Everything is quiet at KDHX.
For more than three decades, 88.1 FM was a singular force in our region’s cultural landscape – a community radio station that reflected the city’s rich musical heritage in a way no algorithm or corporate playlist ever could. Last week it ceased broadcasting. From blues to bluegrass, punk to polka, the station’s volunteers spun music you wouldn’t hear anywhere else on the dial. Its departure isn’t just the loss of a frequency. It’s the fading out of a civic voice that helped shape the soundtrack of St. Louis life.
KDHX was never slick. It didn’t try to be. That was part of its magic. Shows were curated by volunteers, many of them passionate amateurs who lived and breathed their chosen genres. They didn’t follow commercial trends; they introduced listeners to deep cuts, local bands and musical traditions that spanned continents and generations. Tuning in felt like stepping into a beloved neighborhood record store – familiar, unpredictable, endlessly fascinating…