I’ve mentioned the radio show a few times on the blog, but I wanted to bring it all together, put it out front for a bit and tell you about a related feature that has been added to the website. You’ll find a new tab at the top of this page labeled “Radio Show.” This will be the home for all things Knoxcentric. As of now, you’ll find a schedule of upcoming guests and links to podcasts of all previous shows, along with descriptions of the content you’ll find for each of them. Podcasts are generally available within twenty-four hours.
Benny Smith approached me this past summer with the idea of building a radio show around the same kind of content you find here on a daily basis. I’ve been fortunate to be paired with co-host JJ Pershing, who is a professional and walks me through what I need to do. Also on the team, Damien Messer, long-time WUTK personality keeps the boards straight, along with Jonathan and a rotating crew of interns.
I’ve been very pleased with the launch and I’m learning something new each week and, hopefully, getting smoother as we go (and louder – JJ says I have an NPR voice). I feared the hour initially, thinking it would be too long, but have found it shoots by very quickly. With such great guests – we’ve already had Jack Neely of the Knoxville History Project, Becky Hancock of the Tennessee Theatre, Scott Schimmel and Lisa Sorensen of Bliss and Tori Mason Shoes, two different bands (Southern Cities and Cereus Bright) and many others – it’s more of a task to limit the conversation to the time allotted.
We’ve fallen into a pretty natural flow that will likely evolve over time. For now, JJ brings in the hour by introducing me and I re-cap the downtown week that just ended. We follow that with a couple of interviews very much in the style that I do them when I’m preparing an article and then we close the hour with a look toward the upcoming week based, as you might expect, on the ten day planner. Great music, much of it local, is sprinkled in and we often tie that to upcoming shows in the downtown area.
The show airs at 10:00 AM each Sunday morning on WUTK, the Rock, 90.3 FM. You can listen to it on the radio or via the live-stream on the radio station’s web site. We’re also open to sponsorship ideas if you’d like to be a part of bringing the radio show to the city. Along with purchasing an ad on this site, it’s a way to use our brand to increase your brand. (I’ve been hanging with marketers recently. Does it show?)
So, listen to the podcasts if you’ve missed some shows. Tell your boss listening at work will improve your job performance. Sponsor the show if you’d like. And I’d love to hear suggestions for future guests. But please join us as a listener each Sunday morning at 10:00 AM, invite your friends to do the same and let’s keep making this city a better place as we highlight local people doing great things.