91.7 is the gap on the dial we borrowed our name from. But the High Country's real airwaves are full of good signal. Up the Dial is a guide to the public stations worth a preset: student radio, roots music, and NPR, all within reach of Boone.
Appalachian State student radio
App State's student-run station, broadcasting from Boone. College radio the way it's meant to sound: students behind the boards and a format that swings from indie to hip-hop to whatever the overnight DJ is into.
Community radio · Ashe County
West Jefferson's hometown station and the most local signal on this list. Ashe County news, high school sports, obituaries, the Trading Post, and a country-and-roots format. The closest thing the High Country has to a town square on the FM dial.
NPR News · Wake Forest University
The High Country's NPR news signal, on a Boone translator at 100.1 (88.5 out of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem). Morning Edition, All Things Considered, regional reporting, and classical music off-peak.
Isothermal Community College · Spindale
Listener-supported public radio built on American roots: Americana, bluegrass, old-time, world, and deep cuts you won't hear anywhere else. Home of Appalachian Vibes and Southern Songs and Stories, and it reaches the High Country at 92.9.
NPR · East Tennessee State University
Public radio out of ETSU in Johnson City, with a big signal that carries into the western High Country, Avery County especially. NPR news and talk alongside folk, Americana, and bluegrass.
Blue Ridge Public Radio · WCQS Asheville
Western North Carolina's NPR newsroom, based in Asheville. You won't pull 88.1 over the air this far north, but it streams everywhere, and its regional reporting on Helene recovery, mountain politics, and the stories that cross county lines is the same coverage we lean on when the news reaches the High Country.
Run a station, show, or low-power signal in the High Country we should add? Tell us. If folks around here can tune it in, it belongs on this card.
