SEATTLE — Public radio station KEXP may broadcast out of Seattle, but its influence is global.
This is where Kurt Cobain and later Macklemore first got their music heard.
“We don't focus on the familiar or play the hits. Our job is to bring these emerging artists who deserve to be heard to an audience, said KEXP Executive Director Tom Mara.
A new South Lake Union development is forcing KEXP to move. Construction is already underway for a new $15 million studio at Seattle Center.
KEXP was at the top of the list for at $1.8 million state grant to help.
“They recommended 14 projects, and KEXP was ranked number two,” said Mara.
Mara still doesn’t know why the Republican majority in the State Senate decided to put nothing in the budget for KEXP.
It took the help of Democratic senators to restore $1 million at the last minute.
While KEXP is getting some of its allocation back, managers are worried about a disturbing breach of the system that is supposed to take politics out of the process.
“We don't want that to happen. We want this process to continue to work,” Mara said.
Ready or not, the station has to move this December and has to find ways to raise the additional $800,000 it was expecting from the state.
KIRO
