Published: October 08, 2008 10:02 am      

Radio ministry ready to celebrate first anniversary

A popular local radio show described by its hosts as first and foremost a ministry is approaching its one-year anniversary, with an extra-long show and concert set for later this month.

Joe “Joe-Joe” Pisachubbe and Aaron Totani are hosts of the Rock 105.1 “Joyful Noiz” show that features some of the heaviest music considered part of the Christian rock genre.

Airing from 7-9 p.m. Sunday evenings on KTMC-FM, an upcoming anniversary show on Sunday will be four hours in length, instead of the usual two, according to Pisachubbe.

A concert is set for Oct. 25 at the King’s House Youth Center, 218 S. Second St.

The national act Since October will headline the show, with local and Tulsa-area bands Beautiful Chaos, Repentance and The Red Letter Addiction also to perform.

Concert tickets are $10 each and are available only at the door.

“It's been a kind of a head-on battle to keep it going," Totani said of the radio show, which, in addition to music, has segments for a devotion and prayer.

Pisachubbe said God has been guiding the show.

“His hand has been in this show, since the very beginning.”

He talked of using the show and its music to reach a certain type of person with the Christian message, a type of person Pisachubbe and Totani know well.

“It’s the person we used to be,” Pisachubbe elaborated.

“You've got to get on their level,” he said of the pair’s efforts to reach those they are aiming for.

However, the show has developed into one where some mothers of young listeners are liking it, and some, who are not even much into the music being played, approve.

“The music’s not the focus of the show,” Totani said.

“You can't watch a battle from a distance if you want to win it,” he said of the duo’s efforts to reach others and to help those addicted to drugs or with other problems.

Pisachubbe noted he and Totani are still human, but said “Jesus Christ is the answer to how we deal with it.”

They describe their show as honest, with no pulling punches or sugarcoating, but they also include the love, mercy, and grace of God in the message they strive to get across.

“God wants you as you are,” Totani said.

The type of show they produce and air locally, while putting in hours of work and research each week, is rare in the radio industry, particularly on a secular station.

An on-air motto used in promoting their show sums up much of the message they are trying to get across: “Jesus loves head-bangers, too.”

John Yates is the news director for McAlester Radio. Contact him at 426-1050.