Host: Melting Pot with Kim Paris (Every other Sunday, 10 a.m.- noon PST)
On Freeform Portland Since: 2021
Instagram: @fmradioarchive
MixCloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/pariski/
Tell me about the role that music plays in your life.
I’m not a musician, but I have many friends and family members who are. I was in high school when FM radio came of age in 1968, and I’ve enjoyed music on the radio and at live concerts ever since. I started FM Radio Archive on archive.org in 2019, an “eclectic and continuously growing collection… dedicated to finding, preserving and publishing live & recorded music broadcasts from the last 60+ years.”
Tell me about your show.
Melting Pot is an eclectic mix covering multiple music genres including rock, blues, jazz, reggae, R&B and soul, with an occasional dash of world music. Melting Pot covers 60 years of music, from the mid-60s until now. The inspiration for the show came from a genius mix on my iPod around 2020, based on Booker T & The MG’s “Melting Pot”. I strive to play upbeat music with a positive message to help listeners get off to a good start on Sunday mornings.
Finish this sentence: “Freeform Portland is…”
Freeform Portland radio is the honorary heir to the freeform FM radio ethos that evolved in the late ’60s and early ’70s, before “big box” commercial radio dominated the airwaves. Freeform radio is alive and well at Freeform Portland and a handful of other non-commercial stations.
Three songs you’re digging right now:
Ethereal and instrospective: Matari, featuring Chip Wickham with the Outer Worlds Jazz Ensemble (posted 4/20/2026).
Inspirational, similar to Tedeschi Trucks: Love Is All Around You, Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar (from on A Beautiful Buzz, May 2026).
Familiar voice, with a positive message: Down To Joy, by Van Morrison from Somebody Tried To Sell Me a Bridge, released Jan. 2026)
Can you share a favorite musical memory?
I have two, both live concerts. #1: benefit concert titled “Students Need Athletics, Culture & Kicks” (nicknamed SNACK) at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco in 1975. #2: The Band’s Last Waltz at Winterland in San Francisco on Thanksgiving,1976. I was sent by Bay Area Music (BAM) magazine to cover this historic event, featuring a multitude of The Band’s musical collaborators over the years before they retired.
Tell me about musical artists that inspire you.
Jason Isbell, a musician who crosses over the boundaries between rock, roots, blues and country music. Isbell has participated in many benefit concerts for progressive causes, and frequently expresses his support for gun control, abortion rights, police reform and LGBTQ rights. His album Georgia Blue (2021) featured cover songs of many Georgia artists, and the album sales proceeds went to charity.
Herbie Hancock, a master jazz pianist, keyboardist, composer and bandleader who played with Miles Davis, then experimented with jazz fusion, funk and electronic/synthesizer music. Hancock has collaborated with a multitude of musicians in jazz and other genres, including Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones, Carlos Santana, Sting, Paul Simon, and John Mayer. An inspiration for the past 60 years, he has received many awards as an educator and for “poetic expression in language, music and fine arts”.
Why is Freeform Portland and community radio important?
Freeform Portland radio is the living embodiment of the freeform FM ethos that began in the late 60s and early 70s. Freeform Portland and other non-commercial, community stations are living proof that radio can be relevant and support our listeners and the community, without endless ads like big-box stations.
What is a genre/artist/record that some might be surprised to find in your collection?
Anoushka Shankar, the Indian sitar player and daughter of sitar master Ravi Shankar. She has modernized sitar music and performed with flamenco guitarists to explore the intertwining of diverse musical cultures.
Given everything happening in the world today, what’s one song you turn to for comfort or inspiration?
What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love & Understanding, written by Nick Lowe. I have two favorite versions: one by Elvis Costello & The Attractions (1979) and one by Robben Ford & Mavis Staples (2003).
