COVID isolation got you down? Turn on your radio (Really)
Before there was Alexa, or SiriusXM, or Pandora, or Spotify, there was: “From the campus of Isothermal Community College in Spindale, N.C., this is WNCW.”
The first time I heard that call-out on my FM car radio 19 years ago, I thought it was a put-on, an Appalachian Lake Woebegone someone had concocted. I soon learned that Spindale is a real town (pop. 4,321) in Rutherford County, Isothermal is a real two-year college, and WNCW (Western North Carolina’s Window) is not only the best-kept secret in the state, it’s one of the most authentic, eclectic, influential, radio stations in the country.
Okay, I know having a “favorite radio station” in 2020 sounds about as culturally relevant as, say, identifying “the best typewriter store.” Also, in a time of a deadly pandemic, an economic collapse, and a looming crucial presidential election, who asked about radio stations? Hear me out.
Having entertained myself with WNCW for almost two decades, it has only been in the isolation and anxiety of Covid-19 that I have come to appreciate its value and meaning beyond offering a surprising, thoughtful mix of music, lightly sprinkled with such NPR fare as Morning Edition and hourly news summaries.
For starters, WNCW is entirely human and, with only 11 full-time employees, resembles nothing so much as a small town. Algorithm free, a ragtag group of “hosts” present the music, adding patter that reveals not only knowledge and passion for what they spin, but a mélange of unpolished accents often redolent of geographic origins. A favorite, Jasmine Melton, who hails from somewhere near Spruce Pine in Mitchell County, wields a mountain accent so thick it makes Andy Griffith sound like Lester Holt. But like all the hosts, her playlists are chock full of discovery, brought to life with back stories dug out from a life immersed in music lore.
When I say “eclectic,” I understate. A playlist for every song aired in August contains 3,536 artists playing 6,248 different songs, spanning a range hard to capture: from Sturgill Simpson, The Steep Canyon Rangers, Rhonda Vincent, and the Avett Brothers to John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Lionel Hampton, Roland Kirk, and Woody Herman. From Del McCoury, Ricky Skaggs, and Doc Watson, to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bobby Blue Bland, Little Milton and Maceo Parker. From Margo Price, Bill Monroe, and Ralph Stanley, to Liz Phair, Toots and the Maytalls, and Jimi Hendrix. Then there’re household names like Izzo Fitzroy and Zephania O’Hora.
What’s the idea, I asked Joe Kendrick, a Chapel Hill radio grad who volunteered at the station 25 years ago and is now it’s program director? “Make a connection,” he says. “Make this moment special. Our mindset is to engage one person at a time rather trying for a thousand people for a little while.”
In normal times, WNCW is part of western North Carolina’s red-hot live music scene, recording performances at its “Studio B” when artists tour nearby Asheville. Today, the station hosts drive-in shows and other limited capacity events. Underwriting money, which typically comes from event venues and tourism, is slow, but listeners chipped in a record amount in this past spring’s fund drive.
Wildly unpredictable, it’s hard to imagine many listeners who could handle a steady diet of everything on the whole buffett. Arranged by shows, it’s easy enough to find what works for you: “Bundle of Bob,” say, for Dylan fans. “Going Across the Mountain” for bluegrass buffs. “Jazz and Beyond” on Saturday mornings. “Saturday Night House Party” for rhythm and blues. And Sunday morning’s “Country Gold,” highlighting music “from the end of WWII to Watergate.”
Even the technology of this station has radio era romance. Its 17,000-watt primary signal beams from a height of 6,700 feet on Clingman’s Peak in Yancey County near Mount Mitchell. With rebroadcast facilities in Charlotte, Boone, Wilkesboro, and Greenville, WNCW reaches an area from Knoxville to Charlotte, from the tips of Virginia and West Virginia to north Georgia.
The station doesn’t know how many listeners it has because it chooses not to spend precious funds on audience measurement. Nor does it have any “data” on people like me that it can sell to some face-sucking marketing combine.
As a Covid shut-in, what I’ve come to appreciate about WNCW is this: I flip the switch, and I feel almost like friends have dropped by for a visit. Really knowledgeable, fun friends who want to challenge me to have a good time both in and out of my comfort zone. Sorry, Siri, I just don’t feel that way about you.
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 7:41 AM.