Laura Miller's life at KVMR might be compared to a two-act play with a long intermission. A native of Carmichael, she grew up, she says, with her "ear glued to the radio," soaking up rock, folk and pop from fondly remembered but now-defunct radio stations such as KROY, KNDE, KZAP and K108. After hearing Joan Baez as a teenager, she became obsessed with the singer's music and marshaled a group of girlfriends to go with her to the Bay Area for a concert. Baez was just the first in a series of intense musical attachments-and probably why her year-old KVMR program, showcasing folk, Americana and rock singer-songwriters from 6-8 p.m. on alternating Saturdays, is called Diamonds & Rust. But we're getting ahead of the story. Let's venture back to 1979, when Laura, just barely voting age, moved to Nevada City. During a visit to the county fair, she picked up a copy of the Listeners' Guide at the KVMR booth. New-in town music lover that she was, Laura decided to volunteer at the 10-watt station. She started in the office doing administrative tasks and soon was training to be a deejay under the tutelage of Hap Hazard in the legendary shack on Banner Mountain. "KVMR was such a wonderful place for meeting people," she says, recalling the cast of characters she has befriended over the years. "It was a great way to connect with the community." Her Saturday afternoon music show, Out on the Weekend, started in 1981 and ran for seven years. Within a few years she had moved up to program manager. In 1985, the general manager left and Laura, just in her mid-twenties, found herself running the show. Laura has dedicated herself to the twin causes of community service and music. Managing KVMR combined both, and the station benefited from her talent for fund raising. Her proudest moment from that period is writing the original grant that in 1986 first obtained significant funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting-support that continues to this day. Managing the station in those formative years proved to be somewhat stressful-a little more drama than she had in mind. In 1986 the curtain came down on Laura's first act at KVMR, and she went on to other pursuits. She went back home to Carmichael to operate a record store, In the Groove, for almost a decade, indulging her love affair with the vinyl record. In 1997, she sold the brick-and-mortar store and eventually started her current business selling vinyl at RecordsontheWeb.com. She also spent a couple of years managing KZYX, a community radio station in Mendocino. But her attachment to KVMR remained strong and, around the turn of the decade, the curtain opened on Laura's second act here. She returned to Nevada City, working for three years as the executive director of AnimalSave. She came back to the station in a volunteer role, taking bit parts subbing for other broadcasters for about nine years. Then, a year ago, Diamonds & Rust debuted, and Laura has enjoyed using the time slot to feature contemporary singer-songwriters such as Jackson Browne, Nanci Griffith, and her current favorite, Lucinda Williams. She loves to dig up rare recordings and put together theme shows. One favorite was a show constructed around "answer songs"- for example, Joni Mitchell's "Circle Game," crafted as a response to Neil Young's "Sugar Mountain." First and foremost, Laura is still the music fan she was as a Baez-besotted teenager in Carmichael. She was inspired to start collecting artists' autographs after she had a dream one night in which she gained an autograph from Paul Simon with ease. Then she went to one of Simon's concerts, asked someone on the crew if she could meet him, and dream became reality. Hey, she thought, this is a lot easier than I expected! She still gets a thrill when her KVMR credentials allow her to meet artists backstage, and she was delighted to recently get a CD autographed by Joni Mitchell that will no doubt become a thank-you gift at fund raising time. When she isn't trafficking in rare vinyl (particularly jazz, blues and rock from the '50s and '60s) or cooking up new treats for her show, Laura serves on the station's Community Advisory Board, and is excited about helping to organize a public forum in February 2011 that the station will use to glean opinions from its listeners in its mission to grow ever more responsive to the community. After more than three decades associated with KVMR (with an intermission in between), Laura remains a valuable role-player both on the air and behind the scenes. "KVMR," she says, "will always be a part of my heart." Tune in to Diamonds & Rust alternate Saturdays at 6 p.m.