Sunday March 19 1997Forth Worth Star Telegram
Sunday March 19 1997
Forth Worth Star Telegram
Drive north into the Hill Country and somewhere around the Highland Lakes, the sound of Texas Rebel Radio will start crackling at the end of the FM dial.
The songs and artists may be familiar, like Robert Earl Keen, Jerry Jeff Walker or classic rock, but KFAN is just as likely to pick music that no other radio station in the state-- or perhaps the country -- would play.
"The common thread running through want we do is Texas", said Jayson Fritz, general manager and president of KFAN radio. "We play artists from Texas, artists who have adopted Texas, and songs that could be written by anyone about Texas."
The 5,000-watt station, 107.9 FM has developed such a devoted following that Fritz tells of roofers and farmers who listen to nothing else, and of passers-by who call the station in disbelief.
"The thing we hear constantly from our listeners is a sense of surprise," said Fritz's wife Jan. "We have very dedicated listeners who will tape the station and send it to friends across the country. It's not unusual at all for somebody stopped along I-35 to call in wanting to know more about the station."
Housed in a small building in a quiet residential street on the western edge of Fredericksburg, Texas Rebel Radio has an AM sister station, KNAF.
The cozy laid-back feel of the studios carries over
to the airwaves, and it has turned some area residents into radio
junkies.
"I like to think it's one of the treasures of Fredericksburg," said Mack Diltz, who moved here from Dallas more than two years ago.
"When I lived in the Metroplex, music was strictly in the background," he said. "I never thought I would listen to music like this at work. But I have it on all the time. There's nothing like it."
Although KFAN's signal doesn't reach any major city, it's enthusiasts have not been limited to the Hill Country. The Gavin Report, A San Francisco-based magazine that covers the radio industry, nominated KFAN and it's program director, J.D. Rose, as finalists for its Americana Station of the Year and Programmer of the Year.
The Americana format, which can be heard on 76 stations across the country, focuses on roots-based music like much of what is found in Austin, It didn't exist when Texas Rebel Radio went on the air in 1991, but the format was at least partly created with KFAN in mind.
"There was a core of stations around the country doing this type of thing and they're certainly one of them," said Rob Bleestein, editor of Gavins Americana chart. "I think what they're doing is definitely unique. They really sum up what the Hill Country is all about."
The stations influence also is being felt by KHYI, 95.3 FM, in Collin County, the first Americana outpost in the Metroplex.
A former KFAN program director, Bruce Kidder, who is the music director at KHYI, said Y-95 will play many of the same Texas artists as KFAN, but will not follow its kitchen-sink approach.
That unique approach has given many Austin artists exposure before they had large followings - from the old-style, honkey-tonk tunes of Grammy-nominated Junior Brown to the traditional Texas Country music of Don Walser and the more folkish sounds of singer-songwriter Chris Wall.
Non-Texas bands heard on KFAN that still are trying to reach a mass audience include Knoxville's country-rockers, The V 'Roys, and Toronto's Reggae Cowboys.
Although its signal reaches a limited area, artists from all over come looking for the station.
With the South by Southwest Music Conference descending on Austin this week, the stations is bracing for bands to arrive unannounced.