KNVC, Carson City’s Community Radio Station, to Celebrate First Birthday Tuesday

KNVC, found on 95.1 FM, is as community-based and grass-roots as any project could be.

The community radio station serving Carson City, Eagle Valley and Carson Valley, will be celebrating its one year anniversary since going on air Tuesday, Jan. 15. They’ll be hosting an open house with food and drink at their headquarters inside the Historic Adams House on 990 North Minnesota Street.

The radio station was founded by Brian Bahouth and Joe Bly at the beginning of 2018 when they stood at the top of Duck Hill and plugged into the transmitter. They had the stereo in their truck cranked as loud as it could go so they could hear it from the tower, and the first sounds of KNVC rang out.

The station only exists because of the love of its volunteers; no one gets paid for their efforts. The non-profit is funded by donations, and they hope to extend into grants at some point in the future to help with costs.

“Everything we have was donated,” said Program Director Joe Bly, standing in the station’s central room. The house is a beautiful representation of Arts and Crafts Architecture, and they’ve done their best to leave the house as untouched as it was found. There are few things on the walls, to keep the plaster intact. The furniture is mismatched but durable, stacked with cds, computers, and bright post its scribbled with reminders. “Even the house itself was donated.”

The house was gifted originally to the Brewery Arts Center by the old hospital after it was used for a stint as a doctor’s office. But the Brewery Arts Center didn’t have much need for it, as it is located a few miles away from the center’s main campus. It was discussed actually picking up and moving the historic house to the campus, but after realizing the costs associated with it and the lack of space at the Brewery Arts Center, it was left where it was and shared with the station.

The station almost didn’t happen, said Bly. The Brewery Arts Center held the FCC license for a community radio station, but nothing had been done with it for some time. At the last minute, only days before the license was set to expire, Joe Bly and Brian Bahouth, along with Board Member and Founder Joe McCarthy, jumped on the opportunity.

“It was like the license was just being put through a shredder and snatched out at the last second,” laughed Bly.

For the past year, Bly, Bahouth, McCarthy and the rest of the station’s volunteers have put forth a curated, quality station that is as electric and authentic as Carson City itself.

There are several volunteer-led shows, from Just Punk Enough with Andrew Harrison, to Roots, Rednecks and Radicals with Will Houk, to Rude Paul Cafe’s Hip Hop Show with Paul Coates; even a psychic show called “Sandie’s Psychic Comminque.”

In addition to music and talk shows, KNVC’s Bahouth also started Nevada Capital News, an NPR-style news source which includes interviews and printed reports.

“The radio edition of the Nevada Capital News is an hour-long program that airs every Thursday at noon and reflects the best of the Nevada Capital News website, and in coming months we are planning to expanded our on-air news and public affairs programming,” said Bahouth in a blog post on KNVC.

You can also listen and read past interviews and articles by Nevada Capital News here.

Bly is happy with the slow, steady growth the station is seeing, but one thing he would like to see is more voices from underrepresented communities.

“We want to give a platform to voices that aren’t heard as often,” said Bly. Women, young people, minority groups, people of color, and more.

KNVC is always looking for more dedicated people to pitch and host radio shows, with all training provided by the KNVC staff whether its general technical training, or even how to get that iconic radio smoothness to your voice.

The open house celebration on Tuesday will begin at 4:30 and end at 7.

For more information, please visit www.knvc.org, or visit their facebook page here.