WNKU-FM looks to dial in to Dayton

How to go

What: WNKU fundraising concert featuring Higgins-Madewell, Jayne Sachs and Steve Madewell

Where: Gilly’s, 132 S. Jefferson St., Dayton

When: 7 p.m. Saturday. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Cost: $10

More info: 937-228-8414 or www.gillysjazz.com

Artist info: www.higginsmadewell.com

​​Mike Babb, the local concert promoter behind the WNKU-FM benefit at Gilly’s in Dayton on Saturday, has spearheaded fundraisers for life-changing charities such as A Special Wish Foundation. This time, however, he’s doing it simply as a passionate listener of the underdog radio station broadcasting commercial free from the campus of Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Ky.

“I love WNKU’s many genres of music,” Babb said. “It’s public radio that’s basically all music. The DJ’s have free reign to play what they want and all the current DJ’s have such great taste in music. Not to mention the many programs they have like ‘Crossroads Blues,’ ‘Front Porch’ and ‘Mr. Rhythm Man.’ You get the real music, not a corporate-driven playlist of what people in suits think you want to hear.”

Since it was founded in 1985, WNKU has focused on serving the Bluegrass State and Cincinnati. That approach changed slightly in January 2011 when the music-centric station expanded its range to include Middletown/Dayton and Portsmouth by broadcasting on FM frequencies 105.9 and 104.1, respectively.

“I want new people to discover this treasure chest of a station and the music it brings now that WNKU is a part of our Dayton fabric,” Babb said. “I travel for a living and I always look for public radio stations while on the road and it’s by far in the top three of great public radio stations.”

Gary Keegan, who hosts WNKU’s afternoon drive program weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m., worked in commercial radio for 25 years. He joined the station in 2009 and admits breaking into Dayton has been difficult.

“It’s been slow,” he said. “We haven’t had much advertising in Dayton, it’s pretty much been all word of mouth for three years now. It’s been good, but it needs to be a lot better, and doing things like this concert up there will help us. We don’t have that big of a budget, so we’ve been slow to reach out to all listeners that are available, but we just had a fund drive, and it’s been one of the better ones we’ve ever had.”

Saturday’s concert features Higgins-Madewell and Jayne Sachs, two local acts in WNKU’s regular rotation.

“I’ve known Mike a couple of years and he was already a big fan of the station,” Keegan said. “He introduced me to Higgins-Madewell, and they blew me away. We’re happy to have them doing this show so people can find out we’re interested in local talent and getting more involved with Dayton.”