Kelsey “Kels” Andrew Koch: May 14, 1967 – February 24, 2026
Our friend, fellow DJ (KGLT and WVRU-Nashville), musician, and Wax Museum record store owner left this plane to play the great gig in the sky.
His music began as Beat Nothings and ended as Million Sellers — just two of the many bands Kels lead over the years, in Bozeman, Seattle, and Nashville.
Kels shook KGLT’s airwaves every Tuesday morn with a show called Shake Appeal. Each episode was a musical education and revelation. So let’s get schooled with an audio tour of his on-air adventures. The show starts “shaking Stooges-wise” at 9am.
Kels wasn’t just a KGLT DJ, he was also a sponsor.
And it wasn’t just what he played, it was what he knew about what he played.
I loved how he’d traverse the genres. One set of songs went deep into Country.
The next segued seamlessly into R n’ B.
Listening to the Shake Appeal was learning new musical loves. In just one set, I found three gems in a row, all by folk I’d never heard of. The Clinger Sisters:
Bessie Banks’ original version of “Go Now”, later a Moody Blues hit:
And a band called Carrie Nations put together for the movie Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
But Kels really shined when he went back in time, like to a century ago.
See ya on the flip side and farewell, Kelsey.
