Even with a strong passion for blues music growing up, Lee Edwards never considered the possibility of working in radio.

“To be honest, I never really understood what was going on with all that stuff,” Edwards said in regards to tuning in as a child.

However, today, Edwards is in the midst of his 14th year at community radio station KZFR, 90.1 FM, sending his love for the blues out through the airwaves every other Monday at 3 p.m.

Fifteen years ago, just as KZFR was getting started, Ed Pitman had the station’s only blues show, which was aptly named, “The Other Blues Show.” One day, Pitman got a call from an enthusiastic listener, he said.

“This guy called my show one night and seemed to be a big fan, so I said, ‘hey man, come on down,’” Pitman said.

As it turned out, Edwards had been browsing through the racks of Chico’s Melody Records when he noticed a flier listing KZFR’s programming schedule. Soon after talking to Pitman, he was volunteering at the station, Edwards said.

However, Edwards was not originally interested in receiving his own show, he said. He originally started off by working as a tape transmitter and even claimed a spot on the board of directors.

As the station began to grow and more time slots became available, Edwards’ co-workers simply assumed that he would want a show, he said. Even though he had “no intention of being on the air,” he was in fact drawn to the access of music that a show would allow him.

“Good blues music is really hard to find and some of the best places to find it is actually at community radio stations,” Edwards said.

Following the station from its original location on 20th Street to its new spot nestled atop the pink Chico Paper Co. building overlooking downtown, Edwards has found his niche in radio, he said.

Jill Paydon, KZFR’s new general manager, said that Edwards’ show has a “very loyal following,” which she attributes to “a very strong knowledge of his musical genre and a natural and relaxed announcing style.”

Playing everything from contemporary blues styles to old Delta blues, Edwards just tends to play music that he is passionate about during his show, “Blues Everywhere,” he said.

“I have no mechanism for knowing what other people want to hear,” Edwards said. “So usually I just play what I like.”

Although he originally got involved with community radio because of the music, Edwards has since come to value some of the more rewarding aspects of his job, he said.

“The atmosphere and the fact that all these different types of people with different backgrounds just come together and supply people with information that they won’t find anywhere else,” Edwards said. “That, to me, is much more important than the music itself.”

One of the people Edwards has met through KZFR is Preston Powers. Since joining the station in just its second week, Powers has been running his show, “Blues Bayou,” on the same day and time ever since, he said.

Working with Edwards, Powers has repeatedly observed his hard-working but casual demeanor, he said.

“He is always professional and very well prepared for his shows but he is also one of the most easy-going guys you’ll ever run into,” Powers said.

Compared with the early versions of the station, where programmers struggled to even make enough money to pay the utility bills, today’s version of KZFR is a world apart, Edwards said. However, even with all the changes that have been implemented over the years, Edwards said that the “philosophy of the station has remained intact.”

“Instead of a horse and carriage, we’re driving around in a convertible now,” Edwards said laughing.

In addition to his work at KZFR, Edwards recently began working at another radio station located in Oroville, he said. Radio Bird Street, or KRBS, is another community radio station to which Edwards has lent his services. Edwards runs both a blues show called “Bird Street Blues” and an interview show called “Our Town” for KRBS.

With his new schedule working at both stations, Edwards recently started to host his “Blues Everywhere” show for KZFR once every two weeks as opposed to every Monday, he said. In his place, Pitman now takes over on Edwards’ weeks off and said he feels privileged to be involved with the show.

“There are people who talk about doing things for their community and then there are people who do something,” Pitman said. “Lee is a doer.”