And for the last 19 years, at WRFA, he has.

Recently, Jones aired his 500th show of 3rd Street Garage, a mix of music selected by Jones.

“It’s about the radio station,” Jones said of WRFA.

The radio show is named after the location of the station, 116 E. Third St.

Robb Jones, host of 3rd Street Garage on WRFA, sits ready to speak during his radio show. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

Growing up, Jones recalled, the radio was always on in his house – all seasons. But he is quick to point out that when he visited his friends’ houses, there was dead air – no pun intended – and he didn’t hear any TVs or radios in the background. He also will admit that he wasn’t listening to the radio as training to be a disc jockey.

“It’s completely amateur on my part,” Jones said.

In the late 1980s, when attending Jamestown Community College, he would sometimes go to the college radio station and learn more about radio.

Fast forward.

At WRFA Jones is a volunteer and serves on its advisory board. Jones also served on the former Arts Council for Chautauqua County and when the idea for a radio station was brought up, Jones was an immediate supporter.

According to wrfalp.com, WRFA is a listener supported, non-commercial, low power FM radio station provided as a public service by the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts (formerly known as Arts Council for Chautauqua County). It is broadcast at 107.9 FM. It was founded in 2004 by Dennis Drew and the Arts Council and first went on the air on Sept. 13, 2004. WRFA is dedicated to providing access to the arts, cultural and educational programming and a forum for the discourse of public affairs. In addition WRFA provides community outreach through programming at area public schools, community activities and live performances, and even sporting events. The station also relies on participation from local volunteers, who produce a wide variety of news, cultural and entertainment-related programming.

Jones will tell you that he is a music nerd, and he likes to sequence different music genres together. At the station, on different occasions, Jones would talk to Drew about his radio show idea. Finally, Drew gave him a chance to host the show, and in 2005 the 3rd Street Garage was born.

“We met and he showed me the ropes on production, show production,” Jones said. “And I took it from there having no idea where it was going to go, how long it was going to go, what I was going to do with it, and no radio experience. But he just let me do my thing. And the radio station just let me do my thing. And I’m sure it was pretty rough to begin with and bumpy.”

Jones said 3rd Street Garage airs every Friday from 7 to 8 p.m., offering listeners a musical detour at the end of the week with a diverse selection of garage rock. Jones tries to spotlight the station’s locale while ushering in the energetic spirit of garage rock music. Jones curates the playlist to encompass not only classic “nugget” bands from the 1960s but every decade’s incarnation of the genre including modern acts like the Black Keys, Jack White, the Clockwork Flowers, along with regional and lesser-known artists.

Jones chooses the music each week, and in 19 years, finding new music is what keeps the show fresh, Jones said.

“I try to make it (the show) more than just stringing a whole bunch of songs together,” Jones added.

The show also can be streamed at wrfalp.com.