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JANUARY 14, 2015 | 39
dio, the community radio focuses sole- ly on local issues, he said.
“It’s micro-oriented stories,” Wai- er said.
By August 2014, Waier was con- vinced by what he’d seen of the Flat- head that Whitefish could and would support a community radio service, and started working on his venture.
But when it became apparent he wouldn’t be able to afford an FM li- cense or be able to purchase one from the Federal Communications Com- mission, Waier turned to the Internet.
Now, Whitefish Community Radio is available online and through its own apps, available for Apple and Android. The shows are all live.
Since the radio is exclusively on- line, Waier doesn’t have to conform to FCC standards, but he said he uses some of their guidelines to help him with his radio format.
The hours on air are made up of 100 percent local content, including shows from local people looking to share their passions. Whitefish City Manag- er Chuck Stearns hosts a weekly show, “Beware Dead Air,” on Wednesdays, based on his dedication to all things Grateful Dead.
Stearns has experience on the ra- dio, having spent nine years as a vol- unteer DJ in Crested Butte, Colorado, and five years at a community radio station in Idaho Springs, Colorado.
His four-hour show starts at 8 p.m., and the first two hours include a wide variety of music for all listeners, Stea- rns said. But from 10 p.m. to midnight, the Deadheads take over.
“I enjoy it because I’ve got a pretty extensive collection so it gets it out into more of a public domain,” Stearns said. “That’s why I do two hours of variety and two hours of Dead. Dead’s kind of a special genre, but I think people would like the other music that I play as well.”
Stearns “got on the bus” for the Grateful Dead after a 1971 concert in Cleveland, Ohio, when he was 14. His friends’ older brothers talked him into going to the show, where the Hell’s An- gels were taking tickets at the door.
Eric Waier adjusts the sound board at Whitefish Community Radio.
GREG LINDSTROM FLATHEAD BEACON
That started a lifelong devotion to the band, he said, with more concerts through college in Colorado and after- ward.
While he never followed the band on tour like other stalwart fans, Stea- rns has grown his Grateful Dead col- lection, so much so that his shows are all historically based. For example, his Jan. 14 show will feature a concert from Jan. 14 in the 1960s.
His show on Whitefish Community Radio allows Stearns to communicate and interact with the city and its resi- dents on a new level.
“Whitefish Community Radio can be a great resource,” Stearns said. “Community radio stations are just a
fantastic resource to the community.” Along with Stearns’ show, listeners can enjoy shows from other locals, in- cluding The Old School, which harkens back to rap and hip-hop’s early days; Flashback Fridays, with tunes from the 1970s-1990s; and Saturday Morn-
ing Stories and Songs with Gramma J. Waier hopes to keep the program- ming educational and musical, with advertisements remaining subtle and of the NPR type. Anyone who feels they could have a show should fill out a form online, he said, which Stearns
also encouraged.
“This doesn’t work without the vol-
unteers,” Waier said.
Soon, Waier hopes to have a sched-
ule of diverse programming, and just bought a second microphone for inter- views, which will include local musi- cians who can talk about their music.
The audience has already grown 68 percent from November to Decem- ber, Waier said, but it is still relatively small. But as more people are access- ing music and radio programs on their phones and through Internet connec- tivity in cars, Waier believes his com- munity radio could catch on.
“To me, this is the future of where radio is going,” he said.
To listen to Whitefish Community Radio, visit www.whitefishcommunit- yradio.com or download the WCR app.
[email protected]
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