KRUU in Fairfield, Iowa is a community radio station run on open source software. Richard Poynder recently profiled the station:

Moore’s use of the term “open radio” caught my attention. What, I wondered, did he mean?

 

Amongst other things, it seems, he meant that KRUU has made a commitment to use only Open Source software. As KRUU founder Roland Wells explained on Open Views, all KRUU’s PCs run on the GNU/Linux operating system, and the audio editing tools (Ardour and Audacity) used by DJs at the station are also Open Source. Likewise, the office suite used by Moore to administer the station (OpenOffice) is Open Source, and the station’s web site was built using Free BSD UNIX, and is hosted on the Open Source web server Apache.

By using Open Source solutions rather than proprietary software, Wells told KRUU listeners, the station has saved “tens of thousands of dollars”.

KRUU’s software philosophy seems to come from Open Views producer Sundar Raman and founder Roland Wells, as explained in the first broadcast of Open Views (which also features a short interview with me on Creative Commons; the program’s third broadcast features an hour on Creative Commons).

Sundar Raman has since interviewed a number of people involved in Open Source, Open Culture, and Open Science, including most recently John Wilbanks of Science Commons (not yet archived). You can also see Raman’s influence showing up in music programming, e.g., Dance Show Friday Night playing CC-licensed music from Jamendo.

Check out KRUU and Open Views!

Station manager James Moore adds:

Just thought you might like to know that since we began broadcasting last September, KRUU has offered a one-hour program seven days a week called The Open Source Radio Hour (5am-6am) featuring Creative Commons licensed material, primarily from jamendo.com or magnatune.com. so far.

As disenchantment with today's increasingly outdated economic and political system grows, so more and more people are turning to a proliferating number of free and open movements — in pursuit of alternative ways of doing things. Is Open Radio about to become the next trend?

Read the rest of Mr. Poynder's article, Open Radio, at his Open and Shut? blog.

Fairfield a is a 'Great Place'

By ERIKA RICHARDS Courier Correspondent

FAIRFIELD — It was the “wow” factor that put Fairfield in the winning category as a Great Places designation Friday as the community’s second bid to become one of Iowa’s Great Places was the charm.

Within hours of the announcement, community movers and shakers were already getting poised and ready to take full advantage of the funds, grants and expertise soon to pour in from various state agencies.

David DuBois, one of many who put together the application effort in Fairfield, was in Des Moines Friday morning when the Great Places board announced the six winning cities.

“They said we made a fantastic presentation Wednesday and the wow factor was so evident in our community that they felt that that attitude would benefit not only our community, but the state at large as well,” said DuBois.

He said the board “really loved that we focused on what was unique about Fairfield and that our great diversity was very important to them.”

DuBois said community projects like the new radio station KRUU-FM was a perfect example of taking an idea that wasn’t on anyone’s radar six months ago, “but only a gleam in someone’s eye and making it a sudden operating reality.”

Calling them “creative, spontaneous eruptions,” Dubois said efforts like KRUU radio showed the commission that the “entrepreneurial vitality of the community was real and viable,” and “this community is fertile ground for these eruptions to occur at anytime.

“The commission really liked the radio station and we talked about it in terms of it being a real opportunity to engage the youth of our community,” he said.

“You just don’t know when something is going to explode on the scene and take root like that. It’s a perfect example of what the commission wanted to see in terms of a spontaneous eruption of creativity,” he said.

DuBois said the commission was also impressed by the sustainable community eco-village, the Jefferson County trail system as well as the arts and culture.

“They liked it because it makes Fairfield stand out as an example of the cultural tourism plans they want to promote as part of their overall economic development of the state,” said DuBois.

Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy said, “I think the real reward for Fairfield is the recognition that we are one of Iowa’s outstanding communities and it’s something we should all be happy about and share.

“It just goes to show,” said Malloy, “that the train of optimism is a real entity and this is a testimony to its power.”

Malloy said the Great Places program will have a $3 million budget but he isn’t sure how the funds will be divided among the six communities.

“It will allow us to enhance some projects under way like the Maasdam Barns that will serve as the gateway to Fairfield off the future bypass. It will serve as a welcome center and a place of historical distinction,” he said.

Malloy said they will now have the funds to restore the passanger train depot at Howard Park bringing it into the street scape project “where we couldn’t before.”

DuBois said the next step for the city will be to sign a “memorandum of understanding” in January. It will be a formal agreement between the city and the Great Places board.

Executive Director of the Cultural Affairs department Anita Walker will organize a formal presentation in Fairfield in the near future.

The other five cities enjoying a Great Place designation include Dubuque, Guttenburg, Mason City, Adams County and Jackson County.

“What we went through last year was a collection of spontaneous bursts of ideas. This year, all of that became integrated into a larger vision for our community as a whole, allowing Fairfield to rise above the rest,” said DuBois.

When Roger Farmer of Washington sent an email a few weeks ago asking what happened to me, I realized my life had undergone a major shift. Not a U-turn or an about-face really, more like an ascended declension, something with a little bounce, marshmallow root, Marconi, and planet Mercury mixed in.

You see, I’ve been sifting through the seismic-pocked political landscapes for years now. The senselessness of the Iraq adventure sucked me into politics like a dust bunny up the wazoo of an expensive vacuum.

Well, now that snowballs have regained control of both the House and Senate, and the winter of neocon discontent has fallen like an albatross across the war president’s brow, I find myself managing an all-volunteer non-profit community radio station that went from a seed thought to a 24/7 reality in four turbocharged months. I used to spend some four hours a day reading the New York Times and other political sources, keeping my pulse on Washington, DC, and international events. Now I’m lucky if I get four hours of sleep. Thanks, Roland.

Say You Want a Revolution

Roland Wells is the stuff community treasures are made of—a man of action, giving, a doer, a manager’s manager, a builder, inspired, driven, the bomb. Equal parts wherewithal, charisma, and moxy, the Australian-born visionary is to bottlenecks what hair straightener is to curls. I knew Roland from his successful efforts with the Beat Box, a youth center he directed for five years in Fairfield. Kids love him because he treats them the same way he treats everyone else—with respect, humor, open eyes, and purpose. The Beat Box provided shelter and engagement for as many as 125 visitors a day by the end of his tenure with the center.

It folded a few years back when funding sources dried up, misunderstood by some who saw the place as simply a hangout. Those who actually bothered to check in were amazed at what they saw: a safe haven for all manner of teens and tweens, a place with computer stations, break dancing, a boxing gym, a dedicated staff providing a variety of outlets, an inclusive space for kids of all stripes.

Currently operational manager of the Walker Insurance Group, Roland was a whopping 20 years old when he applied for and received a construction permit from the FCC to start a radio station, handling the engineering specs himself. Low power means the transmitter is limited to a maximum of 100 watts output. The government offered these licenses in each region only once, for a week. The bulk of these stations are church, college, or government afilliated.

Knowing this, when I’d bump into Roland from time to time on the street, I’d bug him about the radio station.

One day he told me to set up a town hall meeting. That was over six months ago. You have to be careful what you say to men of action. . . .

Flash Forward

It’s 9 a.m. on an overcast Wednesday morning.

Steve Cooperman has just completed an installment of Around Town, a topical half-hour talk show, and is exiting out of the station’s studio booth known as “Mission Control” with this week’s guest, 1st Fridays Art Walk board member and gingerbread-contest promoter Holly Moore.

In front of a Mackie mixing board, headphones slightly ajar, Rodney Franz cues CDs for his upcoming hour-long music program. Best known in town as the director of countless plays over the past 20 years, he pushes up a lever on the board and begins talking into a microphone: “Hi. My name is Rodney Franz and you’re listening to The Show without a Name Looking for a Theme without a Title on KRUU-LP 100.1 FM, The Voice of Fairfield.”

Strands of Marianne Faithful seep into the room, slide over to the 100-watt transmitter, through the live web-streaming unit, up the 60-foot antenna behind the building at 405 N. 2nd Street in Fairfield painted with a large 100.1 and KRUU in orange and blue, and out across the airwaves in a 12-mile throw in all directions.

Next up is uillean pipe legend Tim Britton with two hours of Celtica and Other Musical Destinations, a sumptuous blend of Celtic, folk, and related musicalities, followed by a half-hour of Free Speech Radio News, the only non-locally produced programming in the entire schedule, and then local and state news with KRUU news director Mike Phelps. Mike showed up the day after the large call letters were painted on the outside of the building, asking if a news director was needed. He said he was never “hired” so fast.
Welcome to grassroots community radio.

Join the KRUU

When Fairfield was recently awarded Great Places status, KRUU radio was noted by the state selecting commission as one of the key elements that helped seal the deal. (Six Iowa cities will divide a total of $6 million among them.) Local Great Places’ liaison David Dubois was quoted in the Ottumwa Courier as calling the citizen initiative an example of “spontaneous creative eruptions,” something completely off the radar six months before that fully flowered into reality. The Des Moines Register referred to me in an Iowa Life feature as a “firm member of a why not generation of dreamers.” Nice words, but it took a lot more than dreaming and seemed anything but spontaneous in the day after night into the wee hours of month after month of hard work to get this puppy up and running.

Though some 150 people contributed time and talent to transform the former Beat Box building from a martial arts studio into the home of the KRUU, a hard corps of superheroes provided the major grist for the treadmill. Caleb Flynn, Sundar Raman, Steve Cooperman, Steve Fry, Tom O’Neil, Barb Fix, and Devin Wadsworth, to name a few. It was a scramble ballet I only wish we had videotaped. Did you ever see the old movie It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World? When the community advisory board came to look at the broadcast studio prior to our Saturday, September 30th, launch, all they saw was an empty room without a carpet and a few folding tables. This was Thursday. (The board includes Mayor Ed Malloy, David Neff, Lee Gobble, Connie Boyer, Jeffrey Hedquist, Monica Hadley, Sonia Vera, Julie Stephens, Andy Bargerstock, Celio Mandjane, Caleb Flynn, and Tony DeFreitas.)

After months of reconstruction, painting, building nine-inch-thick foam walls, and installing double sets of double windows to mitigate train rumble and whine, setting up Linux-based open-source applications on computer stations (a direct continuation of the Beat Box legacy), raising the 60-foot tower on the 4th of July under Dwight Harris’s purview, setting up the live real-time worldwide streamer, and purchasing a transmitter and Emergency Broadcast System, it was literally show time. Over 50 deejays signed on to do music and talk shows and were shepherded through a fluid continually-evolving system. There are now 70 show hosts.

On September 30th, with the flip of a switch and a tune by Steve McLain and the Jefferson County Green Band, KRUU became a 168-hour a week non-stop reality (“feeding the beast,” as they called it at the 11th Annual Grassroots Radio Conference Roland and I attended this summer in Madison, WI).

No Homogenization Here

Sure, there have been a few glitches (when that happens, we plead “community” radio) but the buzz on the street has been good. People have been amazed at the variety and depth of the musical programming. An aural mosaic has emerged that is a far cry from the corporatized amalgamation so prevalent in so much of syndicated radio nowadays. As I write this, Clear Channel radio is talking about a buy-out priced at $18.7 billion. By contrast, KRUU is hoping to get a new ink cartridge for its printer. (Actually, the focus has been on getting up and running; fundraising efforts are just getting underway. One suggestion has been that appreciative listeners might consider contributing the cost of one meal a month to the station—$5, $10, or $15, depending upon one’s budget and appetite. Businesses can underwrite programming and banner space will eventually be available on the website.)

People from over 40 countries have tuned into the live stream available on the website www.kruufm.com. We are getting over a thousand hits a day on average, with as many as 4,000. Not bad for barely two months old. LISCO has promised to hook us up to their new fiber-optic system in a few months, which will greatly expand our operating capacity.

Sample of the Goods

Dennis James and his wife recently relocated from out west because they heard good things about Fairfield. It was the quality of life, affordability, and art scene that convinced them to move. They comprise the musical duo Truckstop Souvenir. Dennis hosts Gravel Road Radio Tuesdays from 2 to 5 p.m., showcasing Americana and Roots music.

Sonia Vera, hailing from Colombia via California, hosts a Spanish-speaking program called La Hora Latina Monday nights at 7 p.m. Dennis Raimondi’s Speaking Freely airs Tuesdays at 1 p.m. His interviews with Nation contributing writer Ari Berman and former Kansas City Royals and World Series star Buddy Biancalana have been highlights.

In Depth with Erika Richards, which airs at 8 a.m. Fridays, has featured election debates between supervisor candidates Dick Reed and Debra Williamson, and Iowa Senate candidates David Miller and Becky Schmitz, as well as conversations with Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy and Ottumwa Courier editor Jeff Hutton. Recent additions include the rollicking 7 a.m. Tuesday morning show Off the Subject with Diana Flynn and Therese Cummiskey, and Josh Young’s thrill music program Getting the Kinks Out Saturdays 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Then there’s Dick DeAngelis and his son Mickey’s Sleepytime with Grandpa D Tuesday evenings at 8 p.m., a bedtime program for the wee ones, which follows Sundar Raman’s Open Views show on the free culture movement. Clayton Miller’s Metal Health is midnight on Tuesdays and Saturday mornings at 7 a.m. (Cue the Clay People: “Wake up!! It’s time to die...”) followed by Bruce Miller’s soothing ambient Pirate Satellite show. God bless the contrasts. Steve McLain & the JCGB’s Friday Happy Hour show from 5 to 8 p.m. is always a hoot. The Drum Show by Ian Fry is sent in from Brooklyn every Sunday at 7 p.m. Matt Ahearn contributes three hours of original music 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sundays.

Other highlights include Lonnie Gambles’s Abundant Planet Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m.; Andy MacKenzie’s Beatles Undercover 11 a.m. Sundays; Theo Bowen’s The Short List Sundays at 8 p.m.; Tom LeMay’s Vox Populi Mondays at 10 a.m. followed by David Hawthorne’s Acoustic Stars at 11 a.m.; Scott Puffer’s pop culture musical living history program Lo-Fi at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays; Fringe Toast with Andy Bargerstock 8 p.m. Wednesdays; Rodney Franz’s Adult Content Friday mornings at 9 a.m.; Ed Murphy’s The Whole Funk Saturdays at 1 p.m.; Doug Daller’s 10 p.m. Saturday evening show Fistful of Dallers—and that’s not even the half of it. (For a complete schedule go to the website.)

Open Source Listener-Supported Grassroots Community Radio

I remember the day Sundar Raman burst into the station and declared, “Look it, I’ve been working with open source applications for two years and this station has to go open source.” I smiled and said, “Dude, you’re in the right place.” The station was already committed to this cutting-edge business model, one that incorporates only free downloadable software, Linux-based, neither Mac nor PC.

Sundar sums up the “free culture” movement this way: In the 50s, the very first community radio station in the U.S. started off with the objective being the “full distribution of public information,” amongst other things. In the 80s a similar ideology, called the Free Software Movement, was started by MIT graduate student Richard Stallman, in order to combat the rising control of computer “source code” by corporate interests. In 2000, Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Stanford Law School, created an alternative to restrictive copyright licensing called Creative Commons.

The above philosophies form what is collectively termed the Free Software and Free Culture movements. We at KRUU are using the freeculture movement as the foundation for our work. The reasons have nothing to do with the oft-repeated “anti-corporate” stance. There are far more pragmatic reasons—we’re responsible for creating something that works reliably, can be customized, and has no legal baggage, all while adding to the culture of the listening audience. This is what the “community” part of community radio is all about. We are adding to the cultural commons by using the products of the intellectual and software commons, and by deriving from the musical and artistic commons.

What an incredible thing to be a part of. It’s amazing what a shared vision and a dedicated core of volunteer activists can accomplish. I realized that this is where the revolution is for me—not dissecting, correcting, or second-guessing political leaders, expecting them to somehow make our lives better. No, the revolution is right here, right now—it’s how we treat each other, how we listen, dialogue, deal with differences, come up with viable solutions in our own neighborhoods, give voice to our own community. Why not? We can be the change—or stay the same, if that’s our choice.

So to answer your question, Roger, I’ve been putting in 100- to 120-hour weeks for months now without a day off. Even missed my regular music column for the Source last month for the first time in five years. My political weblist and even the twice-monthly Film for Thought Series have been put on mothballs. If I were better rested, I probably would have had two nervous breakdowns by now. Mind you, Roland has facilitated this project in his “spare” time. What a privilege it’s been serving the community this way. Imagine starting an all-volunteer, non-profit radio station from scratch with a group of people who’ve never done anything like this before except for a couple of ex-college deejays and one walk-in news director.

Well, you know what they say: To Air is Human, To Broadcast Divine. All I know is with the creativity and global reach of this community, the sky’s the limit. To paraphrase the immortal words of John Paul Jones—or was it Karen Carpenter?—we’ve only just begun. All metaphors aside—stay tuned.

Oh yeah, if you have an idea for a show, drop us a line.

Welcome to the KRUU!

Community radio comes to Fairfield on September 30

by Virginia Hancock | Staff Writer

Work is becoming play at 405 N. 2nd Street, broadcast site for 100.1 KRUU FM, Fairfield’s new community radio station. Roland Wells, James Moore, Steve Cooperman, and Stephen Fry, the station’s Programming Committee, are on the fast track to give Fairfield’s collective voice a chance to be publicly heard. Going on air September 30, the 100-watt, low power, non-commercial, non-profit station vows to “put the unity in community,” welcoming all shows, help, ideas and people.

Emphasizing local programming, KRUU (pronounced “crew”) leaders aim to provide “an open, inclusive, diverse forum for music, creative expression, information and entertainment that encourages dialogue and community involvement.”   

James Moore, Roland Wells and Steve Cooperman (l to r) get ready for KRUU’s debut at the end of the month. Photo credit: Virginia Hancock.
 

Though the mission and faces behind the building’s door are familiar, the martial arts studio and former Beat Box location is being transformed. Extra foam wall insulation and double-paned windows will block train noise, allowing 168 smooth hours of programming per week via a new high-tech control room and recording studio. Anticipated are interviews with artists, youth programming, political news, and commentary, and deejays playing eclectic mixes from around the world, across broad musical spectrums.  

Wells also looks forward to going on remote, eyeing an old bus currently dwelling in the soon-to-be resurfaced KRUU parking lot. “It just may become the magic KRUU bus for on-site coverage,” he grins.  Spanish-speaking shows, international, national and local news, along with weather and emergency services, community happenings, sustainability and permaculture shows, movie reviews, call-in shows, and comedy will jazz up the mix.  Also proposed are shows on writers, the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, Ayurvedic health, and one led by Kevin Hosbond of Fairfield High School featuring work by his theater students.

“What’s fun about community radio,” says Wells, “is it can be anything we want.” By we, he means anyone of any age either from, or interested in, Fairfield. “We have had huge, consistent interest,” Cooperman says.  “Eighty to one hundred volunteers have stepped forward so far,” Moore specifies. Slots range from half an hour to three hours, “and we’re still looking for people,” the three agree.  “We want anything related to community, music, issues, talk, news – the only requirement is it must be of interest to this community.”

Moore, Wells, and Cooperman acknowledge that most people who want to host shows have little or no prior experience, something they deem unnecessary, “as long as you bring your enthusiasm.” First-timers will have a two-hour orientation session to become familiar with the station and to observe more experienced broadcasters in action before going on air themselves. “Then, assuming you want a regular show, you will have a production every week, which is practice. Learning is an ongoing process that involves self-teaching, which comes from doing,” Wells explains. “We’re all self-taught, and we’ll be learning as we go, too.”  

His colleagues point out that Wells has quite a wealth of experience to draw from, working with audio equipment, computers, and the recording studio he owned before and during his Beat Box days. Attending the recent three-day Grassroots Radio Conference 11 in Madison, WI, Moore reports that “in some ways, [KRUU is] perhaps even ahead of some older school stations. More than once, [Wells] ended up leading the discussion in terms of the latest digital applications and formats possible.” In Madison, Moore and Wells say they “networked, work-shopped and shop-talked with 150…generous and experienced …radioactive grassroots aficionados from across the country,” who, Moore adds, “were intrigued by Fairfield’s designation by Mother Earth News as one of the ‘12 Great Places in the US that You’ve Never Heard Of’.”

So far, about 10 out of more than 90 people expressing interest in deejaying music or hosting other programs have experience on air. This includes Moore himself, who will do an instrumental music show, to include live music.  Some are sending in shows, prerecorded from outside of Fairfield, such as Shawn O’Sullivan, a young yet experienced, former Fairfielder now living in New York City.

“It’s a fun way to stay connected with people who’ve left, who are out in the world doing music and media,” Wells comments.

100.1FM will span a five-mile radius, thanks to Dwight Harris who donated and helped install a $2000, 60-foot radio tower plus antenna. With Quinn Shanahan’s expertise, KRUU will also stream over the Internet from the station’s website, making it available to anyone anywhere.  

Once the station reaches its $25,000 fundraising goal – it’s already halfway there – to get KRUU up and running, the fundraising focus will shift to sustaining and enhancing operation through “ongoing budget pledges,” of $10-$15/month per supporter, or more from business sponsorships.  

The Programming Committee says that logistics, like the building and equipment, are also halfway there. “Programming-wise, we’re right on track,” says Wells.  “Nothing is going to prevent us,” he shines, highlighting his confidence in the wide talent base he feels Fairfield is lucky to have.  “And we anticipate another influx of [programming] interest as the station hits airwaves,” says Moore.  

The station’s all-inviting philosophy and roots can be traced to Wells’ previous projects. Back in 2001, Wells applied for a broadcast license for the Beat Box. The opportunity to apply is only offered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about every ten years, and getting accepted is tricky.  After about a year of application processing time, the Beat Box beat the odds and received the license, just as the former youth center had to close operation. “After the license lay dormant for two years, we looked into and were granted an extension by the FCC to begin broadcasting by October 16 of this year,” says Wells.

For those curious, Wells clarifies that, “the KRUU letters are our call sign, assigned by the FCC.  We didn’t make it up.” What they do make up are “a lot of creative and crazy ideas, some of which will make it on the air.” One of these ideas “to have everyone in Fairfield say ‘Fairfield,’ or do station identification to create a symphony,” began being recorded at a recent Art Walk, he says.

This spring, Cooperman and Fry sparked town hall meetings regarding a media arts center for Fairfield, which will again become a priority project once KRUU is off the ground and running. The four men made a group decision to focus on the radio station as the highly feasible first step. Both projects are for fun, but, say Moore and Wells, also meet a town and state-wide need of providing an opportunity and creative venue that, though for all ages, may be particularly vital to youth. “We feel [both projects] can play a valuable role in providing young people…a reason to stay and grow here – or even return and grow here…. Our wider mission is to do our fair share to make Fairfield an irresistible place to live.”       

Spying Iowa’s Governor at a recent press conference for the new Civic Center, Wells and Moore presented a charmed Vilsack with a “Join the KRUU” T-shirt. Vilsack told them that when he thinks of Fairfield, he thinks of “creative energy,” and is eager to hear what the united voice of such a community will sound like and accomplish.

Raring to go, Cooperman announces, “We already have interviews recorded for shows, and will have a big program schedule up in the next week or two.” A community advisory board will review ideas submitted and give the Programming Committee feedback for the imminent showcasing of Fairfield’s top-notch voice. “We have an inclusive vision. No one will be turned away,” the Committee reminds. Not skipping a beat, Fairfield’s whole heart will play and be heard.  

Those with interest, time, resources or ideas may go to www.kruufm.com or call James Moore at (641) 233-1617.  The KRUU building is now open for drop-in visits weekdays from 10:00 am-noon and 1:00 – 3:00 pm. 

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Reprinted by permission of The Heartland Spirit. All rights reserved.