The Brown County Hour (BCH) on WFHB radio will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary on July 5, coinciding with the release of the show’s 100th episode.

Premiering in July 2010, BCH is a monthly, hour-long radio show that focuses on all things Brown County. A mixture of interviews, music and themed talking segments, the show broadcasts on WFHB 100.7 FM on the first Sunday of every month and rebroadcasts the Wednesday after.

BCH founder and producer Pam Raider said that the idea for the show came to her before Brown County even had a WFHB FM translator in the area. The station, based in Bloomington, had a lot of support in the Nashville area, Raider said, and asked her to raise money around town for a new transmitter.

“They asked me to assist them in expanding their reach,” she said. “I wanted to help the people of Bloomington, but I also wanted something for us in return.”

Raider said it didn’t take long for her to develop a show in her mind that gave Brown County the radio spotlight, and she pitched the show to WFHB. Initially, the station was hesitant to devote a whole hour to an area outside of its primary coverage. However, Raider persisted.

“I told them, ‘I don’t know how to fundraise, so if you want my help, I want to get this radio show,’” she said. “Eventually, I spoke to someone that agreed and I began shopping the idea around town. It was like selling a dream.”

Support for both the translator and the show quickly swelled throughout Nashville, Raider said, and soon, the BCH was born. Raider took out an ad in the paper encouraging locals to volunteer and build anticipation for the show through word of mouth.

Today, BCH is produced by a tight-knit group of six volunteers, dubbed the “BCH six pack.” The six typically meet every Tuesday night in the BCH studio, located in the Brown County History Center, to plan content for the next episode.

Producer Chuck Wills, who joined BCH in 2016, said his favorite memory from the show was the 75th episode, a retrospective.

“It’s pretty apt that our studio is in the history center,” he said. “Sadly, some of our former guests are not around anymore. One interesting thing about our show is that it serves as an archive for these local legends to tell stories or showcase their music.”

In addition to history, Wills said that the show puts a large emphasis on creativity in the community.

“We are all about the culture and artistry of this artist colony we live in,” he said. “We want to cover the artists, musicians and people that make this town unique.”

Every BCH episode includes local interviews conducted by program director and producer Dave Seastrom, three songs from a regional music act, as well as spoken-word and storytelling segments. Sometimes, a monthly installment will have a specific theme or focus, ranging from Halloween to opiate addiction.

Producer Rick Fettig almost immediately joined BCH after its inception, attending the show’s first organizational meeting back in 2009, and was followed by producer Vera Grubbs, who joined during production of the second episode. At that time, the show was only airing once every two or three months rather than monthly.

“There was a lot of chaos at first and it took two months to produce one hour of radio,” producer and interview Dave Seastrom said. “We have found a way to streamline our process and make it more efficient.”

Seastrom, who has lived in Brown County for more than 40 years, joined the show in its second year during production of episode 14. He said that initially, dozens of volunteers wanted to be involved in the show, but numbers have since whittled down. This allows Seastrom, who writes the show’s script, to develop a concise script that keeps listeners entertained.

The show is usually divided into three, 18-minute sections, Seastrom said. Usually, the show kicks off with an interview between him and a musical guest. From there, content from the producers and other volunteers will be divided into five- to seven-minute bites. Seastrom said that because of the team’s chemistry and creativity, it is easy to adapt and make changes from show to show.

“We’re a family, so our roles are a bit interchangeable,” he said.

The show has grown a lot since 2010. BCH now has two audio engineers, Wills and Jim Lemon, who do all of BCH’s recording and editing. Lemon, who joined in 2018, had previously done expansive radio production in Chicago at WLUL, Loyola University’s radio station. Wills, a singer/songwriter, had been working with recording equipment for years as well. After pairing up as engineers, the two came to the realization of a shared goal.

“We have very high goals and standards for what BCH should sound like,” Wills said. “I listen to a lot of public radio, and we are not just one of those dry news shows.”

Lemon said that he enjoys the people he works with and that their passion is what keeps him coming back.

“These people are solid gold, the most pure of heart,” he said. “The producers are so passionate about Brown County and I get to edit their audio to make it all sound smooth.”

Since 2010, BCH has expanded far beyond radio to include different creations such as Woodshed Sessions, live performances from local artists recorded in BCH studio, and a spinoff podcast that includes content cut from the shows for time. The podcast, Wills said, has broadened the show’s listenership from Brown County and Bloomington to around the globe.

“Recently Jim Lemon and I were live on WFHB for a fundraiser, and we got a donation sent in from Australia,” he said. “We like to think of ourselves as ambassadors for Brown County around the world.”

When reflecting back on 10 years and 100 episodes, Seastrom said what keeps him motivated is his passion for the community, the creative outlet the show provides, and the connections he has made along the way.

“We are having a lot of fun making this show,” he said. “So, as long as we are still alive and still having a great time, we are going to keep doing it.”

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The Brown County Hour can be heard on the first Sundays of each month at 9 a.m. and the following Wednesday at 6 p.m. on WFHB. Every show episode and podcast can be heard on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or Stitcher, and online at browncountyhour.com. The show’s 100th episode will air Sunday, July 5 at 9 a.m.

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