Category: Meet Your Wizards

The Tennessee humidity tide is high, but boy, we’re doing our best to hold on. Thankfully, even in the midst of the sticky southern heat, WXNA tunes have been keeping it cool. Our summer started with a  💥 BANG 💥 (i.e. our 10th Birthday Bash at Eastside Bowl), and we’ve been soaking in the joy and gratitude since…but fall is nearly upon us (!!!), so we decided it’s time to get back to work. Read ahead and find out what’s new at the station and where you can catch us around town…and, as always, thank you for your support.

We truly couldn’t do it without you.

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Earlier this summer, WXNA was fortunate enough to turn 10 years old, namely thanks to members like you. In case you were unable to attend our big Birthday Bash at Eastside Bowl, here’s what CoFounder and Programming Director Randy Fox had to say:

Fourteen years ago, I was excited. I got a call from Heather Lose about starting a new, independent community radio station. The FCC was issuing licenses for new low power stations, and we needed to act now to get an application submitted. After the death of Vanderbilt’s student/community station WRVU a year earlier, I knew this was what needed to happen, but had no clue how to begin the process. Here was the chance. After several meetings at the Gerst Haus (and many fishbowls of beer), we jumped through all the red tape hoops, got the pages and pages of the application together in a marathon session, and submitted it before the deadline.

Fifty-two years ago, I was transfixed. I was 11 years old and got to see the inside of a radio station for the first time. My sixth grade class took a field trip to WRUS-AM in Russellville, Kentucky. I was fascinated by the equipment and the broadcast tower, but as a chatterbox nerd who liked to crack jokes and talk endlessly about my many interests and passions, I was mesmerized by the idea of playing records and then flipping a switch, speaking into a microphone, and my voice being heard by possibly thousands of people I couldn’t even see.

Twelve years ago, I was surprised. I was at home working in my office when my phone rang and a salesman asked if I was Randy Fox. He was calling not to sell me car insurance, or to ask if I wanted to sell my house, but rather to sell me a package of broadcast equipment for the radio station that I was in the process of building. Believe it or not, that’s how I found out the FCC had approved our application for a broadcast license. America — where capitalism always moves faster than Bureaucracy.

Forty-Five years ago, I was pissed off. After spending my high school years hating most of the commercial music I heard on the radio where I grew up, I had tumbled headfirst into punk and new wave during my first semester of college. My first few weeks at Western Kentucky University I bought albums by The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Elvis Costello and more. There was an entire world of amazing music, “The Unheard Music” as the band X called it, just waiting to be discovered. What really made me mad was that radio had lied to me. The bands I was now discovering were missing from stations that declared themselves to play “the best in music.” I wanted radio that was exciting. That would turn me on to new music and obscure artists I’d never heard before. Like the lead singer of the Fabulous Stains, I wanted a radio station that didn’t play “any commercials and no news. Just rock’n’roll and the truth.”

Twenty-Nine years ago, I was, as they say, in hog heaven. I had been a fan of WRVU since discovering the station on my frequent trips to Nashville. College radio seemed to have everything I wanted in a radio station. But I was equally frustrated by the fact I never got to take part. WKU didn’t have a radio station. In 1986, I moved to Nashville and as soon as I got within broadcast range, my radio was locked on to WRVU. Then Doyle Davis invited me to sit in on a side show he was doing for the summer — a program of vintage country he called the Hipbilly Jamboree. I took it like a duck to water, and after a few weeks, he turned the show over to me. About two years later, I found my Hipbilly radio soul mate, Kels Koch. With the two of us at the helm, The Hipbilly Jamboree became the type of radio I’d always dreamed of — great music, a little bit of history, a bunch of absurdist humor, and a whole mess of lively bullshit. How could it get any better? Little did I know.

Ten years ago, me and the other six founders — Roger Blanton, Ashley Crownover, Jonathan Grigsby, Heather Lose, Laura Powers, and Pete Wilson — hit the switch and said the magic words into the microphone, “You’re listening to WXNA-LP Nashville, 101.5 FM.” And 10 years later, we’re still doing it. Making great, community-based radio, freeform radio, exciting, diverse, and electrifying radio, radio that never lies to you, and radio that brings you rock’n’roll and the truth…and whole lot more.

I want to thank all the DJs, friends, and supporters we’ve had in this journey. I especially want to thank all of our donors. I hate to say this, but it takes money to run a radio station and people have kept giving to us, and please folks, keep doing it. A very special thanks to Leanne Merritt who planned, corralled, and manifested this amazing event. And I want to give a special acknowledgement to the DJs and allies of WXNA that were unable to complete this journey with us including Jim Ridley, David Olney, Bill Verdier, Howard Yearwood, Mary Sack, and the great Kels Koch. Thank you.

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Thank you so much for being a dedicated supporter of WXNA. Because of your generosity, we are able to produce diverse and innovative programming that reflects the music, culture, concerns, and interests of Nashville and the surrounding area.

To help us create a better giving experience for you, we are transitioning our donation platform from Kindful to Bloomerang. Both platforms are built by the same team, and this upgrade ensures we can spend less time on paperwork and more time on our mission.

What this means for you:

• If you make one-time gifts: Our new Bloomerang donation pages are easier to use, and you’ll receive clearer, more accurate tax summaries.
• If you are a monthly donor: Your membership giving will transfer automatically to the new system, so there is no action required on your part.
• Your Donor Portal: You will still be able to log in to your account at any time to update your payment information, view your giving history, and download receipts.

Your ongoing support powers everything we do. If you have any questions about this transition or need help accessing your donor profile, please feel free to reach out to us at alexis@wxnafm.org. Thank you for being such an important part of our community!

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