Erika Fredrickson, co-founder of The Pulp stops by the Trail studio with an exciting announcement.  

The Pulp is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization serving Missoula and western Montana. Launched September 2023 by Erika Fredrickson and Matthew Frank, former reporters and editors at the defunct but beloved Missoula Independent, in response to the deepening local journalism crisis in Missoula and across the country. The Pulp’s mission is to produce in-depth journalism that informs and engages the people of Missoula and western Montana and advances transparency, equity, and democracy.  Tail1033 is a proud community supporter of this vital organization. 

Always FREE to read, support is welcome. Thepulp.org

It’s fair week in Missoula, which means live music, local food, late sunsets… and of course, Trail Live Sessions from the Trail studio! For this episode, we welcomed River City Rhythm Band—a longtime local favorite with deep roots and some serious chemistry.

I’ve known a lot of bands who say they’re collaborative, but these three—Alyssa McQuain, Ty Armourding, and Dan DeLong—really mean it. From sharing pizza at practice to cracking each other up between songs, they’re clearly in this for the joy of making music together. They’ve been playing in various projects for over two decades, and this particular trio has been rocking shows around Western Montana for the past year and a half.

Ahead of their big 9PM set on the fairgrounds stage at the Western Montana Fair, they dropped by the Trail to share stories, talk influences (Mumford & Sons, Blink-182, and Ozzy came up—so you know it’s a ride), and play two stripped-down live tracks that gave us chills in the headphones.

🎶 Songs performed live in-studio:

• “Take Me Home” (Original)
• “Maestro” (Wilder Woods cover)

You can catch River City Rhythm Band on stage tonight—Tuesday, August 5th at 9PM—at the newly revamped Missoula Fairgrounds. It’s an all-ages show, completely free, and we can confirm: these three bring heart, harmony, and a whole lot of fun to the stage.

Thanks to Greenhouse Farmacy for supporting our local music scene and helping make these live sessions possible.

- Tommy

This episode of the Trail Lunchbox welcomes two guests doing critical work to help our community stay healthy and prepared during wildfire season in western Montana. We’re talking all things Wildfire Smoke Ready Week—what it is, why it matters, and how you can take simple, affordable steps to protect yourself, your family, and even your pets when the smoke rolls in.

Joining us in the studio:

🔹 Amy Cilimburg, Executive Director of Climate Smart Missoula
Amy has spent the last decade leading Climate Smart Missoula, working on climate resilience, air quality, and community health. She's a long-time advocate for preparing our neighborhoods for the realities of climate change and helps Missoulians take smart, simple steps to deal with wildfire smoke.

🔹 Carrie Mueller, Air Quality Specialist at Missoula Public Health
Carrie began working on wildfire smoke in 2023 and has quickly become a go-to expert in air quality monitoring, PurpleAir sensors, and making air health information accessible to everyone. She’s focused on helping all Missoula residents—especially vulnerable groups—reduce their smoke exposure.

🌀 What We Cover in This Episode:

✅ What Wildfire Smoke Ready Week is and why we’re now in its fifth year
✅ How smoke affects your body—lungs, heart, immune system, and more
✅ Understanding PM2.5: the microscopic smoke particles that enter your bloodstream
✅ Why pets are just as vulnerable to smoke as we are
✅ Best ways to clean your indoor air—whether you rent, own, or live tiny
✅ What a HEPA air filter is, and how to get one affordably
✅ How to build a DIY box fan/filter at home
✅ The importance of MERV-13 filters for HVAC systems
✅ Tools like Fire.AirNow.gov and MontanaWildfireSmoke.org to check current smoke levels
✅ How and where to find Clean Air Centers in Missoula and the Bitterroot
✅ $100 rebates available now for HEPA filters via Northwestern Energy
✅ How to help your neighbors prepare, especially older adults and vulnerable folks

🌲 Wildfire Smoke Ready Week Events (July 12–19):
Catch the Climate Smart and Public Health teams out in the community all week long!

• Saturday, July 12 & 19 – Missoula Farmers Markets (8AM–12:30PM)
  Visit booths at both markets for air quality resources, indoor air filter demos, and advice on staying healthy inside and out.
• Wednesday, July 16 – Out to Lunch at Caras Park (11AM–2PM)
  Grab lunch and get wildfire smoke resources—plus a chance to enter the raffle to win a HEPA air cleaner!
• Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday (July 15, 16, 18) – Missoula Public Library
  • Tues: 1–4PM
  • Wed: Noon–3PM
  • Fri: 11AM–2PM
     Stop by to talk with the team, grab brochures, and get hands-on info about preparing your home.

Clean Air Centers are now open in Missoula Public Library, Lolo School, Seeley Lake High School, and libraries in Darby, Hamilton, and Stevensville.

We can't stop wildfire smoke from coming—but we can make a plan. Visit MontanaWildfireSmoke.org for everything you need to know about protecting your health this season, from checking air quality reports to cleaning your indoor air affordably.

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🌲 The Trail Listening Post is a podcast series that archives the real-time radio moments that make Missoula, Missoula - live, local, and straight from the airwaves of Trail 103.3, a station as unique as the community we serve. 

On today's Trail Lunchbox, Tommy welcomed two beloved Missoulians deeply connected to the International Choral Festival: Saxon Holbrook, president of the festival and longtime choral singer, and Jürgen Knöller, brewmaster at Bayern Brewing and early festival supporter.

They swap stories about the very first festival in 1987, flipping burgers for Carson, seeing Frank Zappa in Germany, and what makes Missoula’s global celebration of voices so unique. Saxon walks us through what to expect at this year’s festival — from the Choir Crawl to the finale at the Adams Center — while Jürgen shares how Missoula might be brewing up a cross-continental beer collaboration with a sister choral fest in Bavaria.

 🎤 Saxon Holbrook first sang in the festival as a Hellgate High grad in '87 and never looked back. These days he serves as president of the festival board and as technical director for Montana Public Radio and MontanaPBS.

🍺 Jürgen Knöller, originally from Füssen, Bavaria (yes — near the Neuschwanstein Castle), moved to Missoula in 1987 to become brewmaster at Bayern Brewing. He’s been crafting lagers and championing the choral fest ever since.

✨ Whether you’re a lifelong choir nerd or just looking for a great event with international flavor and hometown heart, this one’s for you.

More info and full schedule: choralfestival.org

🎟️ Free events + festival buttons available now!

Listen to The Trail 1033 for live, local Missoula music on air and around the globe at Trail1033.com, TuneIn and the Trail 1033 app.

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🌲 The Trail Listening Post is a podcast series that archives the real-time radio moments that make Missoula, Missoula - live, local, and straight from the airwaves of Trail 103.3, a station as unique as the community we serve. 

Originally aired live at 9:13 AM on July 2, 2025

At exactly 9:13 AM on July 2, 2005, Trail 103.3 signed on the air for the very first time. Twenty years later—down to the minute—we cracked the mic together once again to mark that moment. This short, unscripted conversation between Robert Chase, Mike Smith, and Tommy Evans isn’t just a celebration of our radio station’s anniversary, It’s a reflection on what Trail 103.3 has become, home for eclectic music, Missoula voices, and authentic community connection.

Listen in as we go live on-air and share memories of the early days, laugh about Robert's 3:30 AM breakfast routine, recall how we each found our way to the station, and take a moment to thank everyone who’s been part of the journey.. on the mic, behind the scenes, and most importantly, listening.

Recorded live at what we thought was the exact moment Trail 103.3 first signed on—20 years to the minute @ 9:13 am...

A sincere thank you to all the listeners who took the time to send in notes and stories about what the Trail has meant to them over the years—especially to Dave Cowan, the visionary programmer, engineer, GM, and on-air voice who built the Trail from an idea into a station. Dave reached out shortly after this segment aired to let us know we got just one little detail wrong: the Trail actually signed on at 9:13 PM, not AM. Oops!

Fun fact: The very first song ever played on Trail 103.3 was Mind Games by John Lennon.

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Join us at Caras Park on Thursday, July 24, when we celebrate The Trail’s 20th Birthday with live music by the Josh Farmer Band as part of Downtown Tonight — food trucks, art vendors, local connection, and more. 

And don’t forget our 20‑for‑20 Giveaway: 20 pairs of tickets to 20 local events spanning August 2025–August 2026. Pop into any of our registration boxes—locations include the Trailhead, Loose Caboose, Great Harvest, Kettlehouse Taproom, Roxy, Caras Nursery, and more—or sign up online. Drawing happens live on July 24 at the Caras Park anniversary event.

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🌲 The Trail Listening Post is a podcast series that archives the real-time radio moments that make Missoula, Missoula - live, local, and straight from the airwaves of Trail 103.3, a station as unique as the community we serve. 

🎙️ Trail Live Session: Why We Went West (June 26, 2025)

 Live from the Trail Lunchbox | Trail 103.3 – Missoula, MT

We welcomed the trio version of Why We Went West—Maria Zepeda, Lucas Yatch, and Gabrielle Tusberg—for a beautiful in-studio performance and conversation ahead of their debut at the Zootown Music Festival.

🎶 They perform two original songs live:
 • Water
• Dreamboat

Trail Guide, Mike Smith, chats with the group about:
 • Their evolution from trio to 12-piece for Zootown Fest
 • The importance of collaboration and community in Missoula’s music scene
 • Upcoming performances at Sacred Ally, Freecycles, and of course, Zootown Festival (July 5)

Maria shares her reflections on building a musical family, fostering local talent, and preparing for a major hometown performance. It’s a conversation rooted in gratitude, growth, and the power of showing up for each other.

Catch them live:
📍 Sacred Ally – Friday
📍 FreeCycles – Saturday
📍 Zootown Music Festival – July 5
🎟️ zootownfestival.com

Listen to The Trail 1033 for live, local Missoula music on air and around the globe at Trail1033.com, TuneIn and the Trail 1033 app.

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🌲 The Trail Listening Post is a podcast series that archives the real-time radio moments that make Missoula, Missoula - live, local, and straight from the airwaves of Trail 103.3, a station as unique as the community we serve. 

The Trail Listening Post – Trail Lunchbox: Marc Moss (June 25, 2025)

On today’s episode of The Trail Listening Post, we bring you a live in-studio conversation from the Trail Lunchbox on Trail 103.3 FM. Host Mike Smith sits down with Marc Moss, the founder and host of Tell Us Something, Missoula’s beloved live storytelling event series.

Marc shared the story behind the event's signature theme song, the art on this year’s poster, and why Tell Us Something doesn’t announce its storytellers in advance. They dug into what makes live storytelling so powerful, how it brings people together, and what it's like for someone to take the stage for the very first time.

Plus, hear stories about cops thinking Marc was a cop, the Northside KettleHouse art connection, and what it means to create space for voices across the spectrum—especially in the context of Pride Month.

 🎟️ Event Details:
 Tell Us Something: Lost & Found
📅 Monday, June 30, 2025
🕕 Doors at 6:00 PM | Stories at 7:00 PM
📍 Ogren Park / Allegiance Field
🎫 Tickets: $20 advance / $23 day-of — available at TellUsSomething.org

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🌲 The Trail Listening Post is a podcast series that archives the real-time radio moments that make Missoula, Missoula - live, local, and straight from the airwaves of Trail 103.3, a station as unique as the community we serve. 

🎙️ Today on The Trail Lunchbox: A Live Session with James McMurtry & BettySoo
 
 📍 Recorded live in the Trail Studio • Airing June 24, 2025

On today’s Trail Lunchbox, we welcomed a true American songwriting legend back to Trail 103.3 — James McMurtry — this time with his longtime friend and musical collaborator BettySoo riding shotgun. Just hours before their show at the Zootown Arts Community Center, they stopped by for a stripped-down, heartfelt live session.

James brought his signature storytelling and dry wit, performing “The Color of Night” and “South Texas Lawman” from his latest record Black Dog and the Wandering Boy. BettySoo joined in on a gorgeous duet version of “Gulf Road,” reimagined for her upcoming album. 

Listen as the two chat about about touring in drag to protest anti-drag laws, swapping instruments, and what it means to write songs that speak from another person’s perspective even when it’s uncomfortable. 

🎶 Catch them live tonight at the ZACC in downtown Missoula — doors at 7 PM, show at 8. A few tickets were still left at the time of recording, but they won’t last --> Zootownarts.org

🎫 Then tomorrow, they hit The ELM in Bozeman, so tell your friends over the hill.

This is what the Trail Lunchbox is all about — real music, real conversation, and real connections. Huge thanks to James and BettySoo for stopping by.

🌲 Trail Live Sessions are part of the Trail Listening Post — where stories and songs meet.

Montana author Philip Burgess joins host Mike Smith in the Trail 103.3 studio alongside longtime friend and creative collaborator Ednor Therriault. Together, they talk about Burgess’s powerful new memoir, The Bunch Quitter — a sweeping, poetic account of a life spent drifting through America during the ’60s and ’70s in pursuit of ultimate freedom. From the windswept badlands of eastern Montana to sleeping under stars on the Gulf Coast, Burgess reflects on memory, pain, growth, and the cost of independence. Hear stories behind the book, the role of personal truth in writing, and what it means to be a true bunch quitter.

Recorded ahead of the book release party at Shakespeare & Co. in Missoula.

🎧 Featuring: music by Bob Wire

In addition to The Bunch Quitter, Philip Burgess has written three books of poetry, Henry’s Cows: Poetry by Philip J. Burgess; Penny Postcards and Prairie Flowers; and Badlands Child. In 2005, Burgess was nominated for the position of Montana’s first poet laureate. He was born in Eastern Montana and served as an officer in Vietnam, and then, after he returned to the US, he took to the road. He made his home in Western Montana, where he dedicates his life to serving as a veteran’s spokesman and therapist, and to being a poet and a storyteller as he continues to reckon with the road, memory, and meaning.

The Trail Lunchbox: New Zealand Day – A Celebration of Sister Cities, Rugby & Community

Today's Trail Lunchbox features a live in-studio conversation with Maddy Gilbert from Arts Missoula and Jake Kreilick of Missoula Youth Rugby, hosted by Mike Smith.

Listen as they talk about Missoula’s 42-year sister city connection with Palmerston North, New Zealand — from university exchange roots to modern-day cultural partnerships. The episode dives into the details of this year’s New Zealand Day celebration happening Saturday, June 14th at Fort Missoula Regional Park:

Event Highlights Include:

• 12:30–2:00 PM: Dedication of a new carved Sister City bench at the Bitterroot Shelter (south end near the tennis courts), honoring the long-standing civic friendship between Missoula and Palmerston North.
• 10:00 AM–12:00 PM: Free touch rugby clinic for kids (no contact!) hosted by the Missoula Maggots.
• 2:00–5:00 PM: Community touch rugby games on the multi-use fields — all are welcome to jump in.
• New Zealand-style ice cream from local favorite Chur Ice Cream (yes, it’s as good as it sounds).
• Croquet on the lawn, a classic Kiwi pastime.
• 5:00 PM: Free community cookout at the Missoula Maggots Clubhouse (3500 South Ave W).

Plus, hear about the meaningful connections between the Māori and Salish-Kootenai communities, the upcoming student exchange with St. Peter’s College in Palmerston North, and why keeping international friendships alive matters more than ever.

It’s local. It’s global. It’s all Trail.

 🎧 Listen now — and then join the celebration.
 Full details at ArtsMissoula.org