Bill Bevins (Photo by Sarah Der)
Bill Bevins is back. But instead of dialing him up in the morning, Richmond will have to log on.
The popular broadcaster is the early morning voice of The Breeze, a new online radio station that launched Oct. 1 at vabreeze.com. He streams a daily 7 to 11 a.m. show, as he did to popular effect for years on Lite 98 radio. “If you had to model The Breeze after a radio station, it would be a deep cuts kind of format,” says Bevins, who’s also a longtime TV presence on WTVR CBS 6. “A normal radio station carries 500 songs, and we’ve got more than 5,000 plugged in.”
The new station features adult contemporary music, local Americana artists and former radio voices such as Adam Stubbs, who worked with Bevins at Lite 98, and former XL-102 jock Ilyse Jennings. “Adam is probably the best pure announcer I’ve ever heard,” says Bevins, who got his start in 1970 broadcasting Top 40 radio in Crewe, “and Ilyse was the first woman program director in Richmond, one of the first in the country. We’ve got an all-star lineup.”
For now, the volunteer talent is working for the love of radio. “We’re seeking sponsorships right now, and we’d love to get some small businesses advertising,” says station owner and Program Director Bud Myers.
Both Bevins and Myers are excited that 30% to 40% of the music is from Richmond artists including Susan Greenbaum and the late Page Wilson. Myers, who follows Bevins each morning as host of the “Listening Room,” says The Breeze also highlights lesser-known and newer music from established soft-rock artists such as James Taylor, Van Morrison and Bonnie Raitt.
On Lite 98, Bevins and former co-host Shelly Perkins would mix news and banter with adult contemporary hits and a limited pool of soft-rock oldies. The Breeze plays an expanded menu of music.
“Now I’m not limited. If I want to go back and play ’Cryin” by Roy Orbison, I can,” he says. “This new show takes me back to doing Top 40 again.”
