Meet The Crew

The voices of 989 XFM!

Barry MacKinnon – Breakfast With Barry 6am-10am
breakfast@989xfm.ca
In 2003 I used my passport to cross the Causeway and make my home in Antigonish. Each weekday morning, Ken and I truly enjoy waking up Northeastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. Besides hosting the morning show I am the Program Director at XFM, and also host The Ceilidh Saturday nights at six.
Rhonda Howare - Weekdays 10am-2pm
psa@989xfm.ca
I always appreciate the time we spend together getting through the middle part of our day! I’m a farming enthusiast, and have hosted Farmers’ Forum Saturday mornings since starting at XFM.
Kevin Bottaro – Weekdays 2pm-6pm
promotions@989xfm.ca
Despite being a born and raised Ontarian, Nova Scotia is my home at heart and I’ve chosen to make my life in this amazing province. Beyond the show I handle Promotions at XFM, so I get to come up with lots of fun stuff and give you freebies! Outside of radio I spend an extraordinary amount of time on Wikipedia and play in the best one-man air band ever, to highlight a couple of things.
Paul Kerwin – Weekdays 6pm-12am, Weekends 1pm-6pm
music@989xfm.ca
Radio has been in my blood all my life. I look after the music on XFM, and join me evenings for more of Today’s Best Music & Classics Too including the 8-Pack At 8. Outside radio, I spend time with my family. Hobbies include music of course, and being a drummer. I dream of having a drum set the size of Neil Peart’s.
Joe Chesal - Weekends 7am-1pm
joe@989xfm.ca
I work part-time at XFM, but I fill in shifts when needed during the week. Hired in 1970, working weekends coincided with my full-time teaching career in Antigonish. I retired from the classroom in 2001 but have maintained my radio gig ever since, fulfilling a life-long dream to work in this medium since my teen years. I am still fascinated with the process and in spite of the many changes through the years, I enjoy the work and immediate communication with the listening audience…through words and music. I believe music somehow connects us all, and it is a beautiful way to entertain and ultimately communicate one’s thoughts and feelings.
Gerard MacDonald – Weekends 7am-1pm
gerard@989xfm.ca
I started at XFM in 1981 at age 5 (*editor’s note: yeah right) when we used to spin records, read news from a teletype machine and drink gallons of coffee.  Hope to retire somewhere the beaches are warm, the days are long and the girls are single and beautiful.
Devin Brown - Weekends 1pm-6pm
I’m from Elrose, Saskatchewan and trained in Radio Broadcasting at Mount Royal College in Calgary. There, I also met my wife Jennifer from New Glasgow. I’ve travelled the world – spending time in Australia and all over Canada and the USA – but I love to call the Maritimes home with my 3 kids and 2 cats.  I recently bought a new truck! I’m a big fan of the Toronto Blue Jays and Calgary Flames, especially Theo Fleury. During the week I’m at Michelin making tires, and I love hanging out with you weekends!
Ken Kingston – Weekdays 6am-12pm
news@989xfm.ca
In my role as News Director at XFM I lead a team providing all aspects of news, including coordinating local news content, reporting, and anchoring local news casts. Before joining XFM in 2002, I worked for media outlets all over Canada.  An avid volunteer, I’ve worked for a variety of causes including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Antigonish.   I’ve also served on host committees that have organized international, national and regional sports tournaments, including the 2009 and 2010 CIS Women’s University Hockey Championship at St. FX. Lastly I’m also a member of the Harbour Players, a volunteer dinner theatre group in Northeastern Nova Scotia that performs at fund-raising dinners for local charities.
Geoff Goodfellow – Weekdays 12pm-6pm
news@989xfm.ca
I was born and raised in Nova Scotia. I left the province to earn a degree  in Political Science and History from Bishop’s University in Quebec. I went on to receive  a post-graduate journalism degree from Humber College in Toronto. After 10 years of studying and working in Eastern Quebec, Montreal and Toronto, I happily returned to Nova Scotia.  Along with covering the local area for XFM News since 2008, I also met the woman I’ve since married in Antigonish and we’ve  recently welcomed our first born into our family, a beautiful baby girl. Catch me for the afternoon news on XFM.