Kenn McCloud and Ness Heraldez are “Kenn & Ness In The Morning” on Bakersfield’s Country KUZZ. KUZZ is owned by Buck Owens Productions and was started by legendary Country star Buck Owens.
The station has a big legacy with Owens and is the keeper of “The Bakersfield Sound.”
Kenn and Ness have just been together as a morning show for a year and a half, but a couple of things that you notice talking to them are 1) that they respect the station’s heritage and 2) that they seem to genuinely like each other and are having fun.
The two come to the show from different perspectives and blend well on the air.
“The unique thing about the show, I would say it is the fact that we’ve got two different ends of the spectrum covered. Even as parents, we’re similar, but we’re not. She’s got an eight-year-old, and I have an 18-year-old, said Kenn.
Ness added, “We have one child each, not together, but we are very similar in our morals and ethics. Our opinions on things are pretty much the same, but we are so different in navigating them. So different perspectives.”
Ness came to radio from a unique background. Before joining KUZZ, she worked in a California prison where she taught computer and college programs. A career she said helped define her on-air personality.
“Working with inmates, and I talk to Kenn about it, defines my personality, what I will put up with, and what I won’t. Knowing that when we hit the studio, it’s game time, like we don’t have bad days, and you’re ready to do things for inmates. You’re ready to work. Whatever’s going on in your personal life doesn’t exist. You take that into being on the radio as well.”
The duo’s number one tent pole is for the show to be authentic.
Ness said, “Number one is authentic like I’m always making sure no matter what we do, it is truly authentically us. And, unfortunately for Kenn, I’m crazy.”
Kenn adds, “My goal every day is to make her laugh. And if I can figure out a way to make her laugh, I know I’m doing the same thing for people in their car.”
Kenn and Ness take the station’s legacy seriously and intend to keep it alive.
“This is an incredible gift they’ve given us, and we have to be able to keep this going. We’re really the only third morning show in the history of this radio station as far as teams go. There are big, huge shoes to fill. And we don’t take that lightly ever,” said Kenn.
“Ness added, “When we started this morning show, one of the first things we said was we should make Buck proud. He has a bronze statue in the front office when you get in, and we always say good morning.”
A humble Kenn added, “And we point out that the red, white, and blue guitar, which is our logo, is way more important than either one of us.”
The Buck Owens Crystal Palace is a music venue next to the station. It is used for station shows and concerts.
“It’s the world’s greatest radio home field advantage,” said Kenn. “Every time you go in there, it’s a piece of Buck. And you’ll see something you didn’t see before. We still learn things about Buck and the artists that have been through there. It’s still a big deal. I still get goosebumps going in that building.”
Kenn and Ness spend time gathering content during the day, and Kenn sees an advantage to having a younger co-host in this area.
“One of the blessings of having a younger co-host is that she’s so plugged into TikTok and Instagram and things like that. She minds that so well. Whether we talk about it on the next show or the show three days from now, she looks for ideas that will spur something that we can wrap our lives around and talk about.
The two started by sending videos to reach each other before simplifying it to notes.
Ness said, “Now, what we’ve been doing, instead of sending videos, I will take the idea and have it in my notes. So, when we’re sitting down, what do you want to do?” I go back to my notes. I was like, ‘What if we did this, this, or this?’ Because sometimes it gets so redundant, we’re like, hey, what happened to this? And we’re scrolling back, trying to find it.”
The team is focused on Bakersfield radio, and while ideas like a podcast are appealing down the road right now, it’s about serving the listeners and the city.
“A podcast would extend the brand, but we’re mostly worried about extending our reach in this town. A podcast can be something more global, and that’s great, but for us, we want to dominate. We want to be number one in Bakersfield, as we have been, and we want to stay there because if it doesn’t relate to Bakersfield, it’s not on our show,” added Kenn.
In addition to dominating Bakersfield, Ness said upping the social media game is a 2025 opportunity.
“Our goal this year is to do more socials and go that way. Kenn and I are more focused on that, number one. That’s what we agreed on for 2025,” said Ness
The two are optimistic about the future and looking forward to tackling it as a team.
“I tell people, and I will say this, I wouldn’t be doing this job without her, and I don’t want to do this job without her because it was magical when we first met,” said Kenn.
“We knew then that something special could happen. We worked hard to put it all together. We kept working hard once they gave it to us because we can’t take anything for granted, and we will continue to give it 100% because this is a dream job.”
“To be doing mornings on KUZZ is a huge deal, and we will never forget that.”
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Jeff Lynn serves as Editor of Barrett Media’s Music Radio coverage. Prior to joining Barrett Media, Jeff spent time programming in Milwaukee, Omaha, Cleveland, Des Moines, and Madison for multiple radio groups, including iHeartMedia, Townsquare Media, NRG Media, and Entercom (now Audacy). He also worked as a Country Format Editor for All Access until the outlet shut down in August 2023.
To get in touch with Jeff by email, reach him at Jeff@BarrettMedia.com.
