Internet site airs duo's radio show

4-6-03

By JAN KATZ ACKERMAN

COLBY — Radio announcers Shane Timson and Lacy Stroup have put Colby on the map as one of the broadcast sites for an Internet Christian radio station.

And they broadcast right from Timson's apartment.

Timson, a 1998 graduate of the Colby Community College communications program, and Stroup, a 1999 graduate of the program, are co-announcers on one of the world's newest radio stations called SavageRock.com.

Founded by Gene Savage, Tulsa, Okla., SavageRock.com offers Christian heavy metal music enthusiasts a place to listen to the music they love and stay true to their convictions. The outcome of a 1985 childhood inspiration, Savage said the station is a form of ministry.

Like Savage, Timson and Stroup believe they are called to fill the airways with humor, insightful thought and Christian heavy metal music.

Timson said he was a fan of heavy metal music prior to becoming a Christian in 1997.

“I liked the guitars and vocals, and it fit my personality. Heavy metal music let me have an outlet for the issues in my life at that time. What those guys were singing about was what I was feeling inside,” Timson said.

Stroup's older brother introduced her to heavy metal music, but after becoming a Christian in 2000, she needed a music form to enhance her faith.

“Actually, my brother drew me to heavy metal music when I was 7. We liked it because our mom didn't. It was my escape. I'd turn up the music and listen to it,” she said.

Both Timson and Stroup work for KQLS/KXXX radio stations in Colby. Stroup is the full-time morning personality on KQLS, and Timson works part-time for both stations. He also has his own Sunday morning music show at KXXX. In addition, Timson works part-time at KGCR, a Christian station located 5 miles west of Brewster.

Timson's first introduction to Christian music was at the Thomas County fair a few years ago.

“I went to the fair and there was this guy selling Christian music and there was some heavy metal music and it really spoke to me. In August that year, I was listening to a song by a band called Mortification and it was an 18-minute song on the life, death and resurrection of Christ. By the end of that song, I realized what the Bible was saying was real and I accepted Christ,” he said.

However, Timson's road to being an announcer for SavageRock.com was not an easy one.

He said he had to learn to be a Christian radio announcer.

“That started when I was part of a show on public radio called ‘The Rock is the Alternative' out of Garden City, and the guy, Kent Chambers, was my spiritual mentor. He wanted my old secular music because he not only knew it had an influence on me, but he was concerned about my spiritual well-being,” Timson said.

After giving Chambers all of his secular compact discs and cassette tapes so that he could destroy them, Timson began to fill his music portfolio with only Christian music — both heavy metal and more reserved forms.

Timson then introduced Stroup to heavy metal Christian music, and she said it was life-changing.

“Shane introduced me to some of the Christian bands, and we would play them on Thunder Rock. Two bands in particular — Tourniquet and Lordchain — drew me in, and I didn't know there was cool music in Christian music,” Stroup said.

Wanting to strengthen her faith, Stroup also destroyed all of her secular CDs and cassettes.

“I didn't know until then that the secular music was bad until Shane introduced me to Christian heavy metal. In Hoxie at the Pillar concert, it helped me give my life to the Lord. That was in February 2000. It was seeing (Pillar) on fire for the Lord that did it,” she said.

Being “on fire” for the Lord is what drove Timson and Stroup to secure a spot on SavageRock.com.

Timson learned about the Internet radio station from his brother, and he said he literally made a “pest” of himself in Savage's life in order to land the duo a spot with the station.

After shifts with local radio stations, Timson and Stroup meet at Timson's apartment to record tracks for SavageRock.com.

Using a personal computer, along with a downloaded play list sent to them by Savage, they adlib their show that broadcasts over the Internet each Monday through Friday from 7 to 10 p.m. Central time.

Currently, Stroup is the only female announcer on SavageRock.com, and they are the only team show.

“I've wanted to do this a long time, but I didn't know what equipment I needed,” Timson said about recently upgrading his computer to make the venture possible.

Best friends, Timson and Stroup believed their common interest in heavy metal Christian music would prove to be part of their personal ministry.

“We spent a lot of nights listening to (SavageRock.com) and we haven't found any stations in the area that plays Christian heavy metal,” Stroup said.

Timson said the positive experience working as a co-announcer with Stroup was what led him to introduce her to Savage and get the OK for the team show.

“Lacy was interested in SavageRock.com and I knew how we worked together at the old station, and we wanted to work together again,” Timson said.

One key difference with their work at SavageRock.com is they aren't paid.

“It's all volunteer labor,” Timson said. “We understand the ministry, and we can broadcast right out of my home.”

“We do it for God, not ourselves,” Stroup said. “We just want to see Jesus Christ uplifted, not us.”

After recording the tracks for their show, Timson uploads them to the SavageRock.com computer, and it automatically inserts their tracks into the play list Savage has set up on the computer.

“While we have a play list to work with, the show is completely off-the-cuff,” Timson said.

On-air discussions include what some call Timson's warped sense of humor — such as taste-testing cat food — to more serious subjects such as the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines' recent criticism of fellow Texan, President George Bush.

“This is an e-mail we got about that from Lt. Layne McDowell, a U.S. Navy man. É McDowell, also a Texan, is currently stationed in the Middle East, and he said while he disagrees with her comment, he would ‘continue to protect her freedom,' but he now refuses to purchase Dixie Chicks records and CDs and would be returning the ones he owns,” Stroup said about the serious side of talking to their listeners.

Timson said he's thrilled about having a show on the Internet that's so new it's not even named yet.

“It's only our 10th broadcast,” Stroup said as they prepared their show that aired March 28.

“One of the hardest things is that we don't hear the music when our show's recorded. We don't where what's coming in like you do at an on-air station. And, sometimes we have computer problems with the uploads and things don't record, or (SavageRock's) system is off the air and we couldn't upload,” Timson said.

“It is challenging that we don't get to listen to it, and that's weird. We can't hear ourselves to critique ourselves,” Stroup said.

But they are excited their new job allows them more time for their ministry. And they enjoy the freedom they are allowed on the Internet station.

“We have freedom to be ourselves, and there's nobody saying ‘you can or can't' do something. We can talk about God and what he does in our lives, and we can be open with it,” he said.

Stroup agreed.

“Being able to talk about God, being open and playing the music I love is the best part of it,” she said.

— On the Internet: