Serendipity comes in many shapes and sizes. To experience it, all that's necessary is a willingness to be pleasantly surprised. You could discover it at a garage sale, where you stumble across a Mobilgas globe for your 1932 gasoline pump. You could encounter it where the sidewalk ends and a new trail begins, leading to an inviting picnic or camping site. Or... you might reel it in while trolling on the internet for an intriguing website. It is what lay behind door #3 that led this writer to a delightful discovery in Invercargill, New Zealand, home of the southland's only country music station.
A few words of explanation are in order: Invercargill is both a place and a thing. If there were a person by that name, Invercargill would hit the noun tri-fecta! The thing aspect is a march composed by Alex Lithgow in 1901, and is part of the standard repertoire of high school and military bands practically everywhere. It reached its pinnacle of fame following the Gallipoli War in Turkey in 1916, which involved both NZ and Aussie, or "Anzac" troops. The march owes its title to the place-aspect, a city found at the southern tip of the Southland of New Zealand. (ed note: when referring to their country, locals use "land" as a suffix rather than the word "island". The latter is reserved for New Zealand's "west island", which as we know, is populated by wallabies, dingos and penal colonists, but we digress....)
At this point in the story our readership would be justified in asking, "OK, so what, in the mind of an ancient Oregon viking, is the connection between country music and this affinity for a green patch of Oceania, on the other side of the international date line?
The former is the result of an affliction/addiction, contracted in high school from one of our two closest buds. It has since been diagnosed as hopelessly incurable, requiring a two-hour treatment Monday thru Thursday to maintain spiritual equilibrium. The latter came on the heels of a two-week trip from Auckland in the north to Dunedin in the south in the spring of 2000. A more friendly and welcoming country simply does not exist.
One day last year, during a siege of idle speculation Google, the cyber-guru was consulted, and yes, country music does exist there. However, stations with that format are rarer than the nation's beloved talisman, the kiwi. The guru directed us to 105.2 fm, a station arriving on-air in 2000. Following an investment of $30,000 and the establishment of a studio in the back half of a garage, this beacon of the Southland has held forth under its present ownership for the past ten years.
Station-meister Scotty has been the "man for all seasons", carrying the bulk of the load for engineering, programming, advertising, and fund-raising. Speaking of the latter, all of the dj's are volunteers, and there but for one reason; their love of the music. It's grass roots radio at its finest. To be sure there are advertisers, and they do buy air time, but income barely covers outgo for station maintenance. Our jack-of-all-trades has to continually beat the donation drum to make ends meet. Therein lies a blessing in disguise, a saving grace. It's found in an amazing amount of support the station has garnered from local clubs and musicians sympathetic to the country cause. This has been sufficient enough to sustain a tireless effort to survive. Scotty's devotion can best be illustrated by the farm ingredients in a ham suffle. The hen (staff, clubs, musicians) is involved, but the pig is committed. With all apologies due for the porker profiling, the C.O.O. of the enterprise falls in the latter category. Not that it's all nose to the grindstone for the guy. He still finds time to roam the back '40 at the controls of his unique all-terrain quad.
Where signal strength is concerned, 105.2 fm is legally bound to maintain a relatively low profile via a dipole antenna, and repeater on nearby Forest Hill. However, internet streaming enables this station to vault over that limitation, and project a world-wide presence. Listeners from distant reaches like Russia, the United Kingdom, and the eastern provinces of Canada have checked in with the on-air hosts. Based on the number of phone calls the station typically receives in a week's time, Country Radio's market surveillance department calculates the base of the listening audience easily reaches six thousand. By Southland demographics, that has to merit admiration.
Occupying the 10:00-12:00 studio slot each day is Bev, whom we gravitate toward daily since her on-air time coincides with our 3:00-5:00 pm time frame in the "man cave." While behind the microphone, she fields a steady stream of "lovely phone calls" from her legion of fans and admirers. Her play-mix is an artful balance of oldies, New Zealand style top-30 hits, and local talent. In the year since we happened on this delightful piece of serendipity, both she and Scotty have become personal friends.
Granted, this genre of music is not everybody's audio cup of tea. That caveat aside, to the best of our knowledge (including occasional biases) there is only one station in the radio-free world where one can still regularly enjoy the Everly Brothers singing their 1958 Billboard #1 hit, "Bird Dog" and the amazing, sequin-studded Hank Snow, along with his Rainbow Ranch Boys, warble a rendition of "I've Been Everywhere". You'll be able to hear these, as well as a host of other vintage 50's, Nashville and rock-a-billy pieces, all while basking in the down home feel emanating from a down under town.
A final word to our younger readership: Starting at about the time of your 60th winter, you'll begin to notice a greater inclination to cling to things past. At about 46.3 degrees south latitude on your Rand McNally, there is a radio station that has provided us one sure and steady grip. In your own quest, may you be as fortunate in finding a pleasant surprise.
Station-meister Scotty has been the "man for all seasons", carrying the bulk of the load for engineering, programming, advertising, and fund-raising. Speaking of the latter, all of the dj's are volunteers, and there but for one reason; their love of the music. It's grass roots radio at its finest. To be sure there are advertisers, and they do buy air time, but income barely covers outgo for station maintenance. Our jack-of-all-trades has to continually beat the donation drum to make ends meet. Therein lies a blessing in disguise, a saving grace. It's found in an amazing amount of support the station has garnered from local clubs and musicians sympathetic to the country cause. This has been sufficient enough to sustain a tireless effort to survive. Scotty's devotion can best be illustrated by the farm ingredients in a ham suffle. The hen (staff, clubs, musicians) is involved, but the pig is committed. With all apologies due for the porker profiling, the C.O.O. of the enterprise falls in the latter category. Not that it's all nose to the grindstone for the guy. He still finds time to roam the back '40 at the controls of his unique all-terrain quad.
Where signal strength is concerned, 105.2 fm is legally bound to maintain a relatively low profile via a dipole antenna, and repeater on nearby Forest Hill. However, internet streaming enables this station to vault over that limitation, and project a world-wide presence. Listeners from distant reaches like Russia, the United Kingdom, and the eastern provinces of Canada have checked in with the on-air hosts. Based on the number of phone calls the station typically receives in a week's time, Country Radio's market surveillance department calculates the base of the listening audience easily reaches six thousand. By Southland demographics, that has to merit admiration.
Granted, this genre of music is not everybody's audio cup of tea. That caveat aside, to the best of our knowledge (including occasional biases) there is only one station in the radio-free world where one can still regularly enjoy the Everly Brothers singing their 1958 Billboard #1 hit, "Bird Dog" and the amazing, sequin-studded Hank Snow, along with his Rainbow Ranch Boys, warble a rendition of "I've Been Everywhere". You'll be able to hear these, as well as a host of other vintage 50's, Nashville and rock-a-billy pieces, all while basking in the down home feel emanating from a down under town.
A final word to our younger readership: Starting at about the time of your 60th winter, you'll begin to notice a greater inclination to cling to things past. At about 46.3 degrees south latitude on your Rand McNally, there is a radio station that has provided us one sure and steady grip. In your own quest, may you be as fortunate in finding a pleasant surprise.
