Best Of Award

Best Online Music Station That Should Be a Radio Station

In a just and fair world, the signals of Radio Phoenix would surge across the Phoenix area with 100,000 watts of clarity. Car stereos and hi-fi sets from Surprise to San Tan Valley would broadcast the station’s über-eclectic blend of indie/underground music and community-based talk programming. We know listeners would dig Hip Rawk Nation with Kaja Brown on Wednesdays, which boasts a diverse mix of gospel, electronica, pop, and urban music (the kinda stuff that’s usually relegated to an audiophile’s iPod), as well as the retro soul and R&B sounds of The Dalton Green Show every Sunday afternoon. It would put Tucson’s KXCI to shame. Yeah, wouldn’t that be something? Returning to that nasty thing called reality, such a feat is a long way from happening, if at all, as this volunteer-run station is currently broadcast online only. According to station manager Jeremy Deatherage, plans are afoot to someday obtain a bona fide FCC license, which costs into the hundreds of thousands. Several benefit gigs have taken baby steps toward that goal, but, like we said, it might not happen anytime soon. In the meantime, we’ll keep our fingers crossed and stay tuned.