misc stuff & answers to serious questions

Jeez - I seem to always be writing these things on Mondays. I guess maybe there's more to talk about. I'm playing the Dandy Warhols on the air right now, and the beginning of the song Bohemian Like You made me think of Jumping Jack Flash. Similar chords. Sorry - that was just a random thought.



Went to Southwick's Wild Animal Farm on Saturday with Joey's (my four year old) best friend Josh and his family. It was really cool! I get a kick out of zoos anyway, and this place has a ton of stuff; rhinos, elephants, lots of monkeys (a veritable barrel full), lions, leopard, camels, giraffes, etc. Afterwards we got some fried food (my favorite food group) at this place called George's Surf & Turf (delicious), and had a movie night at Josh's place. His dad had borrowed one of those gnarly PC projectors and we watched Shrek 2 projected on a sheet hung on the back of their house. It was really cool.



Okay.. answers to questions most frequently asked:



1. Yes, my nose, hair and name are all mine. I was born with them and they have not been altered. With the nose thing, my Mom and Dad were both blessed with good sized noses, and so there was no way of genetically dodging a prominent proboscis.



2. How'd I get into radio? Not enough space for the full explanation, but I will tell you that I have always loved both music and performing. I can't even remember when I started listening to music. I started at a seriously young age. The albums that stick out in my memory are Beatles: Rubber Soul, Jackson 5: Going Back To Indiana, and Led Zeppelin II. I also started play acting radio shows from a very early age. Early in life I also started playing musical instruments (or more accurately, making noise). My Dad was a lover of bluegrass music, and he played guitar, banjo, mandolin and more. He just loved making music and thought everyone should play an instrument, regardless of how serious their skill level was. So that made it easy for me to try different things out. Fast forward to early high school when I started playing in rock bands, initially on bass, switching quickly to lead guitar (cooler solos). Put in a lot of time playing rock band staples (Steve Miller, Lynyrd Skynyd, Jethro Tull, etc.), before branching out into Jazz and Funk. Getting into the funk prompted a switch back to bass, because playing funk bass to me is one of the most fun things you can do with your instrument on.

My first radio experience was at my high school, where they had a "carrier current" (you could only hear it in the high school) AM station. The first song I ever played on a radio station was "Outta Space" by Billy Preston. I kept with the radio thing in college, with a funk show on WMUA at UMass Amherst. After I graduated (with a Communications degree) I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do long term, but the live music part of my life was still very strong, so I played in bands at night and got a "day job" through a temp agency. I ended up getting hired full time, and before I knew it, I had been at the company (DH Heath in Lexington) for a few years, in a few different jobs.

Then came a strange time in my life leading to a "fish or cut bait" moment for me.

My Dad got sick and passed away, which was something I couldn't fathom happening - but it did. I feel very lucky that I had my dad for the time I did. Dad was certainly not perfect, but if I can be half the father that he was, I'm doing alright.

With that life-changing event, and the fact that I was approaching the big 3-0 I asked myself what I REALLY wanted to be doing, and the answer was radio. Went to broadcasting school (to intern at a radio station you need to be in school), interned at two radio stations and got a job doing traffic reports for Metro Traffic. Through sheer fate, one of the stations I was interning at was bought by the company that owned WBOS - which happened to be looking for a Production Director (the guy who makes those funny things that run in between songs). With my musical recording experience, I had, as the hip kids say, the skillz. I parlayed that into some on-air stuff, ended up on the morning show and never looked back.

I've been very lucky that I've been able to stay in my home market (rare for radio) and have encountered some very talented people along the way that have helped me out, and to whom I am sincerely grateful.

I like getting the question about what it takes to get into radio and be successful. Does it take a voice from God? No, thankfully. Although I'm happy with my own voice, I certainly don't have one of those big "radio" voices that used to be the norm. What's important nowadays is that you LOVE radio - that you realize it's a really cool vocation. Enthusiasm goes a long way in this business, as does flexibility, and the people who succeed in radio are those who genuinely have a good time on the air. For me it's great because it combines being immersed in music, which makes me a happy camper, with the opportunity to entertain, which is also something I love.

Thanks for letting me do that!

-George

Whadda weekend!

Whew... busy weekend! Had our sixth wedding anniversary on Saturday, Andy's 3rd birthday on Sunday, Father's Day on Sunday. Had some listeners in to Sunday Morning Over Easy.
I've said it before, I'll say it again, WBOS has the nicest, most interesting, and clearly most attractive listeners of any Boston radio station, and I had a stellar gang in on Sunday - thanks to them! Also had live music from the father/son team of Dennis & Jake Brennan. They really sounded fantastic, and they happen to also be very cool, very nice people.

But here's something that I'm equally elated about - got a new guitar over the weekend.

Bit of history:
Growing up, I loved electric guitars and at some point made it my mission to save up enough money to buy a reallly nice electric guitar. I set my sights on a wine red Gibson Les Paul Custom which I had been coveting at the late great Boston music store E.U. Wurlitzer. Over time I put as much money as I could from my after school job bagging groceries at the Triple A Supermarket in a savings account I had set up, and when I got close to the fundage I needed, my Dad helped me out and I made it my own. Now, Dad was a devout acoustic instrument guy, but more importantly he was a supporter of people playing music in general, so that trumped the fact that I was getting an evil electric, and he was happy for me.
That gorgeous Les Paul became my guitar through high school and beyond. I can't count the number of Freebird solos done on that particular guitar.
Then came college at UMass Amherst, and somehwere along the way I ended up selling the Les Paul - most likely to pay rent. This, despite the fact that my father would always tell me that a musical instrument is the last thing you should sell - that the likelihood of getting instrument selling regret is high. Boy was he right. Ever since, I have been lamenting that I got rid of that guitar.

So... many moons later, I express to my wife that one day I would like to get a guitar like that Les Paul (albeit a lower-end one - to replace the guitar I had nowdays would cost about the same as a decent used Hyundai).
Last week I stopped by Guitar Center and played a reasonably priced Les Paul and absolutely loved it. Started talking with the wife about putting money down on it so that it wouldn't get sold on me, and she said we should just get the thing. She's a smart woman. So it's a Father's Day/anniversary/upcoming birthday/Christmas present, and I love it. It brings back many memories of my previous Les Paul, and brings a serious smile to my face when I'm playing it. God, I love guitars.

-George

We surprised Mom!

Weekend was fun,
The highlight was a surprise (sort of) 70th birthday party for my Mom. It was not completely a surprise because we had to let her know it was happening so that she wouldn't be out of town on the date we had planned. She wasn't aware of who was on the guestlist, however, and that's where the real fun was.
I think she had a genuinely good time. There were people from way back when... college roomates, people from her homeown of Winchester.. a lot of blasts from the past.
What made it cool for me and my sisters was that a lot of her old friends were also friends of Dad's and it was great to hear stories of Mom & Dad from way back when. Very timely in that I always am missing my Dad more around this time, what with Father's Day coming up and all. Dad passed away in 1990 and I miss him every day. I have no brothers, so he was like my Dad and Big Brother rolled into one.
Speaking of Father's Day - we're going to have fun this Sunday during my broadcast of Sunday Morning Over Easy. We'll get some listeners and their fathers to join us, have live music, goodies for the guests, and I'm trying to get my Uncle Kif (Lew Knight) to come for the festivities. He's my dad's younger brother and it would be great to have him there representing Dad.
Talk to you soon...
-George

Blog like the wind

First off - thanks for reading my blog. It's kinda new territory for me, so you may have to bear with me a bit. And a warning - I am a lousy typist, so I apologize in advance for typos (if you see the word "Teh", I meant to type "the".

I shall make the topic of my first blog entry.. the weather! Mainly because its been so frickin' beautiful, and I am truly a summer guy. It just helps th ewhole outlook. There's nothing like a warm sunny day, with rightoues tunes playing to make the world right.

Please check back frequently for more bloggage.

-George