| |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 93.3MHz |
| Programming | |
| Format | Blues/gospel |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
| Founded | 2014 |
First air date | 2015 |
Call sign meaning | West Memphis; tribute toformer KWEM |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 193203 |
| ERP | 45watts |
| HAAT | 45 meters (148 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°11′24.3″N90°15′26.3″W / 35.190083°N 90.257306°W /35.190083; -90.257306 |
| Links | |
Public license information | LMS |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | kwemradio |
KWEM-LP is a low-power FM radio station inWest Memphis, Arkansas, United States, owned byArkansas State University Mid-South. The station airs a format of blues and gospel music and is also used as a training ground for students in the community college's digital media program.
The call letters and format are a tribute to a former West Memphis radio station,KWEM (990 AM), which began in 1947; moved across theMississippi River toMemphis, Tennessee, in 1953; and changed call letters in 1959. The station was influential in the early careers of several blues androckabilly musicians.
The owners of Little Rock-area radio stationKXLR sought to build a statewide network of stations to carryArkansas Razorbacks football, and they felt that the Memphis area would provide important coverage and exposure for the football program.[2] After delays,KWEM (990 AM) began operating on February 9, 1947,[3] with official opening two weeks later.[4]
West Memphis was described as the "Las Vegas of the South" in this era, and its programming drew from the musicians playing clubs in that era.[2]Howlin' Wolf had a show on the station from 1949 to 1952, andSam Phillips heard him and signed him to a contract withSun Records;[5] his program aired after music by rockabilly guitaristPaul Burlison;[6]B.B. King was first heard over the station, getting his break on a show helmed bySonny Boy Williamson II;[7]Stax Records founderJim Stewart started at KWEM, as didJames Cotton andHubert Sumlin;[8]Johnny Cash's first radio broadcast was on KWEM in 1953.[2][9] The station allowed aspiring performers to pay for 15-minute blocks of air time.[10]Elvis Presley made his first radio appearance on KWEM in 1953, which did not go well because he lacked a band and moved around too much;[5]George Klein worked there as a DJ after its move to Memphis;[11] so didEddie Bond.[12]
KWEM was purchased by Dee Rivers in 1951.[13] Rivers moved the station to Memphis, where from studios on Flicker Street, it continued to be an influential hotbed of talent; the transmitter remained on the Arkansas side of the river.[14] This lasted through the end of the decade, when KWEM became KWAM,[14] and it eventually stopped playing live music.[10]
In 2009, Dale Franklin purchased assets to relaunch KWEM as an online-only station, playing the genres of music where it had the most influence.[9] In addition, he acquired such historic artifacts as arecording lathe used byIke Turner.[5] Franklin's goal was to increase recognition of KWEM's historical role and increase musical tourism on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi by restoring the original studio on Broadway Street.[10] He then opted to sell these assets to Mid-South Community College in West Memphis.[15] Streaming returned under MSCC management in 2014 ahead of the station's 2015 sign-on on FM.[16]
Franklin, who was described by the president of MSCC as having a "John the Baptist type fervor" for the project,[5] died in 2017.[17]