WKZE Staff Directory
Barb Stanley – Station Owner
Barb Stanley has been in radio since 1988 when she started selling for a local radio station in Vermont. Within a short period of time she met Will Stanley, a competitor at another radio station, and they fell in love with each other, and with radio! The station Barb & Will ran before 98.1 KZE was WRSI (The River) in Northampton Massachusetts, from 1997 until 2004. WRSI had a format almost identical to WKZE, and they made it their goal to prove that this eclectic and wildly diverse musical format could be a financial and esthetic success. Since April of 2005, Barb and Will owned and ran WKZE, and in April of 2006 moved the studios to Red Hook, New York. Barb took on full-ownership of the station in 2021. She’s very proud of the station’s position in the community, the sound, and the folks that work here. Aside from radio, Barb has 4 grown children and 3 granddaughters. Her favorite thing to do, aside from spending time with her family, is working with horses. Barb practices Parelli Natural Horsemanship, and is a licensed Parelli instructor. Barb and her horses perform and help with clinics.
Will Baylies – General Manager, Program Director
Originally from Berkeley, California and then the small mountain town of Bishop, California, Will came to the Hudson Valley in 1999 to attend Bard College. While at Bard, Will, a radio junkie from the age of 7, volunteered with college station WXBC. Following graduation, he was working at a Red Hook sandwich shop where he met KZE owners Barb and Will Stanley. As they so often did over the years, Barb and Will decided to take a chance on an inexperienced but passionate young talent. Will began at KZE as essentially a glorified intern, then transitioning to Production Director and Afternoon Drive host before finally in 2022, moving into the role of General Manager & Program Director. Two of his favorite aspects of working at KZE are the opportunity to make community connections and to teach radio to new initiates. Aside from his passion for music, Will is an avid gardener, rugby enthusiast, and running partner to dog Gracie.
Rick Schneider – Up & Running Morning Host, Music Director
MK Scully – Afternoon Host, Promotions Director
MK began her career in radio at WDST, and also spent time at WFUV before joining KZE in 2022. She is passionate about supporting and promoting local music. After a childhood in northwest CT and a couple of formative years in NYC, she moved upstate around 2009 to attend SUNY New Paltz for International Relations and fell in love with the Hudson Valley. She provides lead vocals in local band Trailer Swift, and is also a professional wedding and events DJ. She lives near Kingston with her husband and dog, and enjoys running, live music, skiing, and studying French.
Paul Higgins – Sales Manager, Showrunner: Nightshade
Adam Schartoff – Midday Host, Traffic Director
Adam has been the host of the Midday show since early 2022. Prior to that he worked for many years in both the music and film industries in New York City. He moved up to the Hudson Valley in 2020 and has never looked back. In addition to being one of the DJs at KZE, Adam is also the station’s Traffic Director. Outside of the station, he takes great pride in being a musician and, most of all, being Jake’s Dad.
Brian Fores – Production Director, Evening Host
Brian worked in music licensing for over 15 years and has played in many bands, ranging from rock, pop, jazz and funk. The youngest in a large musical family, he began taking piano lessons from his mom at an early age. He went to Newark Arts High and the prep division of Manhattan School of Music. He holds a BA in Music from Fordham and an MA in Jazz History and Research from Rutgers. He is passionate about all things music technology, recording and live sound. When not sharing great music with others at KZE, he can be found working on tracks in his home studio and spending time with his wife, two kids and their two cats.
Allison Stevens – Accounts Payable
Dave Keating – Account Executive, Weekend Host
Dave’s parents told him at an impressionable young age that he had “a face made for radio”. He took that encouragement to heart and got involved with his high school radio station in eastern Massachusetts. This started a 30 year love affair with radio. Over that time Dave has done just about every job in radio, whether that is on-air, production, sales and everything in-between. He has a background in Public Radio and in corporate PR. Joining the WKZE family is bringing life full circle for Dave as Will Stanley gave him his start in commercial radio many years ago at WRSI in Greenfield Massachusetts.
Dave is excited to help his clients achieve their marketing goals and grow their businesses. You can email him at Dave@WKZE.com
Faith Barr – On Air Host, Showrunner: Sunday Brunch
Faith is the host of KZE’s Saturday afternoons and Sunday Brunch. A seeker fascinated by music, poetry, art, mysticism, breath, science and the power of stories, Faith relishes her time at the lighthouse that is KZE.