words by Hayden Seder

If you scroll the radio tuner in your car in the Wood River Valley, there’s a good chance you’ve been stopped by a song on a certain station: maybe it was a deep cut that you didn’t know anyone else out there liked; maybe it was a new band you’d never heard and certainly hadn’t heard on any other stations. Likely, it was on KDPI, the Wood River Valley’s local community radio station at 88.5 FM. This fifteen-year-old station has had numerous locations, all manner of radio shows and hosts, played all the tunes (and even had String Cheese Incident play live in studio once!) and through it all, successfully maintained its mission to connect and amplify the voices of the Wood River Valley, building community one song and one radio show at a time.

The History

Founder and general manager Mike Scullion started working in the Wood River Valley in the ’90s, at The Mint in Hailey, back when it was owned by Bruce Willis. As part of his job, he would go to the local KSKI radio station every other week to promote the bands coming to play at the Mint. Though Mike had no previous radio experience, the KSKI DJ noted his comfortability on air and voice for radio, and soon Mike was doing his own show with KSKI. But it was while taking a break from the Wood River Valley in 1999, spending time back in his hometown of Philadelphia, that Mike found the inspiration for what would late become KDPI.

Mike read a newspaper article about Prometheus Radio Project, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization founded by a group of radio activists who support community radio stations. “I thought, I should go talk to them,” says Mike, “so I called them and took them to lunch.” At the time, they were based out of the basement of a church in what Mike describes as “one of the worst neighborhoods in Philly.” He told them about the Wood River Valley, and they said that given the rural location and the lack of radio in the area, it could be the perfect spot for a community station.

Starting KDPI, Ketchum’s First Community Radio Station

While the Wood River Valley has numerous radio stations it picks up, and has even had local stations in the past, like KSKI, community radio is a different beast altogether. “Community radio” refers to locally focused, noncommercial broadcasting that is often operated by volunteers and community members. While there may be sponsors/underwriters, it is ad free and completely nonprofit.

In 2005, Mike moved back to the area, inspired to start his own community radio station in the Wood River Valley. His first step was getting on the FCC mailing list, as they only open the application window for noncommercial community radio licenses about every two years. In 2006, the FCC opened that window, but to apply for a license, you had to be a nonprofit that had been operating in the community for two years. Mike’s first challenge, then, was finding a local nonprofit that would lend him their nonprofit status, which he was able to find in the Wood River YMCA, so he applied for the radio license in their name. After three years, during which applications from all over the world are processed, the FCC informed Mike that he had gotten the license in 2009.

With license in tow, it was now time to build a station and get the necessary equipment. Over the course of two years, Mike fundraised, threw awareness parties, and slowly accrued radio equipment, finally settling in at the station’s first home, a small studio on Main Street across from what was then the Clarion Inn (and now Hotel Ketchum), in a small little shack. The station moved locations several times over the years, to the old post office building (where Maude’s is now) to above the Gilman Gallery, to its current home in the basement of the Perry’s building.

KDPI Today

KDPI has been going strong for fifteen years now, thanks to many volunteers and its underwriters, the Powerhouse Pub and the Wood River Inn, as well as the Sun Valley Resort for allowing the station to use the radio tower on Baldy. And of course, what keeps the station going on a daily basis is its numerous DJs. At any given time in the station’s history, there have been about ten to fifteen DJs with all manner of shows during the week.

KDPI currently has eleven shows in its lineup, which include Truckin’ Down the Golden Road, dedicated to music by the Grateful Dead and music that has been inspired by them; Move ‘n Groove, a two-hour Monday show aimed at beating the Monday blues with upbeat, fun tunes; Apéritif à Paris, an hour of French music, hosted in French; and many more.

Anyone is welcome to approach the station about starting a show, which then requires reading through a 50-page manual on how to use the DJ equipment and taking a multiple choice test at the end—what Mike calls “a DJ test.” Then the new DJ sits with a couple of the other established DJs for a few shows, then Mike sits with them for their first few shows.

Given that there’s only ten to fifteen shows a week on the station, there’s a lot of airtime in between to fill in, which Mike fills with a variety of playlists put together from music culled from the station’s library. When the station first started, DJs would bring in their own CD collections and they’d be added to the station library. “I couldn’t tell you how many bands we had in that library,” Mike says. “It’s a big library of music, all different genres—anything from big band to reggae to indie singer-songwriters, lots of live recordings, even class. We try not to play the hits, even from the classic bands; we like the deeper cuts.”

The station’s signal extends from roughly the blinking light south of Bellevue up to Galena Pass, encompassing almost all of Blaine County, though listeners from across the world can tune in through the station’s website, kdpi.org.

In a few months, Mike plans to step back as general manager for DJ John Boydston to take over, giving Mike time to focus on other things, including getting back on his own radio show on KDPI and possibly building a station at his house. “John’s got the enthusiasm I had 13 years ago,” Mike explains. The station also just got a brand new antenna on Baldy, so the future is looking bright for this beloved community radio station.