It was Love Supreme Friday on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, and hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God made sure the show lived up to its name. With Nebraska’s midterm primary elections still fresh on everyone’s mind — and more than a little political tension simmering in the show’s online community — Paul B. made a deliberate call at the top of the broadcast. “There’s a lot of chatter going on on Friends of First Sky Omaha,” he said. “There’s a lot of back and forth, friends breaking up, all kinds of stuff happening over politics — and that just is like, okay, well, we have to make a decision. It’s going to be Love Supreme Friday today.”
That decision set the tone for an episode that was less about finger-pointing and more about possibility — the kind of quiet, determined, community-building possibility that doesn’t always make headlines but changes neighborhoods for generations. Viewer Kimber Snipes captured some of the nuance around civic engagement when she shared, “I’ve been having conversations with people between the ages of 20 and 35. What I hear the most is most of them don’t really know what to do and know nothing about the candidates. I don’t think we should be slamming people for not voting when the system is really what has caused this. I think we need to have more education and deep dive discussions.” It was the kind of comment that the hosts took to heart, with Buddy the God acknowledging that electoral participation and community self-sufficiency aren’t an either-or proposition. “We got to do both,” he said. “We have to build our own ecosystems and continue to do the things that we’re about to talk about. But in the long run, we do got to figure this out as far as a nation.”
The conversation then turned to what may have been the most energizing part of the morning: a wide-ranging interview with Dana Murray, founder and director of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA), located on North 24th Street. Murray, a musician and educator who spent eleven years honing his craft in New York City before returning home to Omaha, is building something that is far more than a music school — and he’ll be the first to tell you so.
Paul B. framed the conversation with what he called the “secondary matrix” — the idea that every meaningful community effort carries a deeper purpose beneath its surface. “Dana Murray teaches kids music — on the surface that’s what it is — but the secondary matrix is to create critical thinkers,” Paul B. said. Murray confirmed exactly that vision. “We’re not only raising musicians, but more importantly we’re raising more critical thinking human beings,” Murray said. “Because all these young kids are not going to become musicians by choice. Some will become doctors, some lawyers, some business owners. Whatever they choose to do, they’re going to be better because they were aligned with artistry.”
The programs at NMA go well beyond instrument instruction. Students can learn live sound engineering, podcasting, and live-stream production in a dedicated broadcast lab. Murray is deliberate about putting young people to work in real time, not just preparing them for some distant future. “It’s not just teaching them, oh you can be this someday,” he said. “No, you can be this right now.” Viewer Mark Manor offered a boots-on-the-ground observation: “When I go there it is the same people at shows at Waiting Room, Slow Down, and the Jewels. So people are coming from all around town and getting down at NMA, which I find impressive.”
Murray’s vision extends well beyond the academy’s current walls. He spoke passionately about the potential of the North 24th Street corridor — what locals affectionately call “the Deuce” — to become a fully realized cultural and arts destination. He described the elements a thriving district needs: housing, parking, eateries, laundromats, and anchor destinations that give people a reason to come and a reason to stay. He even floated the idea of a hotel as a catalyst for larger festivals and conferences. “The area that has the most history and can claim to be a cultural and arts district for real is the North 24th Street corridor,” Murray said. “We’ve been so far removed from that. Look at old pictures and you see on a Saturday morning North 24th Street is filled with people just walking around, shopping, going to eat breakfast — men in their suits on a Saturday morning. There was a unity, a love, and a togetherness that was there.”
He was equally candid about what he sees as a missed opportunity to share that culture with all of Omaha. “At every opportunity, we fail at taking advantage of showcasing our culture and highlighting the excellence of who we are,” he said. “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. People told me that was going to be very hard. And people don’t have any problem coming from wherever they are in Omaha or Iowa to come down North 24th Street to hear jazz music.”
The stakes, Murray argued, are economic as much as cultural. He pointed to Omaha Performing Arts as a model — an institution that generates $40 to $50 million in revenue annually for its surrounding area — and said NMA is aiming to become that kind of vehicle for North Omaha. A $20 million capital campaign is in the works as a first phase toward a full NMA campus. “Our culture is equity,” Murray said plainly. “Our brilliance, our artistic genius is equity. Every music in America has been built off of our experience, from the hardest rock music to the jazziest jazz, to the poppiest pop — trace it all the way back to the music that was brought over here from Africa. The sooner we look at it not as a cool little music thing but as equity for us to build and monetize for our community, the better we’re going to be.”
Paul B. made no secret of his enthusiasm for NMA’s upcoming festival. “When I’m comparing festivals, I’m saying this one to me is the one,” he said. “If I was going to put a festival together, it’d be this. And it’s going to be huge.” Those interested in teaching at NMA can reach Murray at dmurray@northomahamusic.org or assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahamusic.org. Murray emphasized that instructors must bring more than technical skill — they must be able to inspire. “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,” he said. “The why you’re doing it is everything.”
The show also made room for joy. Viewer Aeros 402 (Mary Sanchez) shared a beautiful bit of news mid-broadcast: “On a love note, my only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.” On a Friday framed around love supreme, it was the perfect reminder of what community is really made of — new life, shared hope, and neighbors who show up for one another.
Next Friday, set your alarm a little earlier and pull up a chair. You won’t want to miss what’s brewing on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning.
