Internet radio shines with the first all-local station
The mission is in the name of the radio station: Real Knoxville Music.
It’s an internet radio station and information hub that is almost exclusively dedicated to independent Knoxville music artists. The site includes programs that feature interviews with and stories about musicians from Knoxville and the surrounding area. Between programs, music made by Knoxvillians is constantly being played. And, if plans come to fruition, Real Knoxville Music (www.realknoxvillemusic.com) will be a lot more than an internet radio station.
Real Knoxville Music founder Chris Lamb has been a cheerleader for the Knoxville music scene for several years. He admits that he was totally unfamiliar with how rich the local scene was when he began playing poker with friends from Raven Records and Rarities a few years ago.
“Somebody said something about the V-Roys, and I said, ‘Who are the V-Roys?’” remembers Lamb with a laugh.
Fellow player, high school teacher and local music enthusiast Dave Gorman followed up the conversation by giving Lamb some samplers of local music. In those samplers was the V-Roys’ song “Cold Beer, Hello,” which Lamb loved, and prompted him to dive deeper.
“Then I started going to the [live WDVX radio show] ‘The 6 O’Clock Swerve’ where I met everybody – Mic Harrison, Kevin Abernathy, The Lonetones …”
Lamb learned how to work the control board in the studio at WDVX and guest-hosted the WDVX midnight Saturday show “All Over the Road” on occasion. That was when he was really bit by the radio bug. After pitching an all-local radio show idea that never came to fruition, Lamb decided to start his own local music podcast. That idea, however, fell by the wayside when he realized how easy it was to simply start an internet radio station. He then began transforming his garage into a radio and recording studio.
Lamb started talking about the project with local musicians with whom he’d become friends. The first program when Real Knoxville Music went live would be Lamb interviewing local musicians and having them play their own music. He contacted Brandon Fulson and invited him to be his first guest.
“I saw how interested he was and said, ‘Well, how would you like to host your own show?’”
Fulson agreed almost immediately.
“Being a DJ had crossed my mind a time or two,” says Fulson. “He pitched the idea when everything was shutting down, and I thought, ‘Well, I’m sitting around listening to music anyway!’ So I just gave it a shot.”
Fulson called his show “Serious Honk” (8 p.m. Tuesdays). He had been interviewed plenty of times and had been pushing his own music for years.
“It’s fun being on the other side,” says Fulson. “When you’re constantly pushing yourself, you get tired of it. But I really enjoy pushing other people’s music. I enjoy being the guy doing the interviewing rather than being interviewed!”
He says he also realized how much he had needed to do something different that was still creative.
“I incorporate funny stories from shows [concert performances] I did, or if I play someone like Josh Smith, I’ll tell how I met this person,” says Fulson.
He says he has regular requests for specific local artists or specific songs, including Jeff Heiskell’s surprising version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.”
“What I really like is when someone says something like, ‘Hey, I really liked that Kevin Abernathy song! I hadn’t heard him before!’”
Lamb says starting with Fulson was a great choice to get things going.
“He’s a natural,” says Lamb. “He’s just fantastic.”
Another show on Real Knoxville Music is Will Ross’ “Bass Jam,” which features Ross interviewing musical guests and playing bass with them when they perform songs on the show.
“Musicians love it,” says Lamb.
Music friends started dropping by to do causal live performances during the day. Mic Harrison, Mike McGill, Zack Miles and Red Daughtery are among the artists who quickly lent time and support. And Lamb began helping artists record songs at the studio.
More shows have been added over the course of past year, including “Song Trials With Tim Woody” (8 p.m. Wednesdays), which features in-depth interviews about songwriting with local artists; “Knoxville Noise Pollution” (10 p.m. Wednesdays), a metal show hosted by Richard Hodges; and “The Local Stage” (8 p.m. Saturdays), which features live performances from Union Place Bar and Grill with Lamb as host. “Meet Music Knoxville” is a monthly program hosted by Nick Horner, and it airs at 6 p.m. on the fourth Friday of each month.
The station has also begun archiving shows, and they’re available on a link at www.realknoxvillemusic.com.
Listen to the station for 20 minutes, and a newcomer or even a lifetime Knoxvillian may be surprised by the excellence and diversity of Knoxville talent.
“Before the pandemic, you could go out every night of the week and be blown away every one of the [local] artists you’d see,” says Lamb. “But so many people don’t know them. That’s what’s behind this.”
Lamb hopes to have a more complete music event calendar at the website when the pandemic is over.
While the immediate focus has been on the radio aspect of Real Knoxville Music, Lamb’s final plan for the organization is to have a recording studio, performance venue, practice space and retail store all catered to local music. He envisions a one-stop shop where local artists can sell their music and merchandise on consignment and where he can manufacture small-run CDs, T-shirts, koozies and other products. Lamb is currently looking for a space that can support all of those projects, but he admits he’s sometimes a little overwhelmed.
“I’m over the entire company and program director,” says Lamb. “It’s hard to juggle it all. I say there’s glass balls and rubber balls. You drop a rubber ball and it bounces back, but you can’t drop the glass ones!”
Real Knoxville Music already has several underwriters, including The School of Rock, Hutch & Howard Corporation of Keller Williams, Energy Home Solutions, Union Place Bar and Grill and Raven Records.
As Lamb looks at Real Knoxville Music entering its second year, he sees how far the station has come.
“At first it was like, ‘Ah, nobody’s listening.’ But the numbers go up and down and people ARE listening and getting the message. Dollywood has been booking off the website. The whole reason I started it is to support local music and get the music out there, so, in my book, I’d call that a success!”
As far as Lamb’s life goes, he’s finally headed in the direction he always needed to go.
“Once you let go of the fact that the whole world revolves around making as much money as you can and getting tons of stuff and you just do what you love to do, life gets easier. I still buy a bunch of stuff, but it’s all stuff for the business. All my money goes back into the business. Life should be more about what you’re passionate about.”
