In 2005, a new band called Travis Matte and the Zydeco Kingpins was having to turn down gigs. The band’s mix of zydeco, rock and pop on suggestive hip shakers, like the songs “Vibrator” and “Booty Call,” were drawing fans by the thousands in the bayou country of southwest Louisiana.

Matte credits the Kingpins’ quick rise to stardom to KBON 101.1 FM, a Eunice, Louisiana radio station that lived by its slogan, “Louisiana ...