WRFN-FM 98.9, a low power FM radio station west of Nashville, has begun broadcasting with programs that cater to the Middle Tennessee GLBT community.
Organizers say the new station strives to serve a diverse community with news, talk and musical programming 24-hours a day. WRFN enlisted community volunteers for local programming and broadcasts shows from the Pacifica network.
WRFN’s signal reaches a seven to ten mile radius from the tower located in Pasquo, Tennessee. The primary broadcast area extends from Bellevue (just west of Nashville) westward to Fairview, to Pegram in the north and parts of Brentwood and Franklin in the south. WRFN is also available over the Internet with over 200 streams available (Courtesy of Butler Networks.)
Specific shows targeting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transdendered community include: Gender Talk, Morning Drama with Jessica and Demetrius and Freedom Dance. Ginny Welsh is the program director.
Nashville Gender Talk (Thursday 5 p.m.-6 p.m.): Nashville's newest transgender radio program, hosted by Roxanne Fox, strives to serve two equally important community purposes - Helping those who experience Gender Dysphoria and are closeted by beginning their deisolation process and realizing their true self worth and creating a better channel of understanding and communication between the Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Straight and Transgender cultures.
Gender Talk features personal testimony, professional consultants, live interviews and music in live call in program format. Guests include members and professionals from all areas of the GLBT community.
"My inspiration is that I have met many wonderful people and there is a lot of love, as well as serious hurt and need in our community,” explained host Roxanne Fox. “I hope to be a part of bringing greater understanding and unity in order to strengthen our community. By working together we can all help make each others lives better and more fulfilling."
Morning Drama with Jessica and Demetrius (Sunday 6 a.m.-8 a.m.): Morning Drama covers the arts community in and around Nashville with a lively combination of music and talk by two local hosts, Jessica Sparks and Demetrius Johnson.
Morning Drama is designed to inform people about all local theatre performances, gallery openings, new films and festivals geared for the local art community. Demetrius’s portion of the show will focus specifically on any art happenings in the Nashville gay and lesbian communities.
In between announcing various artistic events, Jessica and Demetrius will also play a mix of music from Broadway showtunes, international tribal music, local artists, and anything appropriate for the theme. Local guests such as film critics, actors and artists will also be interviewed on air.
Jessica Sparks is a local artist and actor who has lived in the Nashville area all her life. Demetrius Johnson is also a local actor and active in several local gay and lesbian advocacy groups.
Freedom Dance (Monday 12 a.m.-2 a.m.):
Freedom Dance, hosted by DJ Ron, is a two hour mixshow featuring high energy dance music with the message to help us all celebrate our lives. Dance music, so often ignored by the mainstream world, has been embraced by the LGBT community as celebratory music and often tells the stories of our lives.
DJ Ron Slomowicz is very active in the Nashville LGBT community and a noncommercial radio veteran hosting 91 Out of the Closet and 91 Dance on WRVU Nashville, 91.1 FM since 1992. DJ Ron spins at local nightclubs (Tribe and eXceSs)and maintains the internationally recognized dance music Web site dancemusic.about.com as well as a personal Web site www.djron.com.