There was no show this weekend. WRFN was off the air to prepare for our big switch to 107.1 LPFM. In the low power FM world, these station-establishing events are known as "barnraisings". I was not around here when Radio Free Nashville had its inaugural one in 2005, but I understand it was quite the undertaking, with folks from around the country and even around the world coming in to take part. I've shared some video on that here.
Lots of work to do on the first morning. We early crewbies hauled equipment out of the studio and office to get the place ready for painting. We cleaned out an old, musty trailer, unearthing lots of trash and perhaps a few treasures. The tech crew, led by Matt the PM (and host of RFN Weekend, Saturdays at 5 p.m.), got the broadcast and computer prep going, with folks even going under the house. Stepping stones were dug up and moved and then the studio painting began.
There was food galore with tons of goodies from Bread and Company and some most marvelous chili from Kristi Rose (of Pulp Radio, Wednesdays 5-6 p.m.). The great thing, though, about any of these rare occasions for the WRFN programmers to get together is the chance to see each other and learn about each other's shows.
Barnraising day two began at noon Sunday. This was the day when the new antenna was scheduled to be put up and work at the studio and office finished up. Unfortunately they ran into some delays with the new antenna installation, but we will be broadcasting on 107.1 in this coming week...it'll just be with our old antenna until things get worked out. There's a lot of detail that's gone in to this transition and it takes a lot of dedicated folks to make this happen. It was great to meet and work with so many different people with great skills.
T.J. and Rene Kirby and I were there from morning to evening on both days and worked as a team in many spots. We were a tired but happy team when it was all done and we all agreed it was a very interesting experience being involved at this level beyond our shows. Now we just can't wait to get at the new broadcast board!
See you November 1 at 107.1!
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