KSIG Crowley

KSIG Crowley began in 1947, arriving at precisely the moment when radio in Acadiana was expanding after World War II. The station was closely tied to The Crowley Daily Signal, the local newspaper whose name supplied the S-I-G call letters. Max Thomas, one of the station’s founding owners, ran the paper and argued that the shared control of newspaper and radio would strengthen both enterprises rather than force them into competition. His partners were Hillman and Clovis Bailey, brothers with deep radio experience. Hillman had been involved with WBKB Rayne in the late 1920s, and both brothers had worked in radio engineering and repair.

From its first day, KSIG positioned itself as a decidedly local outlet. Hundreds of people reportedly crowded into the studios for the opening broadcast, and the station received a postcard song request almost immediately. The song was “Jolie Blonde,” which seems almost too perfect as a symbolic beginning for a station that would become one of the region’s most active outlets for French-language and Cajun programming. KSIG also made the annual Crowley rice festival a regular part of its broadcast calendar, extending a tradition that had begun in earlier years on other stations.

Article about start of the station, from Crowley Post-Signal, April 12, 1947

The station’s importance was not limited to simply airing music that already existed. Clovis Bailey later recalled that he and announcer Alden Sonnier went into local bars and dance halls looking for musicians who had drifted away from public performance during the war years. Out of this effort came the KSIG Barn Dance, a Saturday night program that helped revive traditional music and gave exposure to performers such as Nathan Abshire. In this sense, KSIG did not merely transmit Cajun culture; it helped reactivate it.

Ad from Daily Advertiser (Lafayette), Sept 16, 1947

Alden Sonnier became one of the best-known voices on the station, hosting a French-language morning program of music, local news, commercials, and a “swap shop” where listeners could sell livestock, farm equipment, and other items. His audience wanted news that made conversation among neighbors. KSIG gave them just that, along with boudin, cracklins, baby-chicken commercials, and the everyday sound of Crowley talking to itself.

Here’s another website with more historical information about KSIG – https://acadianahistorical.org/items/show/146?tour=7&index=4