Hall Of Fame

Sometimes there’s no way around a humble brag, so I won’t even try. I’ve been nominated for the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame. I can humbly say I never asked to be, but it doesn’t mean I’m not grateful.

My son asked me, so you’re in the hall of fame? Eh, no, not yet. They have to vote me in.

Who does?

People.

Which people?

Uh, everybody, I guess?

So, how many are you up against?

I honestly don’t know, my guess is at least 10.

And you have to get the most votes?

Maybe?

With hindsight, I can now see that, wow, that was frustrating. I want to throat punch myself for him. Luckily, he was not as violent.

I never set out to be in any hall of fame. Heck, I didn’t even know there was such a thing, and maybe when I started, there wasn’t.

A career in radio was not even an option to me. I loved listening to the radio and was a big fan of so many people I thought were awesome. I would get up early to tune in on my AM radio to WLS in Chicago just to catch 15 minutes of Larry Lujack before the sun came up and dissipated the signal. I loved “Uncle Lar” because he was the first person I ever heard not do forced happy patter radio. That’s what I call it, but I think it’s technically accurate.

“WLS, it’s 5:15 on Tuesday morning, I’m Larry Lujack, and it’s so early I can’t feel my legs”. Mind blown.

I would tune in the AM station in Birmingham, Alabama, to listen to Rigdon Dees at night. He later changed his name to Rick Dees because people always thought that’s what he was saying anyway. I loved his line “Hey, you’re listening to Rick Dees, one of us is on the radio and one of us isn’t, and I’m not sure which one is better off for it”. It made sense, and yet it didn’t, and I loved it.

Years later, I had the honor of playing golf with Rick at his country club in Los Angeles, where he had ended up being the morning host at KIIS-FM, making 3 million dollars a year starting in the 1980s! Radio does not pay that way anymore. Anyway, it was like a tech nerd having four hours with Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or Elon Musk. I learned so much.

I also got to share that line with him and how much it stayed with me. I thought he would laugh it off, but he looked at me with a little smile and said, “That’s why what we do is important, because we never know what we say will mean something at the exact right time for the exact right person. I don’t remember that line, but it means the world to me that you do”. Thanks, Rick, you are a legend.

My little hometown of Florala, Alabama, had its radio station open up when I was in the 9th grade. WKWL AM-1230. Located in a house trailer. They put an announcement at the high school (cause there was and is only one) saying they were looking for someone to work part-time. I figured everyone would apply, but I optimistically did, too. I got the job. I learned later I was the only applicant. God works in mysterious ways.

I worked my way up from playing pre-recorded shows to actually being able to talk on the air. Larry Grover was the station owner and had spent his entire life in radio. He had one of those classic radio voices, and he peered into my future and knew I had a chance to do that, too. So he worked on helping me to be better, and that was a tough job considering I had an accent so thick that I don’t think I could understand myself with ease if I had to listen to it today.

Larry taught me to pronounce and to slow down. Both are still tough for me today.

My first big break came when I was on the air one Friday night, and someone knocked on the door. I opened it to see this guy who asked me if I was on the air. I replied that I was, and he told me he was Connor Vernon. You have to understand, I listened to Connor and Chuck Leonard every weekday morning; they were the biggest stars you could imagine in my little corner of the world. Nobody would believe me that Connor Vernon had come to my job!

I found out that he was in town to host the high school beauty pageant, and he was also the program director of the biggest pop station in the area, WKMX, and it was his habit to listen to the local radio station to see if they had any talent he could poach for part-time help.

He had deemed me poachable. And I was.

I started working weekend overnights, and I immediately turned into someone in Florala. I was on the station that all my friends listened to. That was cool, but what was really cool was taking the next step in my broadcasting career.

Honestly, at that point, I didn’t think it was a career, could not even be a career. But God knew better, and I can look back on my life and see how many times He closed one door, opened another, and also kept me stepping through some doors that would not have been good.

I have moved to a number of states chasing this dream. Again, let me state, I never thought about being in a hall of fame, I just wanted to keep working and doing what I loved. Radio is such a unique medium, so intimate and so present.

I was on the air the day Bear Bryant died. You may not have heard of the legendary Alabama football coach, but he was an icon in the South and in the world of college football. It was my first experience with delivering a news story, but also having to handle it with humanity.

One of my best blessings was to be able to learn my craft while working in small markets, like Troy, Alabama (WTBF), then in Louisiana (KBIU). KBIU was known as Bayou 104, playing pop music. I started at 10 pm to 2 am. I got to make so many mistakes, and that was ok, the stakes were low, and they were thrilled to have someone who showed up for work consistently and was always open to coaching and constructive criticism.

I also got my first taste of doing morning drive, which was always my goal. The news person at Bayou 104 quit, and they needed someone to take over. I volunteered. I was told I still had to do the 10-2 shift, and I said, That’s ok. So I became Dave Holliday’s sidekick. He was a total pro and taught me so much. And he also gave me room to be me. Dave, I have lost contact with you, but buddy, you were the man, and I bet you still are.

From there, I went to KKMG in Colorado Springs, doing the night shift from 7 pm till midnight. This was a big step up for me. And when the morning guy decided he didn’t really like working Fridays and would routinely call in sick, I told the program director, Max Miller, that he could call me, and I would come in. Max Miller was such an important piece of my development; he truly believed in me, and I gained confidence.

Albuquerque, New Mexico, was my next stop, doing nights again at Power 105. I would work 5 nights a week and then come in and do mornings on Saturday from 6- noon. It set me up that when the regular morning guy took another job, they let me fill in till they found someone else. That someone else turned out to be me, and my journey in morning radio truly started.

Then it was back to Colorado, to be the program director and morning man at TRI-102 in Fort Collins. We had a lot of success, and on the day the ratings came back, we were already #1, we increased our ratings. I was called into the office, thinking maybe I’d get a bonus or at least an “atta boy”. Instead, I was introduced to the new owners who told me that I had too much talent and ability for what they had planned for the station, and they were going to have to let me go. Wait, what?

I have told the story that at the time it was the worst day of my life, outside of my mother and then brother dying within 6 months of each other.

Let me reintroduce God into the story. That led me to KRTY in San Jose. They hired me to do afternoons with the thought that maybe in a few months we would look at moving me to mornings. I started on a Tuesday. Friday night, my program director, Bill Macky called me and said, “Hey, why don’t you start doing mornings on Monday?”

Being fired was actually one of the best things that ever happened to me. I loved KRTY, I loved the staff, I love the city, and most of all, I loved the listeners. I have been here ever since.

It has been an amazing experience. I have lived a life that I could not have imagined when I started at WKWL.

Bob Kieve owned KRTY, but the best thing about Bob was that he was tremendously fair. About all things. He trusted the folks he hired to do their jobs and let us.

Julie Stevens took over as program director after Bill left, and it changed my life. She is one of the best humans I know, and she’s also the best program director I have ever had. She is so smart and has such wisdom when it comes to country music and the people who love it. From the acts, to the management, to the venues, to the fans, she has strived to make us all better and make it wonderful for all of us. She continues to be my best friend.

She’s brutally honest in a world that doesn’t want you to be. When you find someone like that, hold on to them for dear life.

She also became my morning show partner 26 years ago and brought out the best in me. I achieved record ratings, and I credit it to her. As I told her, “it’s not the kite that flies, but the string,” and she has always tethered me so I could truly have freedom to create and yet not get distracted.

The only reason I got nominated is that Nate Deaton has always championed me. He started off as our promotions director and quickly rose through the ranks to become the general manager. If you love what we did at KRTY, then you love the vision that Nate has crafted. No one understands the business of radio better than him, and no one, and I mean no one, loves and cares for country music the way he continues to.

There is a long list of artists who will tell you they wouldn’t have a career if it weren’t for him. And I mean some really big names. He recognized the potential of Taylor Swift and booked her twice at our little dive bar.

Jason Aldean, Eric Church, Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, Lady A, Chris Young, and Darius Rucker are just a few names who value his opinion to this day. And I can’t think of anyone in Nashville who doesn’t take his calls.

Garth Brooks played at our dive bar, all because Nate asked him to, and Garth considers him a friend.

I am proud to be a part of that list. He is a dear friend, he is my brother, and I love him.

There are so many names I left out, but trust me, the names Rob Sherwood, Doc Kirby,

Don Rivers, Kris Van Dyke, Pete May, Jungle Doug Griffin, Dave Wooten, Steve Davis,

Joyce Jefferson, Karin Taylor, Pete May, Ken Ross, and Al Breiten are all very important to me.

My son asked me what it would be like to make it. I told him that I really don’t think about it. If I make it, I’ll be proud, and if I don’t, I’ll still be proud. I told both of my boys that if I do make it, the best part will be that they’ll be able to say their dad is a Hall of Famer. At least for radio.

I am already in the Hall of Fame when it comes to a family that loves me.

And the person I thank the most is my wife, Heather. She is my Amazing Grace, because I once was lost, but she found me and set my soul free.

That’s a recap of my journey so far, but as you can imagine, I left a lot out, and this is still too long. If you’ve made it this far, thank you. Not only for reading, but for allowing me to be a part of your life. It means more than you know.