by Sarah Crisman
As you may have heard last week, KERA has acquired 91.7 FM and will be changing the format late this summer to a public radio music format programmed with the North Texas audience in mind. Being a member of the North Texas audience myself, I am thrilled at the possibility at hand. The programming on the new station will be within the public radio "Triple A" (Adult Album Alternative) music format with diverse, adult-oriented playlists covering a broad spectrum of music such as folk, acoustic, world music, alternative and indie rock and country. This is interesting, because that sounds an awful lot like the broad spectrum of music coming out of Denton these days (only we also have a rich jazz, funk, and blues scene on top of said genre).
While I'm as much a sucker for NPR as the next hipster- and would love to hear the great shows like World Cafe and American Routes- it's the local programming that I think could bring a world of good to the Denton music scene (and it couldn't hurt Dallas or Fort Worth, either). The new station is apparently committed to local programming and coverage.
Original programming on the new station will eventually include studio performances, interviews and arts-related news, commentary and a concert calendar. This sort of consistent and art-centric mainstream media attention coupled with the brilliance of the online realm carrying this station and its offerings across the universe would be tantamount to building a factory in our small town. KERA could fan the flames of our emerging scene. They are in the perfect position to impact our economy should they take their place as the platform for one of the most fascinating music scenes in the world- and that has global appeal written all over it (ahem, syndication).
Personally, Paul Slavens' 90.1 at Night is my favorite radio show since The Jack Benny Program, and I would love to see this eclectic "just play some good music" format influence the direction of the new station. I'd also like to see shows really bringing our local acts to the forefront- for heaven's sake, the demographic for this station is comprised of NPR listeners (read: open-minded) and community-minded individuals (read: people willing to drop ten bucks to go support the local scene). I'm willing to wager that these people have better-than-average taste in music, and can therefore be trusted to appreciate what we have to offer.
