In an age where most FM radio stations display a cookie-cutter similarity, with DJs who all sound alike and rarely, if ever, deviate from prescribed playlists, when on a road trip it's nearly impossible to tell if you're listening to sounds from Dallas or Detroit, WDBX 91.1FM in Carbondale stands out.

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See a slideshow focusing on WDBX.

Produced by Caleb Hale | Photos by Chuck Novara

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The station in the little brick building at the corner of Washington and Oak streets, just off the town square, stands up and shouts diversity.

That shout emanates from a gaggle of some 115 volunteer DJs who are willing to share their time, their music and their messages, offering listeners a rich potpourri of programming nearly round the clock. They are young and old, black and white, cowboys and yes, Indians (both Native Americans and those from India), highbrows and lowbrows.

Tune in to 91.1 late at night and you might hear Tom Waits' gravel-rough growl singing "The Heart of Saturday Night." Later that morning, you might hear gospel, bluegrass or an attorney shedding "Light on the Law." And on a weekend afternoon (in season), the Metropolitan Opera is broadcast live.

WDBX even, in partnership with the River Radio Group, broadcasts Carbondale Terrier football and basketball games, pre-empting its regular programming.

"Playlist" is a dirty word to station manager Brian R. Powell, the only paid employee of the station. His rules are pretty simple: If it doesn't violate FCC regulations, it's OK.

"If people are working for free, you can tell them what they can't do, but don't tell them what to do," Powell reasoned. Once he picks DJs, he'll leave them alone. "That way, they have a stake in the organization," he said.

Punctuality is one of the most important traits Powell looks for in folks who are supposed to take over the microphone at a given time, but the DBX crew is like a family, and most folks are willing to cover for someone who is stalled in traffic or waiting in the emergency room with a toddler. Some DJs are even willing to take over a program slot for a week or two - or a summer - for a colleague on vacation.

Carbondale can, too

The station was the brainchild of Carbondale businessman Tom Egert, who was driving home from St. Louis in the fall of 1992 and listening to community radio station KDHX in St. Louis. When the signal faded, he first was annoyed, then intrigued. Why couldn't Carbondale have its own community radio station?

In May 1993, Egert, attorney Gene Turk and accountant Ron Manis, all of Carbondale, created the nonprofit Heterodyne Broadcasting Co., and applied to the FCC to operate a 700-watt, community-based, nonprofit educational radio station.

Egert first planned to have the studio on the second floor of the Longbranch building on East Jackson Street, which he owned. But the city wouldn't approve the site he'd chosen for the tower.

Egert found an alternative site for the tower but then needed a studio nearer to the tower site. The Bank of Carbondale donated the lot at the corner of Washington and Oak streets, and Heterodyne paid $900 to settle a tax lien on the property.

By fall 1995, groundbreaking was held for the WDBX studio building. Powell was hired to get the station ready to go on the air.

Public meetings were held at Longbranch for anyone interested in helping with the new station. More than 100 people attended the sessions, and 40 signed on as volunteers.

Initially, the station broadcast only from 4 to 10 p.m., seven days a week. As Powell trained more volunteers, the airtime grew. Now, programs begin at 4 a.m. most days and sign-off is between 2 and 4 a.m.

As programming grew, DBX turned to fundraising activities with an eye to upgrading equipment and expanding the broadcast range. In the early days, the signal barely would reach Marion .

Egert opened a Community Thrift Store in December 1996 with proceeds from sales helping support the station. On Feb. 14, 1997, then-volunteers Beth Tryon and Ted Petith hosted a Valentine Ball and auction to mark the station's first anniversary on the air. The event raised $10,000, which was used to buy a broadcast-quality mixing console for the studio. The ball was so successful - and so much fun - it became an annual event.

In 2001, an "Adopt a Watt" campaign raised $60,000 to upgrade the broadcast signal and expand the DBX coverage area. In June, 2003, the Community Thrift Store moved to a building on East Main Street with four times the space of the Jackson Street shop. It closed this year because the station was receiving enough community support that the shop's proceeds no longer were needed to keep the station on the air.

Individual memberships and business or organization underwriters keep DBX on the airwaves.

From its original 700 watts, the station graduated in August 2003, to broadcasting on 3,000 watts.

Upgrade for the future

The year 2005 saw a major upgrade in the studio, with most of the remodeling done by DJ Mike Lescelius. And by December of that year, DBX began streaming audio on the Internet, with the help of James Throgmorton.

Powell said having the program available on the Internet means that folks who leave Carbondale don't have to leave DBX behind.

"SIU people come here, they love us, then leave," Powell said. "Now the Internet lets us keep our loyal customers who help support the station."

With 11-plus years of broadcasting, DBX is "working up to teenager status," Powell said, joking. "Sometimes it seems like yesterday, sometimes like forever ago."

In his office, piled high with papers, books, CDs, and with DBX T-shirts hanging off shelves, Powell juggles schedules and worries about the effect of summer heat on the station's already high electric bills.

"Summer is a difficult time," he said, adding that some underwriters cut back because business profits decline during SIUC summer break.

The station is preparing to launch its fall membership drive Sept. 8. Membership in the station is around 425 and has been holding steady the last few years, Powell said.

A variety of memberships is offered, from $10 to $250 a year.

In addition to raising funds, Powell said, the membership drive is "the one time we get feedback from listeners - who they are, what they like." Whatever they like, it's likely to be somewhere on the DBX schedule.

linda.rush@thesouthern.com

351-5079