WT’s KWTS to Take Part in Vinylthon April 22

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University’s student-run radio station will dust off some LPs to take part in a global event April 22.

KWTS The One 91.1 FM will join more than 100 radio stations around the world for Vinylthon, spinning vinyl-only tracks from midnight to midnight April 22.

“This is our third time to participate in Vinylthon, and each year the students grow more and more excited,” said Dane Glenn, KWTS adviser. “Playing vinyl is much more than nostalgia or retro or vintage; the classic pop and hiss is its own music to get lost in, to adorn the accompanying track. That sound is incomparable and unmatchable.”

Vinylthon, now in its eighth year, is sponsored by the College Radio Foundation as a fundraiser for its efforts to provide scholarships to college radio students.

Rotating pairs of WT students will cover two-hour shifts, flipping records for listeners on 91.1 FM or via livestream at wtamu.edu/kwts.

“Radio is, unfortunately, a dying art form in our society,” said Brae Foust, KWTS program director and Amarillo native pursuing his second bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. “Vinylthon allows us to reminisce and appreciate how afar we have come with music and music distribution, as well as give our students a chance to participate in how radio stations use to run in a time decades ago.”

Though KWTS went to an all-’90s format in the fall, Vinylthon will feature music from a variety of decades and genres.

“It will be like a wide-ranging mixtape,” Glenn said. “All the vinyl is donated by our DJs and interested WT staff members, so we’ll play whatever music they have that’s appropriate for the radio.”

Listeners are invited to call in requests or drop by Schaeffer Studio, Room 152 in the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex on WT’s Canyon campus.

Meeting regional needs by providing noncommercial radio and training future broadcasters and engineers is a key component of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the five-year campaign — which publicly launched in September 2021 — has raised more than $120 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

Photo: Student disc jockey Jayden Moss, a senior digital media and communication major from Archer City, is one of several KWTS personnel who'll spin LPs on April 22 for Vinylthon.

—WT—