Cowboy Broadcasting Network LLC owners Jim Schwertner (left) and Steve Laukhuf (second from right) acquired KRXT in September and were supported by their wives Patti Schwertner (second from left) and Suzane Laukhuf (right) at the studio ribbon cutting in Taylor Dec. 5. FILE PHOTO
TAYLOR –– The voice of veteran Texas radio personality and adman Stephen Laukhuf has become a familiar one in Taylor and other communities across East Williamson, Milam and Lee counties this year.
Laukhuf, one of the masterminds behind the reinvention of KRXT 98.5 FM and its recent move from Rockdale to Taylor, was looking for a quiet life away from the spotlight on his Lexington ranch.
Instead, he bought a radio station last September with another area rancher as an investor— Jim Schwertner — and now hosts the daily “Hometown Highlights” show interviewing local mayors, sheriffs, constables, school principals and superintendents, chambers of commerce leaders and Taylor Press journalists to bring hyperlocal news relevant to listeners.
The station moved from a past-itsprime building in Rockdale (where the 6,000-watt radio tower still stands) to a studio and offices in the McCrory Timmerman and Titsworth buildings, Second Street and North Main Avenue, that were merged into a multi-use development during a recent restoration.
The station moved into the suites formerly occupied by the Taylor Economic Development Corp., which helped with a grant. Laukhuf ’s journey started in radio in his hometown of Wichita Falls in 1983, a career that took him to stations in San Antonio, Waco, a quick stop over the state line in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and back to several more postings in Texas before launching his own agency, One Voice Advertising.
The quiet life of raising longhorn cattle on the Double S Ranch left an itch to engage his new community by buying the Rockdale station. It was started in 1989 by Charlie McGregor, who was 82 at the time of the sale to the Cowboy Broadcasting Network LLC formed by Laukhuf and Schwertner, a cattle broker and banker.
“I started my career in radio, and I wanted to end it in radio,” Laukhuf said.
To that end, he went to Schwertner with an old-fashioned radio mic – topped with a miniature cowboy hat – and a proposal.
Schwertner, a former member of the Texas A&M Board of Regents who has also been named both Williamson County and Texas Man of the Year in Agriculture, has deep ties to the land but said he has always had an interest in the airwaves.
He has found the experience everything he hoped it would be. In the 10 months of owning the station, Schwertner said he has heard from a lot of people about the focus on local subjects.
“We’re getting a lot of positive feedback,” Schwertner said. “People really appreciate knowing what’s going on in the community. We are getting away from all that corporate broadcasting.”
DON’T STOP THE POLKA MUSIC
In recent decades the business model of radio has tipped more and more to centralized radio programming, serving numerous markets and creating a homogenous experience far from the main streets of small-town America.
KRXT’s owners said they believe broadcasting and internet streaming anything and everything of local interest will bring listeners back.
While the low-power station has a limited reach and an Austin station sometimes bleeds into the signal, the station boasts an audience of locals and those who have moved away of at least 70,000 through the online app and socialmedia engagement.
Rows of classic country album covers from decades past adorn several walls of the second-floor offices and studio of KRXT, reflecting another reason people listen to the station.
Supporters of area high school sports –– the Ducks, Tigers, Lions, Yeomen and Bulldogs –– from several school districts in the area are coming to the station to hear the play-by-play of the games of their children and grandchildren.
But then they come back for talk and tunes from Bob Cole and Eric Raines in the morning, familiar country tunes with Deena Blake for the midday, Earl in the Afternoon for a hefty dose of 1970s to 1990s hits or the overnight honky tonk playlist from midnight to 6 a.m.
There’s also Texas A&M University football broadcasts, various thematic country music shows such as “Cryin’ Lovin’ or Leavin’” tailored for the younger generation, and “New Texas Troubadours” on Saturday afternoon from Kenny Schneebeli, who tracks Texas artists’ hits as chart editor and executive director of the Texas Country Music Chart.
Regional weather, Texas agriculture reports, a Nashville insider entertainment report and Sunday gospel music are part of the eclectic mix to match local interests.
The radio station also has continued two key programs that keep the station’s past and the melting-pot history of the area alive, including its strong Czech culture.
“I had calls saying, ‘Don’t stop the polka music,’” Schwertner said after news got out that he and Laukuf purchased the station. “I had more calls about that than anything.”
Michael Craig hosted the polka show on a one-time Taylor radio station for 20 years until a format change and then moved it to KRXT for the next 27 years until his retirement earlier this year.
Taking the reins from Craig for the daily polka show is Lexi Vee, the graphic designer for the station, who jumped at the chance to both learn more about polka and put her radio, television and film degree from the University of Texas to use.
“Personally, I listen to everything,” she said. The Sacramento, California, native who came to Texas as a teenager grew up around country music and traditional Mexican and Tejano sounds. She found the leap to polka a short one.
Craig left her with an inventory of 700 songs and she is working on building up the collection, including as many local and regional polka groups as she can get her hands on. She tries to keep a good mix between local players and groups from outside the state and mixes up the playlist between the fast-paced polkas and the more sedate waltzes.
Vee said the feedback has been good so far for the program that airs late mornings on weekdays and on Sunday afternoon.
Another mainstay that stays true to KRXT’s roots and the ever-growing Hispanic population in the area is the Tejano show on Saturday and Sunday night with journeyman deejay Roney Castor.
The Texas Radio Hall of Fame inductee started his broadcasting career in the 1980s at KRGT in Hutto where he worked as a custodian. After the DJ on duty abruptly had to leave before his shift, Castor stepped up to the mic to prevent one of radio’s worst occurrences – dead air.
Promoted to weekend disc jockey, Castor quickly made a radio career for himself in Texas, California and back to the Lone Star State and has called KRXT home for 18 years.
He regularly meets his listeners and said the diversity that locally controlled radio can offer as compared to a homogenous brand makes a lot of difference.
“I know a lot of people think radio is dying, but it’s coming back thanks to people life Steve (Laukhuf) who are bringing back that local focus,” Castor said.
TAYLOR EDC CONNECTION
Ben White, CEO of the Taylor EDC, said because Taylor hasn’t had a radio station in years he saw it as “a unique opportunity” to give the Taylor community a bigger voice on the airwaves and online.
The EDC is a nonprofit government agency with five board members appointed by the City Council but operates independently and has its own tax-supported budget to bring businesses to the city.
White recalls hosting Laukhuf in the EDC offices on Second Street and “we gave him plenty of sites to look at and none of those worked,” he said.
What Laukhuf did like was the Taylor EDC offices.
Although the EDC was moving to a larger space, it wouldn’t be ready for the shift for several months. Rather than let the radio station opportunity get away, the EDC relocated to temporary quarters and KRXT moved in with the help of a $65,000 Taylor EDC grant.
The EDC recently celebrated a grand opening of its own at 111 W. Third St.
Laukhuf said the Cowboy Radio Network is looking for opportunities to do hyperlocal content at other stations in the state, “but we want to get this right first. We want to keep doing what we’re doing and get better at it.”
Comment
Comments