iDJ up for award

By NATE HUBBARD/Staff

Head out of Wytheville going south on West Lee Highway. Pull over when you see the big “Shultzie’s” sign.
Climb the steep wooden steps. A quick knock on the door will get you inside Rodney Allen’s unassuming living room.
Take a few paces and suddenly you’re there – inside the studio of a radio station that reaches the world.
Allen has been heard on the airwaves since 1989. Most recently he served as the program director for WCRR out of Rural Retreat from June 1999 until Oct. 1, 2006.
When the station changed ownership last year, Allen decided to try a new venture: Internet radio.
“I was ready for something different, and with the popularity of Internet radio growing, I thought it was the right time to get into Internet radio,” he said.
His station, God’s Country Radio, is available at http://www.freewebs.com/godscountryradio.  In the past 30 days alone, Allen said he has had listeners from across the United States and 19 other countries.
“As long as you have access to the Internet you can listen,” he said.
The listeners like what they’re hearing.
Allen received word in late August that he made the list of top 10 nominees for “Radio Personality of the Year” from the Christian Country Music Association.
The association will announce its 13th annual Inspirational Country Music Award winners at a gala event at the Acuff Theater in Nashville on Nov. 4.
In an interview on Wednesday, Allen was soft-spoken, but he said he changes personas when he gets behind the microphone.
“People that know me personally tell me that I have what’s called a split-personality,” he said. “I’m so different on-air than what I am in person. I’m more hyped up when it comes to radio. In person actually I’m more shy, more quiet, but when I’m on radio I come alive.”
This is the fifth time Allen has made the top nominees (he’s never claimed the award), but he said this year’s recognition came as a surprise.
“I’ve been nominated in the past, but as far as with my own radio station this is the first time,” he said. “I was just overwhelmed. I didn’t expect to get it this year because, you know, not being affiliated with a traditional radio station, I didn’t expect that I would get the nomination.”
Allen plans to make the trip to the awards for the second time. As a top 10 nominee, he said he receives a “gold-seat” ticket reserving a spot near the stage.
Performers at last year’s ceremony included Charlie Daniels, Tommy Brandt and Lonestar.
“It’s quite an awesome event,” he said.
Although he received the honor, Allen is not done trying to improve the station. God’s Country Radio is still relatively new – having been broadcasting for only 11 months – and Allen has many plans for expanding the programming.
He said his biggest challenge so far has been dealing with using dial-up Internet, a slower connection that prevents him from doing certain programming. High-speed Internet, though, is supposed to reach Allen’s house in the next few weeks and then he hopes to be able to add live broadcasts.
In October, he plans to go live remotely during Dollywood’s National Gospel and Harvest Celebration.
Allen’s station, which is on-air 24 hours a day, currently is a two-person operation. He receives help making the play lists from Ruby Cox, also a former WCRR employee.
Cox, who lives in Crockett, pooh-poohed her title of assistant program director. She said Allen deserves the credit for the station’s early success.
“He’s really a great, great guy and he’s good at what he does,” she said in a phone interview. “He’s just 100 percent DJ. It just comes natural for him.”
Both Allen and Cox’s passion for Christian, or inspirational, country music was obvious from their reverent tones when speaking about the music groups.
“I feel like I’m called to help the artists as much as possible,” Allen said. “I consider myself a singers’ servant. I’m always telling the artists that they are just like family.”
Positive reception of Christian country songs from listeners during his days with WCRR inspired Allen to choose that genre for his station.
“It’s a unique format; it extends out to listeners who wouldn’t listen to traditional gospel,” he said. “The songs tell a story about life. Some of them may not be what your average person would consider Christian, but they got positive messages.”
Cox said it is a song’s meaning that matters to her when rating music for Allen.
“I think the message in a song’s important,” she said. “If you feel it, then someone else is going to feel it out there.”
In addition to music, Allen said he has regular spots with the pastors of the Cowboy Church of Virginia and the Original Church of God in Wytheville.
He also has some syndicated programming and plays the songs of a few local groups, such as The Riches out of Rural Retreat.
For now, Allen is operating on a tight budget with a non-commercial license, meaning he can’t sell advertisements. He said he supports the station with donations from local churches and from sales of merchandise items through http://www.cafepress.com/rodneyallen.
All the products, which range from a tote bag to a baby bib, have a microphone logo for the station that Allen designed himself.
He added that he has to pay about $700 a year for song licenses.
That amount, though, could rise as the Internet radio industry is facing a challenge from Sound Exchange, a group that collects royalty fees, who is seeking increased fee amounts.
“If all these fees eventually go through, it could end up at some point in time being the death of Internet radio,” he said.
However, the House of Representatives introduced a bill, H.R. 2060, in April challenging the fees.
Allen showed a letter he received from U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9, offering his support. Boucher is a co-sponsor of the bill, which is working its way through the legislative process.
In the meantime, Allen is enjoying both the challenges and achievements of his venture.
“I enjoy what I do,” he said. “Radio, once it gets in your blood, it stays.”
Nate Hubbard can be reached at 228-6611 or .