconic theatre recorded not long after the Summer of Love. Two hours later, he closed the show with a recording from Feb. 27, 1976 — 50 years to the day — of Fleetwood Mac performing “Over my Head” on a program called “The Midnight Special.”
If you are of a certain age, “The Midnight Special” was the show you watched at 1 a.m. on Saturday mornings, and you likely haven’t thought of it in years. But the memories came back thanks to “Chasin’ the Groove.”
“There is a mysterious energy to listening to the songs on the same date they were recorded,” Grateful Ed said about the show. “People sometimes call in and say, ‘Hey, thanks, I was at that concert.’ Music has a way of triggering memories.” In between the Dead and Fleetwood Mac, there were songs by Eddie Brickell & The New Bohemians, Frank Zappa, Radiohead and Eric Clapton with Vince Gill. The recordings were fresh and energetic. Youthful even.
Grateful Ed moved to the Roaring Fork Valley from Denver in 2018. As you may have guessed, he was a Deadhead from way back, having attended over 100 shows. His first was at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, and yes, he remembers the date: March 31, 1980.
“I got here and heard about the guest DJ program at KDNK. I went in, did the training, and they called and asked if I wanted to take a 2 to 4 p.m. slot every other week,” he explained about the genesis of the show. “I figured, I gotta’ have an angle. I have always been obsessed with dates, so I figured I would do live events recorded on the calendar date of the show.” And the rest is KDNK history.
Putting the show together takes Grateful Ed between six and eight hours a week. “I search different sites and digital library,” he explains about the process he goes through.
This is a huge week for “Chasin’ the Groove,” as it marks the seventh anniversary of the show, which first aired on March 8, 2019. This will be the 175th show as Grateful Ed continues his quest to have a show on each date on the calendar. He is just eight shows away from halfway there. All of the shows can be found and played at kdnk.org/show/chasin-the-groove .
This week is also a Friday the 13th, and he has teased a performance from the Grateful Dead from a previous Friday the 13th concert (1981?). Oh, and his Grateful Dead cover band Dead Reckoning will be playing at the Rock Island Oyster Bar and Grill this evening at 9 p.m.
But perhaps most importantly, this week’s “Chasin’ the Groove” takes place during the KDNK Spring Fund Drive. “It brings me such joy to be a part of Public Radio and the people at KDNK,” Grateful Ed said about his volunteer gig.
The time couldn’t be better to tune into live music on “Chasin’ the Groove.” And be sure to make a donation to KDNK. They deserve it.
