After two decades on Broad Street, WRIR 97.3 FM is moving to a new location in the Shockoe Bottom area of Richmond. Never fear, Saturday nights will still be here for you radio crew. Frequency will still be airing fresh music on Saturdays at 9 pm ET and you can hit the archives after. We will just not be on Broad Street broadcasting. It’s the bittersweet end of one chapter and the beginning of an exciting new one.
For twenty years we have called 1621 West Broad Street home to our music on Saturday nights. I basically grew up as a person and DJ within those walls. I became an expert at the craft by showing up every single week. Many years lugging a backpack full of my latest 12” Vinyl favorites and often arriving on foot or by bus. Running up the stairs to spend four hours every Saturday night playing beats AND hosting DJ’s? Sounded like a win to me. Frequency took place in the first two hours of the four hour music block in the evening. It was followed by the Guest DJ Spotlight after that took us into late night. Dance music in the early 2000’s finally had a place on the radio dial in Richmond. We were thrilled to be a part of this low power FM movement. In the early years, we represented the station to the actual FCC in DC. That was when Clear Channel was trying to mute local voices on the dial throughout the USA. (But that’s a story for another time..) There was no one to tell us what to play, or when to play it. The only thing we really needed was to stay within the rules set by the FCC. Which basically means no obscene language. That became more difficult for me as the breaks vinyl I played was full of language not FCC appropriate. So, I started playing drum and bass on the radio instead and never looked back.
The current radio station is nestled above the Camel Restaurant. In the beginning it was WILD! A legit squatter was living in one of the rooms that had not yet been converted to a radio space. He asked us to turn down the music that first night as he was trying to sleep. What?!. No way. We didn’t turn it down. The squatter moved out. And we continued to bang it out loudly for another one thousand and ninety two more Saturday nights after that. The first show on January 1, 2005 feels like yesterday. I remember wearing a 555 Soul top that I wish I still owned. And fresh with a bag of recent nu skool breaks records from the Turnstyle store. We hosted a few locals that first night and played records til we didn’t feel like it anymore. Hours went by when we turned off the transmitter to go home for the night / morning. My apologies go out to those early listeners. Shutting off the transmitter meant the country music station (located ninety miles to the south), prevailed on our frequency. What a bummer to go from breaks and techno to all out country music. No offense to country music.
A very select few core memories are persistent. They make me grateful for the community the radio has provided me for so many years. It is and was always a true community space. The fund drives twice yearly so lively and random. I remember running into members of GWAR and Lamb of God hanging out casually in the kitchen. And a fun and wild night dancing in the new studio with DC’s beloved Scott Henry. I loved watching Terry Mullan spin a two hour acid house set on a card table. The early model CDJ’s we had borrowed swayed back and forth. He lit them up like he was mixing records. Frankie Bones stopped through for an interview on the origins of P.L.U.R. and the early love parade he was a part of. Drum and bass legends like Odi, Danny the Wildchild, and Reid Speed, played. Along with hundreds of local, regional, national and international DJ’s throughout all the electronic genres. I also feel the need to give a shout to the very first early on air live caller. There’s nothing quite like hearing the sounds of someone hitting a bong on air. Pretty funny RVA! And to the weekend jail warriors that would call in with their collect calls we couldn’t accept. We know you were listening! It was all so inspiring.
Twenty years later we are still proudly holding down Saturday nights in our community and worldwide. To date , Frequency has become one of the The USA’s longest running weekly FM electronic music shows. A very big thank you to everyone – our recent guest hosts like Blair Johnson and Jaybee. To the station volunteers, DJ’s, listeners, and the RVA community for being part of this radio journey with us. As we enter the next chapter in the new studio in January 2026, we will continue the station’s OG mission.. “To air underrepresented music on the dial in our city”. So stay tuned and most importantly ..KEEP IT LOCKED!
Upcoming Episodes:
(12/13) Frequency #1093: JOANNA O. & J SPLIT
(live, drum and bass)
(12/20) Frequency #1094: BLAIR JOHNSON
(live, House / Techno)
(12/27) Frequency #1095: JOANNA O. & KATEON (Night Sirens, Austria)
(Exclusive mixes, drum and bass)
Listen Live: 97.3 FM or WRIR.ORG
Archives of Turnstyle’s Frequency: Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, TurnstyleOnline, and WRIR
To find out more at the WRIR Capital campaign & the radio move, please visit: WRIRCampaign.org