Yep that's me... or at least that's the RIGHT SIDE of me! Now whenever you hear me on the radio, you can say "hey, I know what the right half of that guy looks like!"
Welcome to my area of 921thefrog.com! This is where I'll check in with things that I think you'll enjoy, laugh at, find interesting, or otherwise waste time at work with. Old cars, dogs, outrageous experiences with anything motorized, or tales of catastrophic personal failure, they'll all be right here. Think of this as the place where we can get to know each other better!
Even though Liz says she's "from Texas," she's really from Akron. Me? I'm actually from McComb. Interesting tidbit: My senior year would've been the 20th straight winning season for McComb High School football... if it wasn't for my junior year when we single handedly destroyed the winning tradition by losing 7 games. Hey, we only lost 6 my senior year. Catastrophic personal failure, remember?
You can catch me weekdays from 3-7pm on New Country 92.1 The Frog, you can find me on Facebook HERE, and you can always shoot me an email just by clicking HERE
Last time, I was telling you all about the people I meet each year at Country Concert, those characters that come out once a year and make me feel like “yes, we’ve definitely arrived at Country Concert” each year. Our boy Skeeter was there again, though he managed to wear a shirt to the meet & greet this time.
Fortunately, we did catch him trolling around the grounds throughout the weekend in a hat only Skeeter could pull off.
I didn’t manage to catch a photo of him, but Skeeter’s buddy Patrick had an entire knight in shining armor suit constructed solely out of Coors Light cases. Ahhh the memories…
Yes, each year the off the wall personalities come out of the woodwork: the lady in the “prom dress” made from Coors Light banners, the Bearded Man In Black Speedo, the Stubbly Man In Pink Speedo, Guys In Overalls With Ice Stuffed In The Front, and the thousands of “I’m Drunk” girls roaming the grounds in cutoff jeans and bikini tops.
This year however, we met up with some very special people and had an experience that I never expected at Country Concert.
Early on Saturday, the 92.1 The Frog crew was setting up our broadcast gear at the VIP SkyDeck, and while I was standing just kind of surveying the view of the nearly empty show area, I was approached by a woman asking me (like 10,000 others throughout the weekend) if I had any way to get backstage to meet Keith Urban. I’ll share with you something about radio… we NEVER know if we have access to backstage. The whole process is pretty “seat of the pants” with proposals going to artists’ managers, through record label reps, and a lot of times when we’re told we’ll have passes, they never get dropped off for us to pick up (I’m looking at you, Billy Currington’s manager!) So, in this case I politely mentioned that I didn’t know for sure, but you just never know.
She then told me the story of how meeting Keith Urban was her daughter’s Make A Wish. Now, I’ve never been involved with the Make A Wish Foundation, but 92.1 The Frog does do a lot with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, so we all have a soft spot for kids, especially those with ongoing medical issues. Apparently her daughter, Alex, had submitted to the Make A Wish folks to meet Keith Urban, but she had aged out of eligibility for the program before it was able to be arranged.
Thankfully, the phone calls, emails, and back alley finagling paid off, and our backstage passes WERE dropped off for us to pick up, and when we informed Alex’s mom, Peggy, that we could grant her wish, the tears came quickly and powerfully. Liz Mantel, JP The Intern, and I escorted Alex backstage. I mentioned the situation to Keith’s management, and they advised us to hang out at the back of the line, and he’d spend a few extra minutes with us, which he did. I’ll say this… I’ve been a part of a lot of meet & greets that are over seconds after they being, very “here’s your handshake, here’s your photo, move on please” and that’s not at all the case with Keith Urban. He took the time to actually talk and listen to everyone, which was impressive, considering his stature in Country Music right now, he certainly doesn’t HAVE to do the things he does, but he still does and that’s what sets him apart.
When Keith asked Alex what her favorite song was, what her name was, and how to spell it, I had a feeling something special was going to happen on stage. Later, when Alex was down in the stage front seats with Liz and JP, the camera was rolling as Keith Urban dedicated “Kiss A Girl” to her. SEE THE VIDEO HERE
Every year, we look so forward to Country Concert because it’s the most fun we can have in a weekend. It’s a great time from a fan standpoint, and it’s always a great bonding experience for those of us that are lucky enough to work at New Country 92.1 The Frog. This year will go down as by far the most meaningful, and I’m so proud that we have a couple new friends in the form of Alex Kuznicki and her mother, Patty. She spent over a year trying to make her chronically ill daughter’s dream come true, and we couldn’t be happier to have had a hand in making it happen.
I feel like a kid, and this time not just because I might actually be one. Remember when you were a kid and you had a birthday, and the day after you were immediately looking forward to the next one? That’s how I feel about Country Concert. Last year, after we packed everything up and hit the road back to Lima, I started getting excited about this year. There are literally tens of thousands of people there, but each year I seem to run into the same 5 or 6 people, my “Country Concert Friends.”
At the top of the list, there’s our boy Skeeter. Now, Skeeter is a little more than just a “Country Concert Friend” because he and his buddy Patrick show up at random events each year, but Country Concert is really when he comes to life. Montgomery Gentry’s song “One In Every Crowd” is absolutely about Skeeter. Last year, I took him backstage to meet Montgomery Gentry, and he was so exited he forgot his shirt. So here we are, me trying to be cap’n professional in the ironed polo shirt with the 92.1 The Frog logo, and Skeeter… shirtless, with a cooler strapped around his waist pulling his shorts down, and a backstage pass smacked gloriously on his bare shoulder. The guy couldn’t have been happier.
Names escape me for a lot of our “Country Concert Friends,” but I could pick them out of a crowd any day. There’s the lady that yells “DAAAAAAVEEEE” over the fence during every single meet & greet because she knows I’m sitting outside the meet & greet tent on plastic chair that may or may not have the structural integrity to support me. Last year, while out in the campgrounds delivering our “Hangover Survival Kits,” I heard the familiar “DAAAAAVEEE” yelp from across the way, which was doubtless welcome to the rest of the campers at 7am after a night of partying. As I maneuvered the 92.1 The Frog Jambulance around the tents, campers, and random sleeping bag wrapped bodies, she held up a shirt making some reference to “I had my ass kicked by moonshine” or something to that effect. She then gave me a bottle of what I thought was water… and turned out to be moonshine… a fact that might get me arrested for having just told you.
Then there are the people that will come up to me during our county fair tour, and shout “you don’t remember me do you? I met you at Country Concert.” Rule #1. Do not hold me responsible for remembering your name if I meet you at Country Concert. Most other times, I’m still dismal at remembering names. Mix in a place filled with live music, turkey legs, which by the way, I’m convinced are actually HAM, and a plenty of Crown Royal, and the chances of me remembering your name are about as good as the Cleveland Browns’ chances at winning the next 34 consecutive Super Bowls.
That’s not to say I don’t WANT to remember your name… I’m simply not capable. But, with the kind of fun we’ve got planned for Country Concert 2010, there’s a good chance that if you’re lucky, even though I won’t remember your name, you won’t remember mine either, and we’ll simply know eachother as “that dude from Country Concert,” and I can add you to my list of “Country Concert Friends” for next year!
