Radio station goes online before going on line

By Dana M. Nichols

Record Staff Writer

January 19, 2013 12:00 AM

WEST POINT – A tiny blue building in downtown West Point just became a mass media outlet.

But KQBM is not a typical radio station. The community radio license issued by the Federal Communications Commission means there won’t be any advertising.

And for that matter, at the moment there isn’t any broadcasting, either. Officials with the Blue Mountain Coalition for Youth and Families, which owns KQBM, expect later this year – probably by this summer – to begin transmitting at 90.7 on the FM dial from a tower on Fowler Peak near Angels Camp.

KQBM

To learn more about Blue Mountain Radio 90.7 KQBM, go to kqbm.org.

The station is inviting applications from people who would like to become broadcasters.

There is programming, however. KQBM started streaming online on Jan. 3. And on a recent Tuesday afternoon, five people were huddled over the mixing board in the studio.

“We’re learning how to run the board and how to get content moved online,” said Forest Flanigan, a KQBM volunteer. “We’re going to be playing Thick Soup in a minute.”

Thick Soup, for those unfamiliar with the local music scene in the Mother Lode, is an acoustic band whose members describe their blend of folk, bluegrass and jazz as “jazzgrass” or “soupgrass.”

The presence of Thick Soup and other regional bands like The Foothillbillies and the Old Soles on the playlist is another thing that makes KQBM different.

Most commercial stations use standardized playlists that focus on already-famous pop artists. With no pressure to sell advertising and rake in profits, KQBM is free to mix in both the locals and the big-name artists.

Another big reason the station focuses on local news and artists is that it is part of the Blue Mountain Coalition for Youth and Families. The BMCYF building next to the radio station serves West Point and surrounding towns in many ways – as a place for meetings, as an after-school club for children, and as a place for regular community meals.

Catherine Lambie, executive director of BMCYF, said that while her center serves families in West Point and a few surrounding towns, the radio station will reach a vast region including Tuolumne, Amador and Calaveras counties as well as part of the San Joaquin Valley.

“In this area where people are isolated, I think radio can be a community-building tool. It can be an entertainment tool. It can be an education tool,” Lambie said.

Right now, the KQBM stream offers only music. But Lambie and others are in the process of recruiting people to produce regular programs.

Children who hang out after school at the center next door will probably get in on the program production work, Lambie said. Already, a group of 13-year-old girls has come forward to begin preparing programs on women’s issues, Lambie said.

“They are very proud of the fact that this youth center has this radio station,” Lambie said.

Lambie and the others at KQBM (the BM stands for Blue Mountain) aren’t doing it all alone. KVMR, a community radio station in Nevada City, has been helping, Lambie said.

And Steve Michelsen, an engineer at KYRR, another community radio station in Nevada City, is training volunteers how to run the machinery.

“Today is the first day of broadcaster training,” Michelsen said Tuesday.

Lambie said the work remaining before the station begins broadcasting includes deciding which of several options to use to transmit the signal between West Point and the radio tower near Angels Camp, and also raising money.

Several fundraisers are on the calendar, including a concert March 23 in Pine Grove, where Thick Soup and the Old Soles will perform, Lambie said.

Contact reporter Dana M. Nichols at (209) 607-1361 or dnichols@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/calaverasblog.