On Friends, Mentors, and Moments in Radio
A life well lived behind a microphone
I was 6 years old, scarfing down a Happy Meal in the living room in our house at 413 W. Lakewood Ave in Danville when I saw Dr. Johnny Fever on television shout the word “boooooogerrrrrrr” into a microphone. In that moment, it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen.
Fast forward 10 years. My vision was to join the Navy, make my way into BUD/S and later join a SEAL team. From there my plan was to join the CIA. Yeah, I had some real secret agent man dreams. My friend Nate and I were going to join together. He made it through MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station), I didn’t. Scoliosis and flat feet would render me unfit for military service. I was crushed. Several attempts to join including writing letters to my Congressman AND Senator literally begging to join yielded no positive result.
A year or so later, my friend Nate had washed out of basic and was back home working at a Rent To Own store. One day he said to me, “you’re probably the funniest one among our group of friends. I bet you’d be great on the radio.” At this comment I began to recall that Dr. Johnny Fever scene in my head while he continued, “I know a girl who works at the country radio station. Her name is Jude Maxwell (radio name) and she’s looking for an intern. You should go apply.”
So I did. I started out as an intern. Within 8 months I had worked my way up to being on the air. Within a year, Mike Missildine promoted me and I was learning to voice and produce commercials. Susan Gutteridge, Terri Aud, Sean Mikel, and the great Danny Ross were all sources of inspiration and knowledge. I hosted every time slot at one point or another, learned how to set up a MARTI, record and playback phone calls on a reel to reel, do live broadcasts and transmitter readings. It was another 2 years of service at WIAI until I found myself 27 miles west in Champaign, Illinois. A college town. I was hosting the night show on a rock station in a college town. Uh, oh.
The next year is a blur, although I recall bits and pieces.
Shenanigans. I made some great memories in and out of that building at 400 N. Broadway. I was the night guy on 93X, hosted afternoons on B95 and was the board operator for the John Boy and Billy morning show. I modeled my on-air delivery after Ganz. Jeremy Anderson (Smash), Steve Kallao (Bleach), Jon Mayotte (Momma’s Boy), Tim Amoni (The Gooch) and let’s not forget Adam (Lil Billy) Goran were the starting offense at 93x and offense is undoubtedly what we dealt out. Honorable mentions to John McKeighan, Tim Hulesing, Rob Morfey, Dennis (voice of God) Dautzenburg, Corey Berkman, Bruce (We have trade there) Andre, Perma-Smile, Amanda, Janell, the Knight Rider and the greatest promotion ever known to radio…What Would You Do For Anger Management Tour tickets? Let’s not forget Crush at the Canopy, X Night at the Canopy, concerts at the Canopy. We spent a lot of time and money at the Canopy.
After 18 months of parties and near death experiences, I left the state of Illinois and had a nervous breakdown when I became a Program Director for the first time. Jack Taddeo and Tim Huelsing took a chance on me at WKTT in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and I blew it. I left the business for a short time to take a gig as an armed response officer for Wackenhut at Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant. 18 months into that gig and I was desperate to get back into radio. Patti Donsbach and Jon McKeighan afforded me that opportunity and I returned to Illinois to begin my career again, in Bloomington. I had to start all over.
It wasn’t long before I was back on the air, hosting a night show on Power 92 (after a brief stint on the AC station). I was working alongside Valerie McCance, Josh Edwards, Ben Stomburg, Adam Chandler, Phil Larrieu, Don Black, Jeff Buydos and a host of other extremely talented people. I consider my time in Bloomington/Normal the most fun and most educational time in my life. This is also where I was introduced to Steve Smith and had the opportunity to learn programming philosophy. He is radio royalty and someone I truly admire.
Madison, Wisconsin was next. Madison is an incredible place to live. Highlights of my time there include but are not limited to Dane County Fair, Taste of Madison, Badger Tailgaters, attempting to tend bar at The Comedy Club on State and Essen Haus boots. Madison is also where I met the woman who is now my wife, Nikki. She has followed me and supported me on this journey and I am eternally grateful for her unwavering support, patience and encouragement. Other memorable people and events include Randy for teaching me the difference between a programming strategy and a programming tactic, Vince Pellegrino, the SIN Awards and NYC in December. Working with Greg Lawley and being introduced to a host of amazing record label promotion reps. There are far too many to name. but you know who you are and I have the utmost respect and admiration for what you do.
Springfield, Missouri was next. My first shot at being an Operations Manager and I learned a lot. But the city was just not a good fit for Nikki and I. We bought a house, made some good friends in Bailey, Brock and Kristen and left after 18 quick months…maybe less.
Boise, Idaho round 1 came next. I came to love the mountains. Traveling East from Nampa toward Boise in the winter-time was always my favorite. The mountains are the back drop to the city and the snow caps in the afternoon/evening sun are just majestic. We made some really great friends in Val, Steve, Erin, Steve M, Tony, Chelsea, Adam and a host of others whom we still hold near and dear. We had an apartment at the base of Camelback. It was an absolutely beautiful place to live and in retrospect we took it for granted.
Then came Louisville, Kentucky and Alpha Media. I was being trusted with programming one of THE premiere CHR stations in the country with guidance from Phil Becker, Scott Mahalick and Ben Davis. These are names I’ve often read in trade publications as role models and leaders in the industry. Now here I was, learning from and working alongside them. Kentucky Derby, bourbon, Oaks Day, Pink Prom, bourbon, Louisville Bats games, Backside, bourbon, the Pegasus Parade…more bourbon. Great friends were made in and outside of the radio station. Matt, Carrielee, Kathryn, Andy, McKenzie, Rooney, Napoleon, Ben, Elizabeth, KD, Sarah, Sam, Kristen, Rory (follow your dreams, champ!), Bovine Jones, Callie, Dave and the crew at Varanese. Late night cheese balls at Spring Street and Bobby never charging us full price…or in some cases at all!
The mountains were calling me back. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but I needed to get back to Boise. I was dealing with some personal issues and I think I just needed everything to slow down. Back to Boise we came. Back to Wild 101. This time around, we took part in the amenities that Idaho has to offer. We went camping, I hiked a friggin mountain, we bought bikes and rode the wheels off of them. We visited Salt Lake and went to a University of Utah game. We made even more friends in John, Ashley, Kevin, Yorick, Holly, Mimi, Solenne, Gigi, Kristina, Missy, TJ and more! We were even able to reunite with our friends Pierre and Anne-Marie (Nanou), whom we met when we lived in Madison. Yeah, they moved out to Boise and recently became US citizens. WOOO! We bought a house and I actually learned how to do some basic maintenance and repair.
That brings us to today and the reason for this post. It’s 6:15 on Saturday morning as of this writing and on Monday morning I’m tendering my resignation at Wild 101. We’re moving back to Louisville. I’m taking a job that is out of radio, but not entirely. I’ll fill you in more in due time. I look forward to our return to Louisville and I’m positive Nikki does as well. I look forward to starting my new gig with a great company and a dedicated team of like-minded individuals.
I start my new path on Monday September 27th. Here’s to new beginnings!