Station tunes in to broader issues, world

"'Room to Groove' is the show," announces "DJ Smyth" on his Thursday afternoon KVNF Community Radio program. "That was Billie Holiday remixed and reimagined. I hear music, and I know you're hearin'  it out there. Glad you're joining me this afternoon."

After a rundown that includes Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and Slow Train Soul, the versatile DJ switches to the station's Bulletin Board, which features community announcements.

 "This week's pet of the week from the Second Chance Humane Society in Ridgway is Ginger, a Doberman-hound mix with big floppy ears and an even bigger heart," reads Boone. "She is very smart and a very quick learner....A listener needs a cord of appleword for burning in her fireplace,"  he continues. "But right now, hang in there and crank it up, enjoy. Thanks a lot for joining me on your mountain-grown KVNF." He cuts to the music and plays another CD.

 The talented Smyth Boone is one of approximately 70 volunteer DJs at the cutting-edge public radio station in downtown Paonia. "I've been a DJ here at KVNF since 2000," Boone said. "I just thoroughly love it."

Besides "Room to Groove," Boone also produces "Talkin' Music" at noon on Friday's. The program features interviews with musicians around the country as well as live acts visiting the area. The traveling musicians are completely blown away by KVNF's facilities, Boone said. "It's one of the finest stations in the country."

Musicians who have performed at KVNF include rock star Joe Cocker (the station's on-air studios are named after him), Los Lonely Boys, Tony Furtado, Lipbone Redding, Wendy Woo, Chris Berry and many others.

KVNF has come a long way from its humble beginnings nearly 30 years ago in a converted garage, where it first broadcast to the North Fork Valley area with 10 watts of power. Today it's a regional station that broadcasts 24/7 from a new digital facility serving a 10,000-square-mile area. Its range encompasses Western Colorado from Montrose to Lake City, Ouray to Grand Junction and beyond.

A successful three-year, $900,000 capital campaign transformed a rundown former bar into the state-of-the art, environmentally green facility that houses KVNF today. A series of "incredible miracles" helped the station along the way, according to general manager Sally Kane. One was the contributions of renowned architect Tom Lindblom, who was a primary designer on Washington D.C.'s International Spy Museum, Kane said.

Lindblom was originally from the Paonia area and came back to live there for awhile. "His expertise is light," she said. "He took a dark rectangular box and transformed it. He's a brilliant, brilliant guy."

A central feature of Lindblom's design is a soaring clerestory, which bathes the central space with natural light. Solar light tubes brighten other areas, like a brick-walled break room. Zero-VOC-emitting paint in visually pleasing colors including coral, blue and corn yellow creates a striking backdrop for framed black-and-white photos of the DJs that line the walls. Creating a healthy, aesthetically pleasing, enjoyable and creative workspace was a priority, Kane said.

Other green elements include recycled rubber and bamboo flooring, cellulose insulation made of recycled cardboard, an efficient HVAC system and recycling throughout the renovation. Elements from the old Joe's Bar include cedar trim and wooden beams made into benches. A planning grant from the Kresge Foundation helped the station incorporate green principles in its overall design, Kane said.

Other "miracles" she cited in the station's transformation were the contributions of project manager Dennis Grunkemeyer and then-general manager Philip Hassinger, who led the once-struggling station into the black financially.

The station's DJs include farmers, professionals and every socioeconomic class, Kane said. What binds them is a passion for eclectic music. "It's not your basic Top 40," she said.

The station's music, news and other programming also enable members and listeners to connect to a broader culture from their own back yards, she said. It allows people to be citizens of the world even if they're living on a ranch in Crawford, she observed.

KVNF has six full-time equivalent staff, Kane said. "The rest are volunteers." There are about 70 to 100 on-air volunteers and 50 off-air, she said. The station has about 1,800 household members.

Other DJs include Montrose resident Michele Follis, who alternates hosting the Friday Afternoon Club with another DJ, Jabeaux. "The goal is to get people excited for the weekend," said Follis, whose day job is coordinating the substitute teacher program for the Montrose School District.

The show includes a "plethora of genres from rock to funk, and some live cuts," she said. "The root of my show is rock. It might be rock and country, or rock and funk and even some world."

Follis said she loves opening up people's minds to new sounds. "There's something for everybody on the station," she said. "If you like blues there's a blues show. We even have a Celtic show."

In additon to her DJ work Follis chairs KVNF's program committee."Our goal is to expand people's minds and bring them the best possible programming to our members. The programming is really important."

Follis described the new facility as "unbelievable. It's like something you'd see in New York City. To do a capital campaign of that magnitude is fabulous. It's awesome. It breathes forward thinking and progression," she said. "It's so classy. It's a great place to spend time and get the creative juices flowing."

KVNF's programming includes avalanche and weather reports, NPR's "Morning Edition," weekend children's music stories, and local public affairs shows. The Avalanche Report was "seeded" by a listener who lost his wife in a snowslide, Kane said. "It came from a human story."

If KVNF weren't on the air, some areas wouldn't have access to emergency alerts, Kane said. Others would have no public radio programming. It also would mean about 200,000 fewer dollars for the local economy, she said. The station's mission "is about being a resource in our community and helping people connect to the resources they need. That's why we do it."

Montrose-area listeners can tune in to KVNF at 89.1 on the FM dial, or check out the station online at www.kvnf.org.