The future of WKXG AM-1540 looks promising under its new Americana music format, says the vice president and programming director of the station’s new parent organization.
Roots Town Radio, a nonprofit based in Pennsylvania, recently acquired WKXG from Joy Christian Radio Inc. of Tullahoma, Tenn. The station, which had been airing religious programming, switched to its format last week.
Burr Beard is vice president and programming director of Roots Town, and his wife, Dawn Warner, is its president and marketing director. They are operating WKXG from their home in Jim Thorpe, Pa., but plan to move to Greenwood in July to fulfill their dream of creating a community public radio station in the Delta.
WKXG’s programming includes country, bluegrass and some blues and Southern rock — from legends such as Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner to newer artists such as Jim Lauderdale, Audrey Auld and Paul Thorn.
WKXG will focus on music and entertainment and won’t try to compete with National Public Radio news programming, which is already being done well in Mississippi, Beard said.
Beard, who grew up in Pennsylvania, has worked in radio for about 30 years. He has 25 years’ experience in general management and program direction in public radio, including jobs in Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina.
He was general manager at WOWL-FM in Iuka until January, when he explored Greenwood, Cleveland and Clarksdale and fell in love with the area. “I just liked the diversity and, of course, the blues culture and the way that the towns have really started to come back,” he said.
He also has been impressed with the blues museums, festivals and other cultural events.
Beard said a public radio station lives or dies based on its volunteers. He hopes to attract good ones who know music well and train them, as he has done in other locations.
He has talked to Mississippi Valley State and Delta State universities about opportunities for internships and partnerships. For example, a student could start as an intern looking for events to place on the station’s community calendar, then get into producing the calendar and later get behind the microphone and learn broadcasting, he said.
Beard said he got hooked on roots music many years ago and still loves it. The summer before college, he and a friend in New York went to a club and heard a band that featured fiddle, piano and hammer dulcimer. He was particularly intrigued by the hammer dulcimer, so he bought one. He later played the instrument in the band Devilish Merry and still plays it today.
Beard said this area of Mississippi is a vibrant place.
“It’s going through its changes, and I think the changes are for the good,” he said. “And I would like to be part of this great area from its roots to its future.”
• Contact David Monroe at 581-7236 or dmonroe@
gwcommonwealth.com.
