WPAQ [SEP] licensed to broadcast to
WPAQ
WPAQ is an Americana, and Bluegrass-formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Mount Airy, North Carolina, serving the Piedmont of North Carolina and the Southside and Southwestern sections of Virginia. WPAQ is owned and operated by WPAQ Radio, Inc.
History.
Ralph Epperson observed in 1948 that the popularity of old-time music was falling off, and one area radio station needed to take on the job of preserving it. As a child he enjoyed listening to distant AM radio stations, and in college he changed
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WPAQ has consistently aired Christian music and preaching with entirely a bluegrass and old-time music format, and big band music in the evenings from 6 p.m. until sundown. In addition to music, WPAQ offered local news, community announcements and obituaries. Live broadcasts aired on weekends, with performers waiting as long as six months to go on the air.
Paul Brown, who later became program director of WFDD, worked at WPAQ in the 1980s. He described his experience as "like walking into another era.