K-LITE 101.7’s morning show team Gary and Catherine is sharing the power of music through the COVID-19 crisis with a new feature called Music That Matters Now.

The segment, airing weekdays at 8:45 a.m., highlights well-known musicians, asking for their thoughts about the role of music during these challenging times. Featured musicians choose two songs they feel appropriate and inspiring, one of their own and one from another musician or band.

The idea was created during a recent interview with singer/songwriter Bridget Benenate, who lives in Santa Barbara. Benenate is known for writing Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway,” a song that remained No. 1 on the Billboard chart for 20 consecutive weeks.

Following the interview and the radio debut of “Better Days,” the Gary and Catherine radio team decided to expand the feature.

Gary and Catherine, who have been on the air together for nearly 28 years, are California’s longest running morning team.

They said they “thought it was important for the community to hear from musicians about what’s going on for them as artists, how their creative processes continue even when tours and live shows are cancelled, and what they find inspirational in music and verse.

“We know the power of  music can be uplifting and transformative,” they said. “We’ve needed that before, both as a community and as a nation, but perhaps now more than ever.”

Music That Matters Now! kicked off with Grammy-winning producer, singer and songwriter, Alan Parsons. Producer of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” Parsons had a series of rock classic hits with the Alan Parsons Project.

With his own overseas tour cut short due to the pandemic, Parsons talked about his own experience with shelter-in-place, and being separated from his children and grandchildren, and reflected on the need to go through these times together.

During the interview, Parsons selected “Good Day Sunshine,” having been a sound engineer on two early Beatles albums. From his own works, he chose the song “Old and Wise,” adding, “We must protect our most vulnerable and beloved population during this time, and heed the call to shelter at home as difficult as that can be.”

Upcoming guests include Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers, Jimmy Messina, John Kay from Steppenwolf, and David Pack with Ambrosia. The station is can be heard at 101.7 FM, online at www.klite.com or by downloading the KLITE app.