Billy Kalb writesWhat CHIRP Means to Me: Billy Kalb

When I was 13 years old, I spent a lot of time listening to Zone 105, the sole FM outlet for alternative rock in my Minneapolis-adjacent suburb. And when I say a lot of time, I mean I scraped together every spare moment I could possibly find to tune in. I could ID every song they played within the first couple seconds. The music selection wasn’t impeccable — sure, the Zone introduced me to Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana, but it also played dreck like Matchbox 20 and Sugar Ray — but it was enough to know that there was something exciting out there just outside the mainstream I had known. I was young and just beginning to explore, but I loved that station.

By age 14, my faithful alt-rock station started introducing “classic alternative,” then abandoned playing new music entirely, and then the classic alternative format basically turned into a repetition of tired ‘80s hits. So I did what any 8th grade idealist would do in this situation and wrote the station management a strongly worded three-page letter laying out exactly where they had gone wrong. I never heard back.

Lesson learned early on: if you truly love something, don’t expect commercial interests to look after it for you.

When I joined up with CHIRP Radio in 2007, we didn’t have a radio station yet — it was just an idea, a plan that we figured we could pull off if we got everything right. But what excited me was the possibility of a truly independent radio station, one that would belong directly to the community of people who believed in it and made it happen. This would be a station where we ultimately answered to our listeners and our volunteers, not some out-of-touch executives who wanted to dumb things down in order to boost ad sales. There would be no ads to sell. It would be our very own radio station from the ground up.

Seven years later, I look at what we've built and I’m astonished. We have a diverse group of DJs who play the music that they’re most passionate about, the kinds of music you won’t hear on any other station in Chicago — or anywhere, for that matter. We play incredible artists from our own city that the big guys on the FM dial don't even know about yet. We give away tickets to amazing shows on a daily basis. Our listeners tell us again and again how much they love the way we take chances with our programming and surprise them with what we play. This isn't soulless, computer-generated playlist algorithms; this is the sound of real, live human beings sharing songs that mean something to them -- a vanishing phenomenon in the 21st century. CHIRP Radio is the station that I wish 14-year-old-me could have listened to. I'm older now and still exploring, but CHIRP is my home. I love this station.

But the very strengths that make CHIRP great -- the independent approach, the community focus, the total lack of annoying commercials -- means that we rely on our listeners to help keep CHIRP strong through your generous financial support. Because it's not just our station, it's your station: through your contributions, past and present, you've helped us build this station and keep it strong just as much as we have. As we head into the final days of our Spring fundraising drive, I invite you to help us continue the work we do by giving to CHIRP at whatever level fits your budget. If you believe in this station, if CHIRP means something special to you, then you already know that it's up to all of us to sustain it. Your support keeps CHIRP truly independent.

Thanks for listening, and thanks for letting us do what we do.