Paul McCartney hearts KCSN

KCSN has been rocking the LA airwaves more lately — I keep hearing from friends who are listening to the music coming over FM 88.5 (it feels like the signal reaches more of the city too.) Today the station is getting a bit more attention because Cal State Northridge issued a press release about an interview between Sky Daniels, the program director of KCSN, and Paul McCartney. The way the school describes it, McCartney was in town this week, heard good thngs about KCSN from his dinner partners, and called Daniels to thank him for playing songs from McCartney's newest record. That led to an hour-long interview, the press release, and a story on the LA Times website.

From CSUN Today:

“Paul’s call was so thoughtful, I found myself fighting back tears,” Daniels said. “He told us how his friends all loved the station. They told him that KCSN was playing a number of songs from ‘New’ and he simply wanted to say thanks.”

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That call to Daniels turned into an hour-long interview with McCartney that covered a variety of topics, including the emotional wave brought on by The Beatles’ 50th anniversary, his appreciation for the multiple Grammy Awards he recently won and his pleasure working with what he called a “real band” with his longtime touring group made up of Brian Ray, Rusty Anderson, Wix Wickens and Abe Laborial Jr.

McCartney told Daniels he was excited to begin work on a new project, doing the music for a new animated film.

“It’s like being a kid, getting to play with some of the most creative people in the world,” he said.

McCartney confided he still gets thrills when fans tell him how much his music means to them.

“When people tell you that you wrote the ‘soundtrack to their life,’ that’s pretty meaningful,” he said.

Daniels echoed that sentiment.

“When Paul McCartney’s friends sing the praises of KCSN, and he feels compelled to listen and reach out to say thanks, it validates the support of our members and the hard work of our staff,” he said. “It really is a statement that radio can still touch hearts and minds, even those of the greatest songwriter of our time.”

The Times' Pop and Hiss blog picked up the story.