MATT DRISCOLL: TUNE IN THURSDAY >>>

Tomorrow afternoon in a Thurston County courtroom, Andras Jones â€" longtime host of Radio8Ball which, until mid July, aired on Olympia’s KAOS 89.3FM community radio station â€" will go in front of a judge. So will Tammy T, a former Radio8Ball co-host and also a co-host of KAOS’s The Think Tank. The former KAOS coworkers will both be in court for the same reason, but will sit on opposing sides of the room, at odds with each other.

While I’m following the story for Thursday’s paper, here’s a synopsis of the situation:

Jones created Radio8Ball at KAOS in 1998. Succinctly described, the show aims to answer the questions of life through the shuffling of CDs and the interpretation of random pop songs. The premise sounds a bit out there, and it is, but it was executed with near perfection by Jones â€" whose father was an expert in dream interpretation and also an original faculty member at the Evergreen State College. The show has been featured on NPR, and has inspired live versions both in the Northwest and Los Angeles. Jones also currently does a trimmed down version of Radio8Ball on KKNW 1150AM Seattle on Fridays at noon. 

In 2004 Jones asked Tammy T to co-host Radio8Ball with him. At the time, Jones was returning from touring with his band, and was reviving Radio8Ball from hiatus. Tammy T was already a DJ at KAOS, and the two shared a similar taste in music. At the time it seemed like a natural fit. 

However, things quickly fell apart. According to Jones, the dynamic was never what he’d hoped for, and he eventually asked Tammy T to leave the program. The problems continued between the two even after Tammy T’s time on Radio8Ball came to an end. Jones came to see Tammy as something of an obsessed stalker, and he forwarded these concerns via email to the head honchos at KAOS â€" asking for help from management. These honchos, in turn, sent Jones’ emailed concerns to Tammy â€" the alleged stalker â€" and, at least according to Jones, told him to get over it. As you could imagine the situation snowballed.

Then, in July, Jones was notified by KAOS that Radio8Ball had been canceled, basing the show’s termination on the fact Jones was also doing the show on KKNW in Seattle. According to a letter informing Jones of the cancellation, this action went against KAOS’s mission of serving underrepresented genres and formats. The shows popularity, at KAOS, had become a liability. 

All this is real juicy, I realize, but you’re probably wondering why the hell Jones and Tammy T will be in court tomorrow.

Concerned for his image and good name â€" especially at a time when Radio8Ball is being shopped to major television executives â€" Jones is seeking a restraining order against Tammy T, claiming his former co-host is stalking him and making life miserable to get back at him for firing her. Tammy T, for her part, is seeking a restraining order against Jones for the same reason.

Whichever way the judge rules tomorrow, it will make for a sad ending to a sad saga. However, it will be a little bit more than that â€" at least from a news perspective â€" if the judge rules in Jones’ favor. If, in fact, it turns out Jones had valid concerns about Tammy T harassing and stalking him, contacted the powers that be at KAOS, and the powers that be simply scoffed, told him to get over it, and forwarded his emails asking for help from management directly to Tammy T, well, that’s more than just juicy.

Tomorrow we’ll see what the judge has to say.

Ed. note: Andras Jones has written freelance music previews for the Weekly Volcano. He contacted us regarding his situation. Matt Driscoll investigated without any preconceived notions or bias.

LINK: Radio8Ball MySpace
LINK: Tammy T's MySpace