KPUR to Become First 100,000-watt Station for Independent Texas Red Dirt Country Music
The expansionism in the Texas Music scene continues, and it has just acquired its first ever 100,000-watt signal. “The Armadillo” out of Amarillo, Texas will be switching signals on Monday, January 15th from its current home of 107.1 to its new home of 95.7, which will boost the station’s signal from 5,000-watts to the highest signal allowed in broadcast radio. Both stations are owned by Cumulus Media, with the current 95.7 signal being an affiliate of the NASH Icon network. The signals will switch, but all programming and personnel will remain the same.
The move will make The Armadillo the most powerful station in the U.S. to broadcast exclusively independent Texas and Red Dirt country music. Located in the Texas panhandle, this means the signal will reach parts of Oklahoma and New Mexico as well. But beyond the audience the Armadillo might reach, it’s a big step up in infrastructure that speaks to the growing interest in Texas country and Red Dirt in the region and beyond.
“The Texas Red Dirt audience is made up of the most loyal listeners I have ever seen and I am excited for what this move means for them and for the Texas Red Dirt artists,” says Shannon Urton, Vice President/Market Manager of Cumulus Media-Amarillo.
Craig Vaughn, Operations Manager/Program Director, Cumulus Media-Amarillo adds, “Texas Red Dirt music has grown in popularity to the extent that 5,000 watts of power just wasn’t enough anymore. Moving to 95.7 gives KPUR 100,000 watts of power so we can satisfy the demand we’ve had from the smaller towns surrounding Amarillo.”
Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle region is a vital touring market and proving ground for many touring Texoma artists, with many venues and annual events falling within the region, as well as being the home many performers. With other events such as the Tumbleweed Music Festival in Kansas City, and the inaugural Mile 0 Fest in Key West, Florida in February 2018, Texas and Red Dirt music continues to expand its borders and branch out to new markets, making an environment where artists can grow without having to test their luck with Music Row in Nashville.
Other dedicated Texas/Red Dirt stations include 95.9 The Ranch in Ft. Worth, and KOOK in Austin, as well as others throughout the region.
January 3, 2018 @ 9:52 am
Don’t forget Lubbock 105.3!
January 4, 2018 @ 12:32 pm
Love the Red Dirt Rebel !!
The app is much improved????????????????????
January 3, 2018 @ 10:17 am
Yeehaw!
January 3, 2018 @ 10:23 am
So this station doubles down on actually taking the Texas Music/Red Dirt/Americana/Independent only approach to more people while 95.9 The Ranch tries to claim that’s what they are doing, but instead add Dustin Lynch, Luke Combs, Lanco, etc. to their rotation.
January 3, 2018 @ 2:30 pm
Sigh.
Insert Britney Spears “You think you know, but you have no idea” GIF here…
January 3, 2018 @ 3:31 pm
I don’t know what? I don’t work at a radio station in Austin like you do, but I’m not deaf. All I have stated is that the Ranch pushes the narrative of being “Texan” and calling other radio stations “sissy” in their little jingles or slogans, yet they will play the same crap they bash other stations for playing. More of it has been added to their rotation in recent months. Can’t have it both ways.
January 3, 2018 @ 3:58 pm
The Ranch is a great radio station.
January 3, 2018 @ 4:18 pm
The Ranch is good in my opinion, but not great. They do tend to throw in bro country and most of the stuff on the Texas Music chart is really bad lowest common denominator music. KNBT out of New Braunfels is a great station in my opinion.
As a quick aside: Just because you write a snarky blog and work for a radio station in Austin doesn’t mean your opinion holds more value Rita. Ryan makes a good point. I loved in Austin for 6 years. KOKE FM, while much better than KVET, still plays some horrible mainstream music. I remember whenever John Baumann first EP came out and I was jamming it, yet never heard him played on KOKE until he got “bigger”. Same with Cody Jinks. Individuals spreading the word do more for those artists than radio, who seem to not come around until much later, usually whenever the bandwagon is more crowded. KNBT on the other hand along with independent music podcasts are 10 steps ahead of KOKE and 95.9 The Ranch.
January 3, 2018 @ 6:09 pm
Correction…….The Ranch Is not a great station, but it could be.
January 4, 2018 @ 8:42 pm
Ryan – you are absolutely right – the Ranch has gone down the drain – by now it’s not much more than a mediocre station. Same with KOKE – mediocre at best – every public radio station in Austin is better than what KOKE tries to do.
It’s not just the radio stations and their PDs that are to blame, the genre Texas/Red Dirt has only so many original artists, the rest are all copycats of what seems to be hot and in demand. And simply too much of the content has become lowest common denominator crap. As long as you cater to frat boys with a cold one, a longneck, a Lonestar or any combination thereof, mention Texas, Austin, Red Dirt or any mix of that too, you have a bonafide Texas/Red Dirt hit.
I’m glad there is the internet and that there are streaming services where I actually can find stuff I like.
Radio is dead. Playlists and podcasts rule.
January 3, 2018 @ 10:28 am
Thanks for the write up Kyle, I appreciate it. We’re looking forward to getting more power and being able to cover the Texas panhandle with 100% Independent Texas Red Dirt music. To my knowledge there are only 4 stations playing all Texas Red Dirt. The Armadillo in Amarillo, The Red Dirt Rebel in Lubbock, The Outlaw in Wichita Falls, and KBSO 94.7 in Corpus. Every other station mixes in either Nashville or artists that we wish were independent Texas artists like Stapleton and Isbell. To my knowledge at least. Amarillo will, like you noted, have the only 100K watt station.
January 3, 2018 @ 4:57 pm
I haven’t written a blog in three years. I sold out to the man.
John Baumann … the same guy we hired to be on the lineup of our music festival?
I’m not going to argue with people who have never tried to keep the light bill paid at a radio station. Trust me, I GET it…more than you know…because I felt the same way once upon a time. I didn’t understand how Radio worked. I do now. And trust me, once you have that curtain pulled back … as a fan … it will BREAK your heart.
That is why it is called show “business” …. but I don’t think that takes away from all the support Texas Radio does have for the music of this scene. It is what we do! It is part of us. This music pumps in our veins…as fans.
It’s not a perfect world, but it just hurts my heart to see people trashing a radio station that HAS done so much for these artists just because they throw in a Dustin Lynch song in occasionally.
It. Is. Not. Easy. To. Program. A. Radio. Station.
The Ranch put many an artist on the map in this scene…and if you’d ask them, they would say the same for them.
Sidenote: Craig Vaugh is a bad ass program director and I’m so excited about his news.
January 3, 2018 @ 5:53 pm
I get that it’s a business and bills must be paid. But it’s just hypocritical to claim you’re above the rest then try to throw in those few mainstream songs unnoticed. It’s also bullshit to think that just because a station plays music from the Texas/Red Dirt scene, or whatever you want to call it, that it means that it’s a good station. You can play all of the Josh Abbott, Casey Donahew, Koe Wetzel, Granger Smith and Jon Wolfe you want, but most of it is the same as the junk you hear on any other country station. The Ranch used to be an awesome station, even when they played a significant amount of mainstream acts a decade or so ago. They would play songs you never heard from artists you never heard before and the DJs were down to earth people you could relate to. Recently, they’re as bad as any other station. It’s a rotation of the same songs and artists over and over again. Yes, the majority are not mainstream artists, but it’s the same Margo Price song, the same Koe Wetzel song, the same Kyle Park song, the same Midland song, over and over again. And if you question it, or ask for an explanation, you’re cast aside as if you’re some dummy who doesn’t know anything. I asked if She Ain’t In It by Jon Pardi (a great country song) could be added to the rotation since they are now playing Dustin Lynch, and my request was deleted. I didn’t talk trash or call people any names, but yet my request/comment was deleted and ignored. Then when I expressed how terrible the new Luke Combs song was, they deleted that as well.
I guess my whole issue with the Ranch is they act like a bunch of snobs. They try to play both sides saying other stations have gone sissy, then turn around and play some bullshit song and expect everyone to fall in line.
Maybe some mainstream stuff must be added in, but don’t try to sell that to me as a positive thing in that it will add more listeners and bring a wider audience to this whole Texas scene. The people who listen to Luke Combs, Dustin Lynch, and Luke Bryan’s of the world, don’t give a shit about Mike & The Moonpies or Cody Jinks. They will just switch right back to KSCS or whatever shit station they listened to before.
January 4, 2018 @ 4:53 am
Rita, look I apologize. You are correct, I do not know the business side of radio. I didn’t intend to run down the stations or those who work hard for them. I realize you have a job to do, and my comment wasn’t meant to be directed towards any individual. I also do realize the great things The ranch and KOKE have done for independent artists, as well as the Ranch expanding its playlist to include Americana acts.
That said, I think that our passion for this music drives us to work as hard as we can to advance its cause. And sometimes we tend to take on and criticize those who are essentially allies in our fight because we seek a perfect world. Whenever you hear a Eric Church song (not a bad artist) whenever it could be a Moonpies tune it can be frustrating because EC can be heard elsewhere or on any normal top 40 country station. Again…I have no idea about the business side of radio. No idea how KNBT can do what they do. I’m a lab analyst at Firestone polymers, not a DJ. But I’m a big fan of music. I do not want hard feelings or a grudge. I respect you guys and what you do, my “snarky blog” comment was childish. Just offering criticism from a fans perspective.
January 4, 2018 @ 5:23 am
We are all good … I am extra sensitive sometimes now seeing things from a different perspective. 🙂
January 3, 2018 @ 11:13 am
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January 3, 2018 @ 1:29 pm
Must be nice. Tulsa has no decent stations now. Even our classic country station went to a more 90’s country format.
January 4, 2018 @ 9:45 am
Yeah, and that’s a damn shame too. KVOO-AM was a great station with a lot of history, as was KWKH-AM in Shreveport, the home of the Louisiana Hayride. They both met similar fates; KWKH was turned into a sports station in 2012. So much history down the drain. It made me want to cry.
January 3, 2018 @ 4:04 pm
Great station. KPUR has a great app too. Spend most of the work day on them or WSM app. In north central WV, the radio choices are slim, so it’s either iTunes or apps. Not a fan of streaming. It’s nice feeling connected a little to what’s going on in country music that you don’t get on streaming.
January 4, 2018 @ 9:48 am
This is great news for them. I wish they had a station like this in San Antonio.
January 4, 2018 @ 7:05 pm
Can the Armadillo be listened to online?
January 6, 2018 @ 11:55 am
kpur107.com (soon kpur957.com) or there’s a free app, search KPUR 107 (soon KPUR 95.7) wherever you get your apps, Apple or Android.
Here’s to “lowest common denominator crap”, and “radio being dead”! So dead and crappy that both are getting a 95,000 watt upgrade! Woop woop!
January 12, 2018 @ 9:18 am
Craig Vaughn is the man!
November 2, 2020 @ 8:29 am
Hi all. I live in the UK and have got into this station a bit by accident – I think Charley Crockett re-tweeted something by them. Anyway, it’s great! Any other US radio stations playing honky tonk, roots, red dirt etc that you would recommend? Many thanks.