For this post, I wanted to talk about a radio show that, while not technically airing in the Sault Ste. Marie market, can be picked up in the Soo with the right location and equipment. Last fall, a new 3 hour radio show named Metal Nation premiered on KLT: The Rock Station out of WKLT 97.5 FM in Kalkaska (serving Traverse City), and as you may be aware, KLT has long gotten fringe reception in the Soo via its more easterly repeater stations, formerly including WKLZ 98.9 in Petoskey. In 2020, that affiliate was moved to WBCM 93.5 FM in Boyne City during a station swap when KLT was sold to their current owners, but also joining the KLT network that year was WRGZ 96.7 in Rogers City (serving Alpena). Your mileage may vary, but for me, I have an easier time pulling 96.7 in the Soo, and the presence of KLT there is a big factor as to why it's hard for me to latch any kind of signal for the McMillan/Newberry-based Flash 96.7 (WMJT) in city limits.
Just for context, from my experience hearing the three Northern Michigan FM rock stations with fringe reception in the Soo, KLT plays more recent music than Classic Rock: The Bear (WWSS 95.3 FM) but more classic rock than Rock 105 & 95.5 (WGFM 105.1 FM), so assess that balance as your music preferences dictate. All three have their merits, but for general rotation, I honestly prefer Rock 105. It is worth noting that Alice's Attic (the successor to Nights With Alice Cooper via a separate syndicator) debuted on KLT on Sunday nights in 2024 after the prior show aired on The Bear (albeit on weeknights), so if you missed Alice's radio show, keep that in mind!
The idea of a new dedicated local-ish metal radio show on a regional station seemed worth noting on the SMS, but if you can't pick up 93.5 or 96.7 FM with your radios, KLT's online stream is available on their website, TuneIn, and so forth, and is not geoblocked in Canada. Metal Nation is hosted by Sean "Finster" Finnegan (a.k.a. "The Mayor of Metal"), who has co-hosted the morning drive show Omelette & Finster on KLT since 2006, save for a 2016-2023 spell where he worked on other regional stations. If you're familiar with The Hair Scare on Rock 101, the same basic idea applies, but Metal Nation is devoted to metal of varying subgenres in an identical three hour timeslot. A big distinction with Metal Nation is that the show airs live, and Finster does take on-air requests from listeners, though an online pre-request is recommended for deep cuts or local bands so he can make sure the song is ready.
Compared to The Hair Scare, there's a lot of sponsorship, but hey, you've gotta pay the bills somehow! Select songs are introduced as weekly picks based on theme or timeframe, including the "80's Metal Haircut" (not always a hair metal band though), "Rusty Old Metal" (40+ year old songs), the "Metal Remake of the Week", and the "Request from Hell", where "Satan" calls in! There's also a "Metal Minute" featuring metal news, and a recent change is that a Metallica song leads off each hour. I listened to the show on Friday, and 29 songs were played across the 3 hour runtime, ranging from the "Rusty Old Metal" pick (Motorhead's self-titled song) to four cuts from this year. 17 of the songs came from the 1980s and 1990s, and there were no songs chosen last week that were released between 2011-2020 (not that this is indicative of every playlist; remember, Finster does take requests).
In terms of subgenres, Finster and listeners do lean to classic metal legends (the big four of thrash all got played), but with a surprising amount of modern nu-metal and radio metal. For example, Linkin Park's "In The End" followed Venom's "As Above So Below" to end hour #1, and in hour #3, W.A.S.P. and Pantera sandwiched the new Machine Gun Kelly & Fred Durst song. Metal has many flavours, and requests happen, just be prepared for variance! At least last week, nothing more extreme than Slipknot was played. I did like what I heard for the most part, and being a live show means that unscripted moments and amusing ad-libs can happen. You can tell that regulars and familiar faces do call in, from an 11 year old drummer to the frontman of Elmira hard rock band Driving Dawn (who played here last year), and Finster is a knowledgeable host who clearly is a metal fan and is happy to promote stuff that he enjoys!
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