KNON's Mary Ella Woodstock Is Now on the Air. She's 8.

Radio station KNON, "The Voice of the People," has always strived to be inclusive and diverse with its programing. One of its goals has been to provide unique programming that represents all of Dallas. In that spirit, KNON's online sister station, KNON NOW, recently added a show called Kidz Star Radio, hosted by 8-year-old Mary Ella Woodstock. You can hear her every Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. and listen to archived shows at KNON NOW.

The idea of having a literal kid's show came from KNON's station manager and captain David Chaos.

"I had been wanting one for a while, but we did not have any candidates or resources for finding a kid for it," he says. "We used to have a teen talk radio show, and it went well, so KNON has some history with putting kids on the air."

Mary Ella's father, Johnny Woodstock, hosts his own show on KNON NOW, The Sounds of New Orleans, on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Woodstock would regularly have his daughter assist him on his show.

"It was never a hang. She would co-host. ...I would play a song and Ella would read the tags. It was never set for her to play around. It was set for her to learn how things went. It was already an unofficial training," Woodstock says.

Helping out her dad at KNON introduced her to many other people at the station. "Mary Ella would sometimes sit in as co-host on her dad's show, so the station was about as familiar with her as she was with us," Jay Sustain, KNON's program director, says.
This familiarity led to Mary Ella being invited on the Blues with Bonnie show as a guest to talk about her role in the musical Peter Pan Jr. at the Bruiting Theater in Garland. That's when the idea to have Mary Ella as a DJ struck Chaos.

"Ella was at the station with her father and visited the FM studio while he was on in our stream station studio," Chaos says. "The DJ she was visiting with [Bonnie] let her on the mic, and I heard her on some of the breaks. She sounded pretty good, so I discussed the idea with her father, and here we are."

Chaos asked Woodstock if she liked music and Mary Ella remembers, "Instead of the smart aleck answer my father would have given, he said, 'Yes, Dave. The answer is yes.'"

When Woodstock asked his daughter if she wanted to host a show she excitedly responded, "Yes, Dad! Yes! I want my own radio show! We could be radio show twinsies!"

Chaos was impressed, but Mary Ella still had to go through the same hiring process any adult on-air host. She filled out an application, which she completed by herself, Woodstock says. She also made a mock playlist and did her first-ever job interview. She then went through training with Sustain. Her father tells us, "It was all her, not me. I brought her to the station. I was at her interview, but I didn't say a word. She did this all on her own."

Mary Ella has the distinction of being the youngest non-podcast broadcaster in the United States. The show has been on for just over two months, and it's going well. Kidz Star Radio is mainly Mary Ella being the DJ and "spinning" her favorite songs. (Taylor Swift and Katy Perry were among the artists played during this interview.) But Mary Ella says playing music is not what she likes best about her show.

"It is kind of stressful, I gotta say, sure, but I also really like having guests. It's one of my favorite things about it," she says.

Guests have included performers from the award-winning music camp Chicks Who Rock, members of her Girl Scout troop and her mother, Tiffany Vollmer, the voice of Dragon Ball Z's Bulma. Mary Ella's theme for picking songs is just the songs and artists she loves.

"Really, just whatever," she says. "It depends on if I have a guest on or not, like the circumstances of what my show is going to be like. ...There's only one thing I won't do, which is because you're not allowed to do it: play songs with cuss words."

Behind the mic, she barely sits still, bouncing around the room as she does her intros and interviews. There is a lot of giggling and a lot of fun. Her father does help guide the show to some degree, but it's not uncommon to have a producer keep things on track. Sustain describes it this way: "Her show is actually quite fun, an innocent point of view, coupled with the musical choices of an 8-year-old."

Chaos says listeners' response has been good, and Sustain agrees.

"Between her love and knowledge for music and her great attitude, we knew it would be a good fit. She's really a great kid with a dynamic personality. ...In terms of diversity, I felt like she would be a perfect fit for our growing online station...KNON is proud to support her and her father's show as it really embodies the family we strive to be."
Mary Ella has many other interests and talents as well. She is set to play the starring role in the musical Matilda at the Plaza Theater in Garland on June 20 and has acted in many local stage productions. She is a recurring character on the YouTube kids show Kiki & Coco and had a feature extra role in the film The Stranger. Mary Ella also does dance and cheer camp, so mostly she's just a normal kid.

Mary Ella already has plenty of ambition. Besides the career option of being a DJ, she is deciding between being an actress, singer or teacher. Eight years old is probably a little young to make a definitive decision and she's wise to keep her options open. There is no doubt that she's an artist to watch for in the future, but for now her bright, refreshing personality can be enjoyed for a two-hour clip every Sunday.