It was a Love Supreme Friday on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, and hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God set the tone early: less politics, more possibility. After weeks of primary election coverage, the show took a breath — and a turn toward something that’s been building quietly on North 24th Street.
“We’ve been talking a lot of politics for a while and we got a little break after the primaries,” Paul B. told listeners. “Never going to go away completely, but it doesn’t have to dominate the show today.” That spirit of forward momentum carried the entire episode, anchored by a rich conversation with Dana Murray, executive director and founder of the North Omaha Music Academy.
But first, Buddy the God framed the bigger picture — the kind of plain-spoken clarity the show has become known for. “The ecosystem that we have been relying on is crumbling before our very eyes — whether it’s the electoral politics, whether it’s the economy, whether it’s education,” he said. “We got to do both: build our own ecosystems and continue to figure this out as a nation.” It’s a theme the show has been returning to all season, and Friday’s guest embodied it as well as anyone could.
Dana Murray is a South Omaha kid who spent eleven years making music in New York City before something pulled him home. What began as a simple intention — teach kids how to play music — has grown into something far more layered. The North Omaha Music Academy, formerly known as Love’s Jazz, now operates as a youth music academy, performance venue, and community anchor on the North 24th Street corridor. Murray described his evolution into the role with characteristic humility: “I came down there to teach kids how to play music, and that was my sole motivation. When I got my feet on the ground, I realized God brought me down here for other things. Almost kicking and screaming, I had to align myself with a lot of other adjacent agendas.”
That alignment has produced something remarkable. Beyond instrument lessons, NMA students learn live sound engineering, broadcast production, podcasting, and how to interview professional artists — skills they can use right now, not someday. “It’s not just teaching them, oh you can be this,” Murray said. “No, you can be this right now. Once you remove those barriers, the sky is the limit.” Viewer Senator KML put it simply in the chat: “Thank you, Uncle Dana. You’re changing lives in big ways. We are the students.”
Paul B. has a name for what Murray is doing beneath the surface. He calls it the “secondary matrix” — the deeper mission embedded inside the visible one. “In Dana Murray’s case, he teaches kids music — on the surface that’s what it is,” Paul B. explained. “But the secondary matrix is to create critical thinkers, create people that can go further in their fields because they have the discipline of musical training and the mind-expanding benefits of that training.” Viewer Pops could relate personally: “I experienced my secondary matrix in junior high when I took algebra. I was gaining proficiency and noticed I was suddenly able to think outside the box on several different levels. Music the same.”
Murray’s vision extends well beyond individual students. He spoke candidly about what North 24th Street — “the Deuce,” as it’s known — could and should become. He pointed to Omaha’s Blackstone, Benson, and Little Bohemia districts as comparisons, then made clear why North 24th stands apart: “The area that has the most history and can truly claim to be a cultural and arts district is the North 24th Street corridor.” The challenge, he acknowledged, is rebuilding momentum from within a community that has lost touch with its own legacy.
His prescription? Infrastructure, destinations, and a willingness to invite everyone in. He pointed to South Omaha’s Cinco de Mayo celebration as a model — an event rooted in cultural pride that nonetheless opens its arms to all of Omaha. “One of the things I’ve tried to do was reach out and be a beacon for all of Omaha to come down to North 24th Street,” Murray said. “People told me that was going to be very hard, but people have no problem coming from wherever they are in Omaha or Iowa to hear jazz music or whatever we present.” Viewer Pops added a personal historical note: “Artists like Fats Domino used to stay at your grandfather’s home when he came to town to perform. So yes, more infrastructure for the artist around the Deuce corridor would be a godsend.”
Looking ahead, Murray announced that NMA is launching a capital campaign — with a first phase of $20 million — aimed at building a full campus. The vision is sweeping: an institution that functions for North Omaha the way Omaha Performing Arts functions for downtown, generating cultural gravity and economic impact in equal measure. “Think of Omaha Performing Arts and what it means to downtown — not only as a music and entertainment entity, but as an economic vehicle bringing in $40, $45, $50 million in revenue every year,” he said. “We’re not only raising musicians, but more importantly we’re raising more critical thinking human beings.”
At the heart of it all is a belief Murray returned to again and again: that culture is equity. “What we have to sell in most black communities is our culture,” he said. “If we don’t monetize it, the rest of the country does. The sooner we understand that our culture is equity, that our brilliance and our artistic genius is equity, the better off we’re going to be.”
The show also made time for community celebration. Paul B. highlighted Charell Shelton’s new North Omaha diagnostic lab, Omaha North High School’s nationally recognized engineering program, and the forthcoming Heart Ministry Center grocery store — each one another thread in the ecosystem the show champions every morning. And the chat brought its own joy: viewer Aeros 402 shared the sweetest news of the day: “My only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.” The whole room, it seemed, felt it too.
If you missed this one, it’s worth going back. And if you want to be part of what NMA is building, Dana Murray can be reached at dmurray@northomahamusic.org. The NMA Fest is on the horizon — keep an eye on the North Omaha Music Academy for details.
Join Paul B., Buddy the God, and the whole First Sky family again Monday morning. There’s always something worth showing up for.
