Kate McNally, host of The Folk Show on New Hampshire Public Radio, began her radio career as a volunteer DJ at Keene State College’s student-run station, WKNH. She went on to host a Sunday afternoon folk music program, “Fiddlesticks,” on the station for six years.
After graduating in 1986, Kate joined WKNE 1290 in Keene, where she worked as a production coordinator, copywriter, full-time program director, the morning drive personality, and host of a Sunday morning folk music program, The Lighter Side for 6 years. In 1995 she began hosting The Folk Show at New Hampshire Public Radio, making this her 30th year of broadcasting Sunday evenings from 7 to 10 pm with an encore on Fridays from 9 to midnight.
McNally grew up on Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold and The Kingston Trio, and she has visited on air with artists that include Arlo Guthrie, Tom Rush, Richie Havens, Bela Fleck, David Bromberg, Annie Patterson, Claudia Schmidt, Sally Rogers and many others. In addition to her radio program, she has long had a separate career in public service and has served on many boards.