Radio Free Pensacola (RFP) started as casual conversation between three friends.
For Nick Zangari, owner of the New York Nick’s, RFP offered the former disc jockey, who once managed The Dock and did the midnight show for TK 101, to play the tons of vinyl records, CDs, cassette tapes and eight tracks that filled the shelves of his downtown restaurant.
Fred Touchette, senior security analyst by day, bassist for Deadly Fists of Kung Fu on weekends, wanted to provide an alternative to AM/FM radio and highlight some of Pensacola’s local musical talents and unsigned bands.
I saw the chance to bring more local voices and music to the airwaves.
Since it first aired in October 2013, RFP has quietly added shows and built a fan base as it worked out all the technical issues. Zangari has built in his restaurant a studio for deejays and musicians to do their shows.
“We’ve broken that thousand “Like” mark on Facebook which is pretty cool, currently 1039 actually, which means that’s over a thousand people who may see any of our promotions when we post for our shows,†said Touchette.
RFP currently has 22 deejays and 36 hours a week of fresh programing. Several shows run multiple times so the station is streaming 24/7. The deejays hail from New Orleans, Chicago, Tampa, and Los Angeles—as well as Pensacola. The studio inside NY Nicks can also broadcast live acoustical sets.
Now Radio Free Pensacola is ready to go public. The launch party is open to everyone and will be broadcast live. It will be a chance for fans and deejays to meet and celebrate the grassroots effort to return radio to its roots and the people.
Radio Free Pensacola
Official Launch Party
When: 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 15
Where: New York Nick’s, 911 S Palafox
Info: facebook.com/rfpensacola