Eclectic Company: Lake Charles Radio Is Vibrant And Variegated — A sampler of local radio

I know I'm always flapping on about live music played in intimate settings as my favorite way to hear music. But did I mention my guilty secret? I also love listening to the radio late at night while driving down a quiet highway, the wheels of the car rolling in time to the beat of the music, the twinkling stars and neon signs breaking up the darkness, while the mesmerizing sound of the disk jockeys' back announcements turn from thundering growls to velvet purring. This is true whether I'm taking the long way home from one side of Lac Chuck to the other, or driving my 350 mile daily quota to get from Yankee country down here to No Man's Land.

I was brought up in the 1950s and 1960s in Queens, New York on Wolfman Jack, Alan Freed, Cousin Brucie, Allison Steele (The Nightbird), Pete Fornatele and other stirring and sultry preachers of the religion of rock, whose faces were unknown to me, but whose voices drew me like a lightbulb draws a termite. Later, I loved the incongruous-voiced jocks of freeform- and listener-sponsored public radio stations, with their nasal whines and oddball voices cracking as they moved from lower to upper register to intone the liner notes of the weird and wonderful records they'd spun. That's probably why I was, briefly, a folk music DJ on freeform radio WFMU-FM, one of the last true bastions of the "come on over to my house and listen to the amazing stuff I picked up at this great garage sale" anti-format. If you want to hear what freeform sounds like, try their simulcast at wfmu.org any time day or night.

But if you want to hear what I listen to in the car, which is where I do most of my listening these days, and for the last 30+ years, hop up the dial from the jazz and classical NPR stations in the lower frequencies, where I listen to comfort music that's good for me, through the pop and country and adult contemporary rock stations hovering in the middle of the dial for the music I listen to when I want "ear candy," all the way to the sleek and sophisticated urban stations in the higher end of the bandwidth where I know, reliably, I will eventually get my Barry White fix.

As the calendar and the weather reporters march us inexorably up the heat and humidity scales, I can just about hear those familiar sounds of summer approaching — kids revving up their pickup engines so they can drive slowly up and down Ryan Street, blasting their music — just like my friends and I did in our day. Here's what you can expect to hear this summer on local music radio, moving up from the noncommercial end of the dial, with some clues as to their musical genres and likely listeners:

• KRVS-FM 88.7 (simulcast on krvs.org), is our local public radio station, broadcasting from Lafayette's University of Louisiana campus. National Public Radio news and features shows and the like jostle classical music, bluegrass, Cajun and zydeco, singer-songwriters, reggae, traditional celtic folk music, big band swing and jazz, and what would have been called New Age instrumental or space sounds about 20 years ago, but today is less easily defined. There are shows produced in Lake Charles, and shows featuring live interviews with area artists.
• KISS 92.1 features rhythmic CHR (Contemporary Hit Radio) such as Pink's "Please Don't Leave Me," Lady Gaga's "Love Girl," and Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow."
• Tune into Fun Radio 92.9 this week and you'll hear classic hits, or oldies, loosely defined, such as Jimmy Buffet's "Margaritaville," Bananarama's "Cruel Summer," and Prince's "Raspberry Beret," and Gary Shannon, local stage and film star, in morning drive time.
• KYKZ 96.1, better known as "Kicks Ninety-Six," is pure country from the 1980s through today, heavy on the today. This week they're spinning Brad Paisley's "Then," Keith Urban's "Kiss A Girl" (not to be confused with the pop hit by Katy Perry, "I Kissed A Girl), and Sugarland's "(Shhh) ..it Happens." Also news, weather, and feature stories, DJ Niki in the afternoon drive slot, and Rick Jackson's syndicated show, "Country Hall of Fame," on Sundays 5 – 8 p.m.
• KQLK 97.9, also known as Hot 97, plays CHR-formatted urban music for the suburban crowd.
• Gator 99.5 plays continuous country favorites like Montgomery Gentry's "One In Every Crowd," Kenny Chesney's "Out Last Night," and whoa, lookee here, Keith Urban's "Kiss A Girl." Guess Keith Urban is not just Nicole Kidman's pretty husband. He is popular in his own guitar-picking right.
• KKGB 101.3, recently known as The Rock, but now branded Rock 101, plays new and classic rock from Nickelback to the Allman Brothers.
• KBIU 103.3, formerly B 104, but now known as "Jack" radio, showcases hit songs from the past 40 years "with little (if any) regard for their genre." The station's claim is that they play whatever they want to from pop to rock to R&B, from the Sixties to today. The seemingly formatless format has been compared to an iPod shuffle. If you like to hear yourself on the radio, you can call Jack's recording line and leave a message that may or may not be played back between songs. Call 1-866-930-JACK if you want to join the fray.
• KZWA 104.9, formerly Vibe 105, is one of the few local stations that's independently owned, and owned by a sharp woman, Ms. Faye Blackwell, who has maintained a local feel to her sophisticated brand as her station has changed its emphasis with changing times and audiences. About 15 weeks ago, they dropped their hip-hop shows which skewed younger than their adult audience, and instituted a new format they call Zydeco and Southern Soul, under the guidance of Mitch Faulkner, a smooth Program Director who came over from Atlanta, and DJs a morning show that includes live interviews with area musicians and other local figures, ably assisted by Music Director Tammy Tousant. Top three on the playlist today were Charlie Wilson's "There Goes My Baby," Jennifer Hudson's "Spotlight," and Zydeco Keith Frank's "Haterz." The station is trying out a monthly live remote Zydeco brunch on Saturdays at The Blue Duck on Broad Street. DJ Diva D will spin platters and interview a live musical guest between songs. The first brunch will feature Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble, whose current hit, "The Zydeco Cowboy," is spinning merrily around the clock in frequent rotation on KZWA.
• KJMH 107.5, also known as Jamz, plays an urban mix for a younger crowd of Ciara's "Never Ever," Jeremiah's "BirthdaySex," and Keri Hilson's "Knock You Down."