Is it possible for a single radio station to play heavy metal, reggae, electronic, hip-hop and jam band music?
Nestled between Circle Park and the Thompson-Boling Arena is a radio tower that covers all that and more, depending on when you tune in to listen.
WUTK radio has been on-air since 1982 and has continued non-funded since the ’90s. Despite its lack of guaranteed financial backing, the station has won multiple national awards, and station manager Benny Smith credits a lot of the popularity to its specialty shows.
“We compete against other stations that have big staffs and budgets, so our specialty shows have to be special,” Smith said. “They have to remain consistent with the programming because no one wants to pay money to sponsor something for six months and then have it change entirely.”
Although most of the shows are part of a fixed lineup, the shows’ DJs come and go.
Alex Crowley, senior in journalism and current DJ for the reggae and world music show Simmer Down, described the station as a valuable stepping stone.
“When it comes to media, it’s dog eat dog. If you don’t have the passion and the drive to do this, then bye,” Crowley said. “Without 90.3, I would be nowhere close to where I am today.”
Crowley will be graduating at the end of the summer, and he plans to stay on with WUTK after moving up the ranks in his five years at the station.
“There’s quite a bit of freedom once you get a little bit of seniority and get up in the ranks of the station, when you aren’t just doing DJ shifts or small-time music department stuff,” Crowley said. “You’re given free reign to get out and make your own name in the industry and in the scene.”
Crowley has already formed his own concert series, following in the footsteps of Brian Coakley, current owner of music venue The International and WUTK alumnus.
Smith reminisced on Coakley’s start at the station.
“He started Midnight Voyage years ago here on a Thursday night,” Smith said. “It has turned into arguably one of the most successful EDM concert promotion and production companies in the world, simply because it started as a radio show on this station.”
Joseph McKee, current DJ of the Fire on the Mountain show, just graduated with a degree in business management and marketing. Unlike the journalism majors who joined the station through their introductory journalism class, McKee was drawn in by his own interest in the Knoxville music scene. He recalled the thrill he had during his first experience on-air.
“The first time talking on-air you don’t know if one person is listening or if 10,000 people are listening because it just depends on the time of day,” McKee said.
Fire on the Mountain features classic jam band music like the Grateful Dead, but McKee also associates the station with improvisational music in general, such as jazz and associated bootlegger recordings.
“When it was new and everything, it would take time in the days leading up to plan an awesome setlist,” McKee said. “Now I just kind of wing it, but it turns out good. It sounds kind of cheesy, but I just follow the spirit of the music.”
In addition to providing a wide variety of music, the specialty shows also bring another important element to the Knoxville music scene — the radio show.
“Bringing back the idea of the radio show is so important, and I think that’s one reason why we’re so popular,” Crowley said. “Other radio stations, especially commercial stations, they have a Top 40 format for the most part, and even if they don’t, they still don’t really have that just down-to-the-grit genre.”
Their grab-bag mix of shows has earned WUTK best radio station in Knoxville 10 years in a row, beating out commercial competitors.
“We have two hip-hop shows, a y’all-ternative show, which is kind of modern country/folk kind of show, two electronic shows, an indie show, a local show and more,” Crowley said. “We’ve got anything anyone would ever need.”
Crowley said giving the specialty DJs nearly full independence is part of what has allowed the station to maintain its wide variety of music.
Smith echoed this belief as he discussed the value of student leadership at the station.
“They know that music, they love it, they have a passion for it,” Smith said. “Most of them know it better than I do. They’ve worked to that point to where they’ve earned that right and duty of having full autonomy.”
Crowley said this full autonomy is used to its fullest capacity to bring listeners what they want to hear.
“We really try our absolute best every day to bring not just Knoxville, but the world a variety of music and really have a passion for music in general,” Crowley said. “That’s our biggest goal — to make sure people are informed and love the music they are hearing.”
