It was a Love Supreme Friday on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, and hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God had made a deliberate choice to shift the energy. After weeks of heavy political conversation surrounding Nebraska’s primary election, Paul B. set the tone early. “We’ve been talking a lot of politics for a while and it’s time to change our mindsets over to something else — because it’s real easy to let your emotions take over when there’s so much to be emotional about.” The studio pivoted toward community, culture, and the kind of work that quietly changes lives — and the chat room came right along for the ride.
Viewer Judy Prince seemed to echo the morning’s spirit perfectly: “If you are sad or angry, go out and help others. Your attitude will change.” It was that kind of Friday.
Before diving into the main event, the hosts took a moment to celebrate a handful of local wins worth cheering about. Core Science Bio Diagnostics walked away with a $52,000 prize, Omaha North High School’s engineering program earned national recognition, and the upcoming film I Love Boosters at Film Streams was flagged as a must-see for the community. Small celebrations, but the kind that remind you Omaha is quietly doing big things.
Then came the conversation the morning had been building toward — a sit-down with Dana Murray, executive director and founder of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA), located on North 24th Street. A South Omaha native who spent eleven years in New York City before coming home, Murray has built something rare: a youth music institution that is equal parts art school, performance venue, broadcast lab, and community anchor.
Paul B. has long held a reverence for North 24th Street — “the Deuce,” as it’s known. “I’ve always called it the most important black corner in Nebraska,” he said, “and we have to be of service to it.” Murray shares that conviction, even as someone who grew up on the other side of town. “If you’re Black and you’re in Omaha, especially in the ’70s and early ’80s, everyone had a shared relationship with North Omaha,” he said. “That was the Mecca for us.”
But Murray isn’t sentimental to the point of being impractical. When asked what the Deuce corridor should look like, his answer was measured and strategic. “There are metrics for the success of any district,” he said. “You have to have enough housing, places of service, parking, laundromats, groceries, gas stations — all the things any area needs to be self-sustained. As a district, you also have to have destinations: entertainment, restaurants, lounges, things that are your bread-and-butter attractions to draw people into the community.” He went further, floating the idea of a hotel that could support larger music festivals and conferences. “There’s been a lot of stuff on North 24th Street that wasn’t sustainable,” he added. “I can’t get caught up in the emotion of redevelopment. The X’s and O’s have to make sense.”
Viewer Pops brought a little personal history to that point, noting that “artists like Fats Domino used to stay at your grandfather’s home when he came to town to perform — so yes, more infrastructure for artists around the Deuce corridor would be a godsend.”
On the subject of culture as a community asset, Murray was direct and passionate. “What we have to sell in most Black communities is our culture. Our culture is equity. Our artistic genius is equity. The sooner we understand that, the better off we’re going to be — because then it’s going to be respected, and people are going to get their young people involved in music programs because they understand this is the core of who we are.”
NMA isn’t just teaching scales and chord progressions. Murray described a full ecosystem of programming — live sound engineering, broadcast production, podcasting, and live-streamed events — all run in large part by the students themselves. “So it’s not just telling them, ‘oh, you can be this someday,'” he said. “No — you can be this right now. Once you remove those barriers, sky’s the limit.”
Paul B. framed it through what he called the “secondary matrix” — the deeper purpose running beneath the surface of any meaningful work. “Dana Murray teaches kids music on the surface,” he explained, “but the secondary matrix is creating critical thinkers.” Murray agreed, noting that NMA’s students won’t all become professional musicians. “Some will become doctors, lawyers, business owners. Whatever they choose to do, they’re going to be better because they were aligned with artistry.”
As for NMA’s future, Murray is thinking big — a $20 million capital campaign and an eventual full campus. His reference point? Omaha Performing Arts and its estimated $40 to $50 million annual economic impact on downtown. “We need a vehicle like that for North Omaha,” he said, “and I see NMA taking up that space.”
NMA is currently seeking qualified music instructors. Interested educators can reach Dana Murray at dmurray@northomahamusic.org or assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahamusic.org. Murray was clear about what they’re looking for: “Anyone can have the X’s and O’s of teaching, but unless you’re able to inspire a young person, they don’t really have the attention span for the X’s and O’s of music. The instructors we bring in have to have in their arsenal the ability to inspire another human being.”
Viewer Senator KML put it simply: “Thank you, Uncle Dana. You’re changing lives in big ways. We are the students.”
Buddy the God closed the morning with a reminder that all of this community-building lives alongside the responsibility of civic participation. “None of this — a lot of this — doesn’t matter if everybody voted,” he said. “There’s so much rhetoric, complaints, arguments — keyboard warriorship — and it doesn’t compare to what kind of change you can actually make.” And on the flip side, viewer Aeros 402 brought the morning full circle with a simple, joyful note: “My only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.” On a Love Supreme Friday, that’s exactly the energy.
Tune in Monday morning when 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning returns — because in this community, there’s always more worth talking about.
