KWEM

Historic Music from the South

KWEM Radio, an historic West Memphis radio station that influenced the course of modern music, has returned to the airwaves as a streaming Internet station. ASU Mid-South operates the Web-based station and owns the numerous artifacts related to its rich musical history. The college has also created a campus-based replica of the KWEM studio which was originally located at 231 Broadway Street in downtown West Memphis. KWEM, which gave unknown or little-known Memphis-area artists the opportunity to perform live, aired its first broadcast on February 23, 1947. In 1954, the station added a second studio at 64 Flicker Street in Memphis. Originally broadcasting on 990 kilocycles, the station offered an enticing concept to musicians, could play their music live. Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, Johnny Cash, Albert King, Scotty Moore, and others stepped up, paid up, and performed their magic on KWEM. People listened and loved what they heard.