WYXR Program Director speaks on station fostering community through music

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - A fairly new radio station in the 901 Now is focused on fostering new connections in the community through music.

Since going on air for the first time in 2021, the goal for WYXR has always been to be fluid.

“A community forward radio station, where people can play anything from Hip-Hop, to R&B to Jazz to House to Funk, Soul, Rock N Roll and anything in between,” WYXR program director Jared Jay Boyd said.

In the heart of Crosstown Concourse, Boyd says the station is constantly meeting people.

“We say we are a station with the city’s soul,” Boyd said. “By that, we don’t necessarily mean soul music, we mean the people. The people that move and shake and are about to move and shake the city. Anyone who comes through here.”

Beyond the conversations, there are opportunities for community exposure.

“People walk up and just wave in the window with the record or CD and say, ‘Hey, can you play this?’” he said.

“A lot of the connections that have been brought together by this station are brought on by people who probably would’ve passed each other in the grocery store a million times before they would’ve even spoken to each other. But they get the opportunity to have a real dialogue about music and how music moves community in this setting.”

As a nonprofit radio, making more Memphis music legends is only right in a music culture.

“Someone making music in the basement somewhere in Frayser or Hickory Hill or Collierville or somewhere that I can’t get to them right now, they might not know we exist,” Boyd said. “But if we can bridge that gap and continue to spread the word that there is a station that is concerned with community, then possibly their world can get bigger, and our arms can reach out further to get in touch with them.”

WYXR also hosts events that celebrate, educate, and connect the Memphis community.

To learn more about the station, click here.

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