There’s a new group of guys pumping sweet tunes across the airwaves in downtown LaGrange.

Tuning radios to 91.9 FM will bring a cavalcade of gospel and jazz with some blues sounds for good measure. There also will be local events, weather updates and community chats with public figures.

The guys at WBRQ are aiming to bring music to East Alabama and West Georgia through an old-school format.

“We just felt that LaGrange, Ga., really doesn’t have very much competition,” said owner Ben Jordan of Lanett, Ala. “It’s kind of underserved at the present time in the radio business, so it was extremely important for this radio station to come on board.”

With four permanent DJs and one part-timer, Jordan and his crew are broadcasting out of a small office on the third floor of what was previously the Colonial Hotel at 119 Ridley Ave. In a connected room, a DJ sits with his equipment, either choosing the newer, more automated music route provided by computers or bringing in his own collection of tunes and choosing one at a time.

WBRQ is one of the first radio stations established in LaGrange since the 1980s. Jordan has been working with the Federal Communications Commission since 1999 to get clearance. Now, the station transmits out of the small office using 3,000 watts

“There are only a couple of radio stations in LaGrange, Ga.,” Jordan said. “There’s some stations outside of the area that indicate that they’re here to serve LaGrange, Ga., but in fact they’re not. They’re not here. They’re miles away, so now we’re giving LaGrange, Ga., its own radio station located here, downtown.”

There’s no air conditioning at WBRQ, but there’s a feeling of electricity that comes alongside the wind blowing in. Everybody feels it.

“It’s a blessing for the community, but it’s a blessing for us, too,” said DJ Bruce Griggs. “I’ve been wanting to get back to on-air radio.”

Griggs grabs the mike and preps the audience to hear a little Sammy Davis Jr. and some James Brown, provided by his collection of CDs. The current coordinator of the drug court in Chambers County, Ala., Griggs has been part of the radio scene since the 1970s with CBS in Atlanta.

He was more than happy to get back on the mike for WBRQ.

“It’s a blessing from God,” he said with a smile on his face as he waited to interview LaGrange City Councilman Willie Edmondson.

Although the station has been on the air for only about a month, Jordan has big plans for the area. WBRQ wants to bring a blues festival to LaGrange Memorial Day weekend along with a family day this summer.

Jordan is impressed with how much the station has accomplished by word of mouth alone since it officially began broadcasting. Going door-to-door telling people about the station has worked well, he said.

And they’ve got a lot of music fans checking them out.

“Everybody calling in on the blues,” Jordan said. “We’ve been playing some things like B.B. King and playing some of the old stuff too, and that’s what we’re pushing our market toward.

“We’re going to be into the blues and gospel - that’s our forte, you could say. We’re actually surprised as to the amount of people listening to us initially so quickly.”

With community events and community sounds, the station aims to be a major player in the airwaves.

Jordan said: “We’re trying to give a person something that they don’t hear every day, and, in the process of doing so, when they tune to us, they say ‘Hey, they’re doing something a little bit different, but they also are in the community giving back.’ “

Trey Wood can be reached at twood @ lagrangenews. com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 228.