Gerald Gaule was in his car listening to a Camas-based European-format radio station when he heard something weird: English.
He immediately called the station to find out what was going on. He reached David Stepanyuk, 33, station manager for KIEV-FM, which was broadcasting programs in Russian, Ukrainian, Bosnian and other languages. Stepanyuk told Gaule, 54, that a larger station had taken over the 102.7 FM frequency KIEV-FM had been broadcasting on for three years.
Stepanyuk regrouped and came up with an idea to relaunch the station with a new format, and Outlaw Country was born. It now broadcasts on 102.5 FM.
Overall, KIEV-FM had to spend around $1,500 on engineering work and filing fees to broadcast on the new frequency. So far, the change has paid off, as the station’s listeners have increased since changing over to a country station. Stepanyuk said they get “100 times” the feedback with the new format than they used to get. He said the six or so people who broadcast on the European formatted station should be able to move to one of multiple other local radio stations that broadcast similar content.
Gaule broadcasts the station’s live morning show from 8 a.m. to noon Monday, Wednesday and Friday and says he hears from listeners every day. He takes requests on the air and announces local events and birthdays to connect the station to the area.
“A low-powered station should try to serve the community,” said Gaule, who was involved with radio for 40 years. “I’m the person on air giving trivia about the songs I’m playing and telling corny jokes.”
Gaule even started broadcasting from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sundays because a listener, Bob from Camas, was particularly interested in pre-1960 country music.
“It feels like family,” Gaule said. “I get to be myself. It’s very personable. It’s my own style. My format is very relaxed and informal.”
While broadcasting on a recent morning, Gaule was affable on-air and off, but his voice noticeably perked up a bit when he jumped back on the air while songs from Ray Stevens and Dolly Parton faded out.
Gaule was nervous about jumping back on-air after about 11 years off it. The retired DJ spent time broadcasting for mostly country stations around the Willamette Valley. At bigger stations, he was asked to use fake names, so he went by Jeff Davis and “The Real” Jeff Steel. At one point, when he was working for three stations at once, he regularly had to think about what his name was for each particular station while he was on the air.
Now, using his real name, Gaule said it’s been an entirely positive experience on-air for Outlaw Country. He has regular listeners who call in, such as Bob. One told him recently that he liked listening to Gaule because he sounded “unpolished.”
“I’ve been in commercial before,” Gaule said. “I worked for Clear Channel. That was a stressful job. I wasn’t happy working for a huge corporation. I’m a much better fit at a small mom-and-pop station.”
Those mom-and-pop stations have their own issues, though. Stepanyuk said that for KIEV-FM and other “low-power FMs,” a bigger station coming along and pushing them off their frequency is an unfortunate part of life as a smaller radio station.
“Basically, there was nothing we could do,” he said. “The full-powers have the full power.”
KXRW-FM, Vancouver’s only local radio station, is facing a similar issue, as the station revealed recently that Clark County residents tuning in to 99.9 FM may find different voices coming through the airwaves. Bustos Media, a Portland-headquartered radio company, has applied for the same frequency across the river that could seep over and overpower the local broadcast.
While being forced off their frequency led to positive change for Stepanyuk and Outlaw Country, the station still hasn’t fully recovered. Outlaw Country broadcasts in a far more limited range than the European programming station did on the old frequency.
The station used to reach to Wilsonville, Ore., Stepanyuk said. Now, it reaches parts of Camas and Vancouver.
Stepanyuk said the station is trying to raise money so it can build a new tower and reach more listeners. Anyone interested in contributing can go to www.outlawcountry.net/contribute.
“We’re local. We’re grass-roots,” Stepanyuk said. “(Bigger stations) don’t care about taking our channel. We’re just in their way.”
Gaule said it’s important for smaller stations, like Outlaw Country and KXRW, to look out for each other and team up.
“We need to stick together,” he said. “The common goal is to not let the bigger guys encroach on us.”
