Asheville FM WSFM-LPAsheville FM WSFM-LP

Asheville FM started in 2009 as an online-only station, then took advantage of the 2010 law that reopened low-power FM to American communities: WSFM-LP went to air on 18 May 2015 from a twenty-foot tower on the roof of a downtown hotel, throwing a signal five to ten miles out depending on which ridge happens to be in the way. Apart from a general manager, a volunteer coordinator and one underwriting salesperson working on commission, the whole operation runs on volunteers.

Roughly sixty shows fill the grid and every one of the hosts is local. Rock takes the biggest share, punk, garage and psych especially, with funk, electronic and experimental hours and a long run of music from outside the US; La Neta carries news and voices in Spanish, and Radio Active Kids is made for children. Bands passing through town get recorded in the station's own performance studio and played back later.