
Laura Blackwood
Host - WeekendDuring her career in radio spanning nearly 30 years, Laura Blackwood has never lost her love, passion and fascination for the medium, which was first sparked during a sixth-grade field trip to a local radio station.
A Cincinnati-area native, a large portion of her career has been as an air talent and music program host, producer, production director, creative services writer and voiceover talent. Blackwood has worked in both commercial and public radio in Cincinnati, Dayton, Louisville, Lexington and several other cities — including at stations WEBN, WNKU, WFOX and WUKY. She attended Ohio University and Northern Kentucky University, with majors in radio/television and mass communications, and English.
Her work in journalism and news writing started with high school journalism classes. During her senior year, she conducted one-on-one interviews with Cincinnati City Councilman and former Mayor Jerry Springer (yes, that Jerry Springer) and Sen. John Glenn. In her professional career, Blackwood has interviewed musical artists and bands such as the Allman Brothers, Wilco, David Byrne, Ryan Adams, Richard Thompson, the Afghan Whigs, Lucinda Williams, Nick Lowe, Stephen Marley, Dave Alvin, Jeff Buckley, Loretta Lynn, Arlo Guthrie and many more. She also interviewed NPR’s World Café host David Dye on the art of interviewing. Prior to moving to Arizona, Blackwood spent several years as a local weekday host and anchor for All Things Considered.
Upon moving to the Valley of the Sun, Blackwood had to take a few years off from radio due to family matters but missed the field tremendously. After deciding to return to radio, she was very excited when she saw KJZZ needed a host for weekends and leaped at the chance to return to her first calling. Blackwood has been KJZZ’s host for Weekend Edition and is now the Sunday afternoon host. During fund drives, she is a primary host on KJZZ Plus, the regular-programming audio stream on kjzz.org.
In her spare time, Blackwood loves listening to music and checking out live bands, reading books about science, biology, biographies and non-fiction; reading and writing poetry and essays; and attempting to play the guitar.