Christian rock fills Santa Rosa airwaves
Radio station KORB director Keith Leitch, left, and DJ Brian Hunt lend their talents to a new Christian rock radio station centered at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts.
MARK ARONOFF/THE PRESS DEMOCRATPublished: Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 2:50 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 2:50 p.m.
A Santa Rosa man’s 10-year quest to start a Christian radio station depended in the end on his acquisition of three FCC permits for stations in Juneau, Alaska, of all places.
But those far-away stations proved perfect trading tender, putting Broken FM, broadcast from Hopland, on the air early this year.
Translators in Santa Rosa and Cotati extend its reach through Central Sonoma County. Now founder Keith Leitch, an Agilent engineer, said he wants the community to claim the alternative Christian rock station for its own - through donations and other efforts - to the benefit of the area’s young people.
Though appealing, Leitch says, to folks of all ages who enjoy hard-edged music with a positive message, “what we bring to the table is a youth-oriented format.”
“Basically, it’s just creating a safe place that they can tune into,” said his wife, Ryne Leitch, the station’s manager.
Broken FM, or KORB (the first letters of “broken” backward), is operated by the non-profit One Ministries Inc., of which both Leitches are board members.
The station already is benefitting from studio space donated by the Santa Rosa Christian School at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts and has lined up a handful of volunteer DJs who are working to connect with local audiences through music request lines, blogs and other Web networking platforms.
The Leitches, whose own three children are still in kindergarten and preschool, also plan to launch radio production classes, internships and DJ slots for students at the Christian School, as well as discussion programs on subjects important to teens and awareness-raising campaigns.
But first they want to provide interesting, encouraging music that’s not necessarily Christian in content but at least contains a clean and positive message.
Eschewing the more common Contemporary Christian music format whose secular counterpart might be “easy listening,” they opted for harder edged rock, with shows already on air featuring grunge, punk, metal, and other varieties, they said.
Even those seeking out Christian music “want to hear the guitar,” Keith Leitch said. “They want to hear heavier music. And there hasn’t been something in the past for them to turn to, so this fills that gap.
Educated at New Mexico State University, Leitch, 34, spent two years consulting on Federal Communications Commission license acquisitions before moving to Sonoma County, where he works full-time at Agilent. He’d also worked at a Christian television station for a time.
Some free consulting work he did for a church in Bethel, Alaska led to his application for FCC permits in the Juneau market.
He ultimately proposed a trade for the Hopland station owned by Rocklin-based K-LOVE, the nation’s largest Contemporary Christian music station, coincidentally launched years ago out of Sonoma County’s Wells Fargo Center.
One Ministries also got $14,000 in the trade, allowing the Leitches to start broadcasting Jan. 15, programming the music via computer out of their bedroom closet.
They moved into the Wells Fargo Center studio in early March.
The station is on the dial at 107.9 FM in Santa Rosa, 105.7 in Rohnert Park and south Sonoma County, and 91.5 in Healdsburg and other points north.
With monthly expenses for tower rental, music licensing and other fees totaling about $5,000 monthly, Leitch is hoping now that potential donors will tune in and contribute in some way.
An early convert was Costas Schuler, a graphic artist sometimes known as the Pen Guy, who met the Leitches at their church and wanted to help. He designed the station logo, then came on board as a morning DJ.
“I just jumped on it,” he said. “How many people do you know (who) have a radio station and they ask you to be on the radio? And it was a way to help them out. It’s a lot of fun.”
Pathways Charter school student Brian Hunt, 17, also has his own show now and said he likes having a place to hear edgy music with a Christian theme that earns parent approval without having to be his parents’ music.
“The station just appeals to a lot of people my age who just want to listen to positive music, you know, music that will actually enhance their life and focus on things that are good to be focused on, really.”
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