Joe Rebal was a radio guy. He earned an associate degree in radio broadcasting from Great Falls College and was the audio guy for the Answer Auction Show with Group W Cable while still in school. After graduating, he hosted a morning show in Helena for KMTX, an afternoon show on KHKR and a midday radio show for KBLL in Helena.
But in 1980, 20-year-old Rebal hit a pick-up truck while driving down the highway on his motorcycle. The crash resulted in a traumatic brain injury that Rebal still suffers from, almost four decades later.
The injury has impaired Rebal’s diction and speech. It can take him time to formulate how to say what he wants to say and get a sentence out. He sometimes trails off while talking.
But he’s still a radio guy. He’s always liked its power to connect people. And sixties music, he says, “is one of my specialties.” So every Sunday at 6 p.m., he hosts “Stepping Back to the ‘60s,” on Jefferson County Radio.
How Rebal returned to the airwaves is the story of his own perseverance, and also of some timely support. Since 2010, he has been a resident at Whitehall’s Liberty Place, an assisted living facility that specializes in patients with traumatic brain injury. Liberty Place aims to help residents become as independent as possible, whether or not they end up reintegrating into society, according to David Parker.
Parker, a music therapist, is program director of Libert’s Arts Project, which he says seeks to “see adults with acquired brain injury find meaning, purpose and dignity through the arts and community.” Parker says the Liberty Place staff tries to encourage residents to set small goals for themselves “to become as independent as possible” — and one goal Rebal kept mentioning was radio.
Sensing an opportunity, Parker contacted a few local stations about producing a show Rebal could host. But he had trouble finding a station that could spare someone to help Rebal record the program at Liberty Place.
Then, Parker found Jefferson County Radio. He approached the Local Emergency Planning Committee’s (LEPC), radio subcommittee, which runs the station, with a proposal for Rebal’s show in October 2017. Rebal came up for the name and premise for the show because he was born in 1960 and was raised with the music.
It took about a year to work out the details. Chick Bruce, a member of the LEPC’s radio subcommittee, volunteered to take on the project and to work with Rebal. At the time, Bruce was broadcasting events for the radio station, and he had experience in radio editing.
Whenever Bruce has some free time, he drives down from Clancy to the main office of Liberty Place with his laptop and records Rebal’s show. Rebal writes up what he wants to say in advance, and he dictates the script to Parker, who types it up in time for Rebal to reads his recording sessions with Bruce.
From there, Bruce edits the show, put it on a USB drive, and delivers it to Telesystem Services, LLC in Cardwell, which produces Jefferson County Radio’s broadcasts.
“Stepping Back to the ‘60s” debuted last November 11. The station aired and re-ran five more episodes before putting the show on hiatus when Rebal and Bruce got behind on their recordings. But “Stepping Back” restarted on May 5. For this second season, Bruce and Rebal have recorded 10 shows, and Parker said he is working with Rebal on episodes 11 and 12.
Bruce said that he has seen a change in Rebal since their first show. Last November, he says, it would take several hours to record one show. Now, the pair can easily record two or three episodes in that time.
“I’ve seen how much it’s helped Joe,” Bruce said.
Rebal says the show has helped him in the way any type of therapy does when it comes to a traumatic brain injury. “It helps me work on rebuilding what has been lost and screwed up and such,” Rebal said, “It gives me the opportunity to expand on music.”
Rebal said that in the future, he would like to host a show dedicated to jazz or ‘30s music. But for now, “Stepping Back to the ‘60s” is his radio home. Parker says that Rebal knows almost every word from every song he plays. And fittingly, Rebal will turn 60 on July 22, bringing his ‘60s- themed show full circle.
“I don’t feel at a loss,” Rebal said, referring to his injury. “I don’t think [anything] is forever gone.” And when he’s on air, he says, “I enjoy having communication with the general public.”
The next episode of Stepping Back to the ‘60s will air on July 14 and be broadcast to 98.3 FM, 106.5 FM, 106.1 FM, 103.7 FM, 100.3 FM and 105.9 FM.
