Welcome To The Blog!

Well, I've finally done it...I've gone and created a blog.

Actually, I've hesitated to start one because I'm afraid I can't measure up to all the great ones which are already out there, but I guess I finally decided to take the plunge. Why? Because I truly love my work, and I love keeping in touch with folks who listen to what I do every day and who care about bluegrass music.

In this forum, I hope to provide information on a somewhat-regular basis about the goings-on at Bluegrass Junction, the bluegrass channel for XM Satellite Radio. Since you've taken the time to come here, I also want to give you a behind-the scenes peek at what we do at XM--a bit more than you get just by listening--in an effort to make you feel like you're more a part of the family. In addition, I'm sure I'll also be offering some of my thoughts about the current state of bluegrass music, the artists, and the songs. I don't expect for these writings to be too much about me personally (that would be too boring--trust me!), but I hope you'll forgive me if in this first post I share a little about my background, so we can get to know each other better.

I was born in 1961 right here--more or less, that is--in Nashville. Since radio people tend to be nomads--moving from place to place, up and down the dial--I'm fortunate to have spent most of my career close to home. In fact, the farthest away I've worked in radio is Murfreesboro, Tennessee, which is about 30 miles south of Nashville. My earliest radio ambitions were centered around the station I still consider one of the greatest in the history of broadcasting, Nashville's own WSM. I always wanted to work there, and in 1982, when I was just 20 years old, I was lucky enough to land a part-time job there.

Part-time led to full-time, and I ended up staying around WSM for nearly 21 years, during which time I served as board operator, announcer, producer, music director (for the station's satellite network in the '80s, the Music Country Radio Network), program director, and operations manager. My favorite job of all at the station, though, was announcer for the Grand Ole Opry. I first did that in 1985 (yes, I was only 23!) and was part-time on the Opry staff until 1991, when the legendary Grant Turner passed away. From then on, I was on the Opry every week until 2003.

Other things I've been privileged to do over the years include hosting two different sydicated shows--The Grand Ole Opry Minute for WSM and Classic Country Gold for my own syndication company. I was on the air for Sirius Satellite Radio (the dreaded competitor!) when they first signed on in 2002 (while still working at WSM), and joined the staff of XM on October 31, 2005.

Well, enough about me. Thanks for reading this and I look forward to visiting with you again soon!