Shortly after Ben Hamper moved to northern Michigan from Flint in the mid-’90s, he and a friend stumbled upon 90.7 WNMC, and he liked what he heard.

“We used to tip a few coldies and listen to the Friday night shows, the weekend shows, and really enjoyed it,” he said. “And I guess after a while I decided to see if I could try my hand at it.”

Now Hamper hosts two shows: Soul Possession, a Friday evening rock show, and Head for the Hills, a country show on Sunday mornings that’s become a sensation. On the last Sunday each month, Hamper broadcasts the show live from the Union Street Station.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of WNMC radio, as Patrick Sullivan writes in this week's Northern Express (sister publication of The Ticker). For the past 17 of those years, it’s been led by Eric Hines, the station’s general manager and sole full-time employee. Hines says disc jockeys like Hamper represent the future of the station as it competes in an increasingly crowded media world with fewer and fewer radios. Hamper’s use of social media and his other ways of engaging with listeners make him a model for the future of WNMC, Hines says.

“Ben is probably a good example of what the future of our kind of radio looks like,” Hines says. “He’s got a big online following, and he Facebook comments throughout his show.”

When Hines arrived at WNMC in 2000, he found a station in turmoil. Many of the long-time DJs had recently left in protest over conflicts with the college administration. Hines says one of his first tasks was to convince as many DJs as he could to return. Hines felt at home navigating the difficult relationship between volunteer DJs and school administrators because he’d been there before. Before he came to WNMC (following a brief stint as a reporter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle), he taught English at Rutgers University, and he volunteered at the radio station there. He understood both sides.

“I really want the radio station to be educational and culturally immersing, which is in our mission statement. I take that seriously,” he says. “And I think that that sort of comports pretty well with the mission of the college, especially in a place like this, where we are far from a lot of big cultural institutions.”

Read about the complete colorful history of WNMC, the cast of characters who populate the station and have helped contribute to its growth, and the organization's future in this week's Northern Express story, "Born To Rock: WNMC Celebrates 50 Years On The Air." The Northern Express is available online, or pick up a copy at one of nearly 700 spots in 14 counties across northern Michigan.