After 50 years in the music business, when Kevin Cole contemplated retirement from KEXP—a “remix,” as he called it—friend, fan, and director Peter Hilgendorf wanted to honor the moment.  He pulled together a Seattle crew to make a 20-minute “thank-you-we-love-you” video featuring people who had worked with Kevin over a lifetime. Two interviews in he knew he had so much more. Kevin’s story was universal, with dragons to slay and love to be shared. It was a story the world needed, especially in dark times. He started imagining RADIOHEART, an exploration of the life and career of DJ Kevin Cole.

It follows his journey from Kevin’s disco DJ days in Minneapolis, through the founding of alternative radio station, REV 105, and touches on the chilling effects of corporate control over programming. It hops in the car as Kevin drives west on his move to Seattle, to shape the future of Amazon.com’s music store. (Hard to remember: this was back when Amazon was a small, independent bookseller.)

And finally, RADIOHEART rides shotgun as Kevin is pivotal in developing listener-powered KEXP from a college radio station to a music discovery powerhouse with worldwide reach. 

All was driven by Kevin’s drive to discover and deliver music worth hearing to the people who would love it the most, creating a global community, bound by a common love. Kevin is the heart in RADIOHEART.