It’s entirely possible that KEGX, along with most of the other stations in Washington’s Tri-Cities, were one of the first stations I knew about that I hadn’t actually heard. Today, those stations span dozens of markets and likely hundreds of stations, but back in 2006, I focused on stations I had heard or were relatively local to me. I picked up this station on a trip through the area in Spring 2009, but focused more on the market’s AC, Mix 105.3 as I passed well to the north of the market. It wasn’t until this past summer when my mom and I were coming back from a trip to eastern Oregon that I took an in-depth listen to KEGX, as the scan on the car radio happened to land there after only picking up country stations on the way up the dial from 102.3. Right away, I noticed something different about this station. It wasn’t flashy, it wasn’t overly personality driven, and the audio chain was completely free of noise. It was as if the station was designed for a trip like the one we were taking. In a way, that makes sense, because as soon as you get out of the immediate area, it’s at least half an hour between towns. The imaging on this station isn’t funny or clever, it’s just there, deliberately placed after every song and voiced by someone who fits the format quite well. Yes, there is an eagle to match the station’s branding. When I talk about great radio, I usually talk about a station with heavy personality, heavy phones, and flashy or clever imaging. By those standards, this station does everything wrong, but it doesn’t need to meet those standards because it works as it is. If I had to make one change to this station, I’d probably put in a couple more mic breaks to make the station sound a little less automated, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s small. Here’s the station at 10 A.M. on February 11 with midday host Tammy:
- Foreigner – Urgent
- AC/DC – Moneytalks
- John Mellencamp – Jack and Diane
- Doobie Brothers – Long Train Runnin’
- U2 – I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
- Aerosmith – Walk This Way
- The Sweet – Ballroom Blitz
- Yes – Roundabout
- The Who – You Better You Bet
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