Creation of The Point

Long time no see. Glad to be putting out a new episode after a long break. Hannah Covington had the pleasure to sit down with a radio DJ of the original Point radio station before the combining of two radio stations. We talked everything under the sun from radio to having a child on the Spectrum

Link to the 105.3 The Goat's Website- 

https://hearthegoat.com/

AXE Social's-

AXE on the Radio

Locals only with Axe

This is an episode from my other podcast that I co-run and I hope that you enjoy this episode. I will hopefully be back sometime in August with new episodes. I have not forgotten about book report. That will be out sometime soon.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of a simple discussion. My name is Hannah Covington. And before we dive into today's episode, I just wanted to give a fair warning of sorts that we will be talking about death yet again in this episode. And I want people to be aware of that in case you want to skip over that part when we come to that part in the podcast episode. So people have a very fair warning. I like to give fair warnings so people do not get mad at me. I can't see the comments, but I can feel that people have comments of saying, why did you guys not warn us? Here is your lovely warning that we will be doing that. So if you do not feel comfortable, please skip over that portion of the episode. You're welcome. And in today's episode, I sat down with Axe from the original point, who is now a part of 1053 the goat down in Bowling Green. In Bowling Green, Kentucky. And he had a lot of interesting thoughts he shared with me during his interview. And I cannot wait for you guys to hear his thoughts about working in a radio market here in Kentucky and working for two different radio companies during his career of being on the airwaves of South Central Kentucky to raising a son who is on the spectrum as well. Because I did not know this until I talked with him on the phone when scheduling an interview with him for doing this episode. And he told me I would like to talk about having a son, about my son who is on the spectrum, who is a couple years younger than me, and he wanted to tell his son's story to a degree from a parent perspective. So I hope you enjoyed today's episode of hearing Axe's perspective of being in radio to raising a son on the spectrum to just how much fun he has had with the transition that people have not talked about of two media companies that combined here in Kentucky in the last year and a half. So please sit back and let's roll that intro music. Hello, welcome back to a simple discussion. My name is Hannah Covington. Sadly, I do not have my buddy Ryan with me, but instead I have invited a guest with me. I have Axe with me from the original point, and he is now on the go. Could you please introduce yourself?

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Hello. How are you today? This is this is uh gonna be interesting. I I guess you've got some questions lined up and we'll talk uh about lots of different things. This is kind of open, isn't it, essentially?

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Yes, it is. And I first want to talk about how you got started in radio.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

How I got started in radio. So, you know, everybody goes down the a lot of people in my day and age went down the college path. So I did the same. Uh I was looking to get into radio. I lived in a pretty big market where I did not think that I would have an opportunity to be on the air or just, you know, there wasn't little stations around the area. So I basically uh decided I was gonna go to college in Southwest Virginia. And basically I started, you know, with college radio. And uh the the odd thing about that is I volunteered for a college station that didn't have anybody volunteer from that college. I was from a different college and I went to work at a college station. So I I graduated from Radford University, and that's where I was going to school. But I went to work, the first college station I went to work for was Virginia Tech's college station, which was in Southwest Virginia, uh, doing a variety show on there.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

I didn't know that. So that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

And I ended up being a part of the uh Virginia Tech staff on that in that building for almost five years on that station. Went from doing metal show on that station to doing a jazz show before I left that station in 1995.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

So okay. And what drew you to Kentucky?

SPEAKER_00 4:57

An ad on the internet. So basically, I landed in Kentucky, did not have any, you know, friends, relationships, or anything here. Basically, I'd I'd gone and applied on the internet for a job in could in Glasgow, Kentucky, of all places. And I was like, uh I didn't know where it was. The guy called me back and I had a two and a half hour conversation with him on the phone, and that's how I ended up in Kentucky. I mean, we had a two-hour conversation. I packed my truck full of full of stuff and and drove 12 hours to Kentucky. So I'm originally from the uh DC metro area, so that's where I grew up.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Well, I love Washington, DC. Um a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

That's what I was looking to get away from us.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

So who was this person you talked to for two hours?

SPEAKER_00 5:41

It was it was uh Steve Newberry. He's the the CEO now of the uh Q product, but uh with Commonwealth Broadcasting. But that was the person I talked to for two and a half hours on the phone. And it was just about passion for radio, passion for this business, what he was looking to do at that point in time. With uh that was, of course, the Telecommunications Act that let companies at that point buy a bunch of other stations in different areas, and that's where he was at that point. So he's looking to build a staff that he could, you know, do some things and work some stations and have some professional voices on those stations. And I at that point had been working in radio for it was about six years at that point, um, not just on college, but on some commercial stations at that point in time too.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

And so you were at Commonwealth in the beginning stages of the point.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

Correct, correct. It was not Commonwealth broadcasting before that. So, yes, I was at the beginning stages of that, you know, brought in to do some production, brought in to voice a couple of different stations. At that point, I was doing some morning stuff, so I've gone from doing mornings and operations and all sorts of other jobs in this business since that point in time.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

And when did the point launch?

SPEAKER_00 6:46

The point? Yeah, the point launched in October of 1998. So I moved to Kentucky in October of 1997 and the point launched in October of 1998.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

I was a baby.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Yeah. I just just just tell me how old I am, okay?

SPEAKER_01 7:05

I was only a couple months old at that point.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Yeah, you you creak a lot when you get to this age, so just so you know.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

And what why was the point created?

SPEAKER_00 7:16

And why was created it was created from a lack of of rock stations in the market at that point in time because there really wasn't a classic rock station in the market in 1998. So WDNS, which is now on the air, it's been on the air since 1999, was not on the air at that point. They were a country station. That's what some people they've been on the air since 1973, but they were a country station from I guess 1993 through my dates, might not be exactly right, 1993 through 1999.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

I think you're correct because I interned at D.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

Yeah, yeah. I think that that was that was the time period, I think, that they were the duck.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Yes. And and who was a part of the OG staff other than you?

SPEAKER_00 7:57

Well, Chris Bratcher was a part of the staff at that point in time. So him him and I came in the same the same day essentially to get hired. And he moved to a he stayed in Glasgow for a little bit and then he moved to a different community. So he moved to Bardstown at that point in time and then was in Elizabeth Town. And in and in my tracks, I was in Elizabeth Town for points of time too. Physically in the building, doing different stuff for them with that company too.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

And was the point originally located in E Town?

SPEAKER_00 8:24

No, the point was in Glasgow. So the original point in 1998 went on the year 1037 in Glasgow.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

Okay. And so it was created in '98. Was it a big hit when it first launched?

SPEAKER_00 8:35

I mean, I think people were tuning into it because there wasn't a whole lot uh else to tune into in bowling green. There wasn't a there wasn't really a rock station in bowling green at that point in time. Yeah, I mean, other than out of Nashville. So, you know, right off the bat, it it did get some ground. It got enough ground to put you know WDNS back on the air in '99. So there was enough, there was enough ground, enough advertising on it that, you know, they said, Oh, well, we need to do this too.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Do you think you and Bradcher were the heart of the point?

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Yeah, but there's other, there's other folks that were on there that um are still on the radio in this area, and uh, you know, we're a big part of it at that point in time. It was, it was, it was a really good staff. Um, Bradcher and I, of course, were you know, we were a big part of it, but there was other couple folks on there that, you know, are a big part of radio still in this market.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Who who else were part of the staff?

SPEAKER_00 9:27

So it would at that at that point in time going on the air, not too far. So let's just take about 2,000. Paul Johnson, who went by Monty Foster on the air. Um, he still is on various stations for Commonwealth at this point in time and was our production director for a while. And I worked with him for a long period of time doing production and in the production world. Uh Kelly McKay, who's on 103.7 now, she was on that staff too, along with uh Patty Bell also on that staff. So all of them were involved with that staff and that that product for several years.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

Do you have any good memories from the early years?

SPEAKER_00 10:02

That there's there's yeah, there's lots of uh good memories and and just uh you know, folks coming in the studio and recording on local shows and you know uh the early stages of Blackstone Cherry, which basically, you know, I I was at the Medcalf County Middle School when they played there, played for the the record rep that night. So our our staff was there when they were kind of getting discovered. So, you know, memories like that. Um, you know, just just just uh there was there was a lot going on with that staff and a lot a lot of a lot of fast moving pieces at that point in time.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

And I know I saw a picture that you posted on social media where you ran into some of the Black Stone Cherry at a Lowe's.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

That was at Walmart in Glasgow. So they did a uh that was 2016. They did uh basically a show for the for folks there for free in the lawn and garden section of the store for the uh basically the release of their album, Kentucky. So they were releasing that album at that point in time. And so yeah, I got on stage and announced them and uh was very, you know, been very thankful to them. They've put me in a lot of good places over the years and and I went on the road with them for a while too, for for for like a week, which was pretty cool too. So lots of good memories with those guys. I've known those guys for a while.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Any other cool bands that you got to see while working at the point?

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Oh, I I don't even I don't even know where to start on that one. Yeah, I mean, I can remember going to Nashville to see Dark New Day with Bratcher, and I met the uh lead singer from the band Slaughter and had a 30-minute conversation with him about his horse farm, which was very interesting. Like, okay, I'm sitting here talking to the guy from Slaughter, Mark Slaughter, which was kind of cool. So, yes, I I've met some folks throughout the throughout time that that that I've been thankful to be able to meet, you know, through through being in this business.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

And I know you do a lot with high school sports. How did that come to be on the point on top of being a rock station?

SPEAKER_00 12:00

The high school sports is is that's not necessarily me on the station. Okay. Um, yeah, that's not that's that's a whole nother group, but yeah, it's basically in addition to the station to provide some local coverage for those teams in this area.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Okay, because I know a lot of stations do double because where I'm at, we do country and high school sports.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Sure, sure. And that's yeah, that's part of just supporting the community, supporting those teams in the community and uh giving an outlet for you know broadcasters to to be able to broadcast games. Yeah, sports is sports is not my deal broadcasting. That is that is that is definitely somewhere I've never really gone. Um I don't I don't feel I don't feel confident enough in my knowledge of sports to go that direction.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

So yeah. And what events has the point in the years you were at the point locally that you have done?

SPEAKER_00 12:53

I would I would say, you know, some some great events we've done with the with the point. Uh we did some concerts that were pretty big, you know, raising raising some money with uh Blackstone Cherry. We did some local shows at the Cave City Convention Center that were pretty cool. We raised, you know, food and did some things with uh Kentucky Headhunters and Blackstone Cherry and local bands at that point in time. So those were some of the bigger events that we did. We used to have this big box truck that we would drive around the market, which uh really did not run very well most of the time, which is good. It was kind of a kind of a kind of a you you you would wonder if it was gonna start the next time you'd get in it.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Does that vehicle still exist?

SPEAKER_00 13:30

It does not, it does not. It was a physical box truck, like a U-Haul truck, like uh, yeah, yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Not even a van. It was a box truck, yeah. Uh it was it was decked out for a billboard, essentially. You know, that's stations promoted themselves through guerrilla marketing and billboards. And you had an automatic billboard if you had a big box truck with your logo on it. So it did nothing to hurt.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

And I'm looking through my questions because I I know you're not on the point anymore. You have switch. When did that happen?

SPEAKER_00 13:57

Well, the goat went on in April of last year. So uh essentially I've been with the GOAT uh uh since then, uh, when the the the point changed from 105.3 to the 98.1, 983, 102.7. And you know, it's a little more active than it was at that point in time. It was more a little bit more of a mainstream rock at one point in time where it played some of the new stuff, it played some of the old stuff. So it it the the format was just a little bit different than it is now.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

And is there part two miss of being on the point?

SPEAKER_00 14:27

Probably the new music. I like some of the new music and some of it I don't like. So, but I like I like being that's kind of being in the rock today. So I kind of want to know what's going on today. I do listen to a lot of new music, so uh uh probably different music, but I like listening to music. That's probably what you know. I wanted to be on the radio, I like listening to music, I enjoyed music. I don't play, but I I've always enjoyed music and lots of different types of music.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

And I'm the same way I love listening to music, even though I'm not in my years of playing music.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

Yeah, I mean, I could go anywhere from John Coltrane to Kentucky Headhunters to I don't know, Metallica or even some of the harder stuff like that. So I did a metal show for five years. So I mean there there's there's bluegrass music that I enjoy. There's lots of different music that I enjoy.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

So yeah, because I have actually been listening to the local show, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Okay. All the local show that's on now. A lot of variety of that.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

Yeah, I've been listening all the way from Frankfurt because I want to know what's going on down in Belling Green because I'm just trying to stay educated because this podcast is supposed to be down in Belling Green, but it's not. I know you mentioned that you had a son on the spectrum. Am I correct?

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Yes, yes. He he's currently uh going to uh Dartmouth in New Hampshire. He's he's uh pretty much a joy in my life, and and uh I'm just very grateful that he's done as well as he has.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

And how was it being in radio while having a child on the spectrum?

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Well, I mean, we just tried to figure out what was the best way for him to move through things and and deal with things that he was dealing with because he would get frustrat very frustrated with lots of things, very high functioning. So I I I'm very thankful of that. But he was very, you had to direct him towards this. Okay. This is what we're doing, William, right now. And that's that's kind of how we would have to deal with a lot of that. But we we definitely went through lots of doctors and things like that to talk about ways to to help him to move him forward. And uh I'm very proud that he ended up sixth in his class when he graduated high school and ended up at Dartmouth. So I mean, he the one thing that he enjoys doing the most through uh high school was his uh academic team. He loved being on the academic team, and you know, that seemed an area where he excelled, went to nationals and and different different places they went over the years.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

And did he have a hard time going to events with you at any point while you were um he would he would get a little anxious more than anything else.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

So there would be a little, you know, it was a factor of okay, we need to stay in this area, we need to do this this way. And that's where we would have, you know, some issues, um, more just the the energy level. The energy level never quit was the issue more than anything else. It kept going and going and going. And I'm I'm tired. We kept going. That's that's basically what we ended up doing a lot of times with a lot of different events.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

And was the staff very accepting of you having a child on the spectrum?

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Absolutely, absolutely. Um, yeah, I don't think there was any anything different about William. William, William, we just would would kind of explain this is what's going on, William, and he would kind of understand what environment he was getting into, and we just managed that environment in a lot of ways.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Because I know from doing two different internships, it's hard in trying to teach staff a being on this spectrum because I will say my second internship was a little bit harder than my first.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

Okay. Um, I don't know necessarily if people understand a lot of it, and it is a it's a it's a social thing that that people don't understand a lot of times either, that you deal with things differently in a social environment. And I think that's the and the environments change, and some people aren't aren't willing to accept that. I'm I'm gonna do it my way, and that's it's tough, is what you'll get a lot of times with some people, and that's not necessarily the case. You try to the way I always look at look look at working with people is you try to work the best you can with the other person, no matter what what issues they have.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

And has William been introduced to any of the new staff since um the merger has happened?

SPEAKER_00 18:30

Yes, yes. He's he's been he's been in the building, he's been down here. Um, right now he is pursuing government and earth sciences, so he's looking to get involved with that. Um, his he has got a big travel bug. He just came back from Peru over his spring break. He went to Peru by himself. So he has accomplished a lot in his life. I put that travel bug in him because I like to travel too. But he's learned to to travel by himself, manage his issues himself, which he understands at points in time that certain things will make him make worry him or bother him, and that he knows that he needs to deal with that in a certain way.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

In like, has he ever had like a moment where he's completely lost it while in public?

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Oh, yes. Oh yes. I mean, that's that that happens. We're uh more on the younger age than the older age, but yes, in a sense of uh I'll tell you something recently. So just dealing with cars. Okay. So cars, you know, I told him you have to get your car fixed. If you don't get your car fixed, then your car is gonna break down. You need to keep up with the maintenance on your car. So he let the car go till the car wasn't gonna work anymore. And he's he's he's balling, he's on the side of the road. The car is, I was like, just tow the car. I was like, you, you, you, you, the you blown up the car, essentially. You know, you're not gonna get here or there or wherever you need to go. You're just gonna have to calm down, you're gonna have to be patient and wait for somebody. And that's really that's hard for him. Well, I gotta do this. No, here's where you are. You let the car blow up. So now you got to deal with it. So so that's that's where as an older, an older person now, an adult now, who just turned 21, that's that's that's things he's gonna have to learn to deal with. But I I try to work him through those things and say, hey, you gotta you gotta do this.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Do you think he'll ever come back to Kentucky and possibly like do something like life works or no?

SPEAKER_00 20:18

No, I don't, I don't, I don't think he'll come back to Kentucky. I don't think he has the interest in coming back to Kentucky. I think he sees, you know, but he has bigger ambitions on, you know, in what he wants to do. And I think he'll be in a city somewhere. I I do, just in the just in what he's looking at. I mean, either in a governmental case, you know, uh, we've talked about him doing small government and going so maybe in that world, but I don't know. I think he he wants to be in a little bit bigger area than than we're in here. Bowling Green would be okay, but Glasgow, I would say no.

SPEAKER_01 20:47

I'm gonna ask this. Do you think South Central Kentucky is autism friendly?

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Um, I I don't know how much people are educated about autism in a lot of ways. I think it's getting better than it was, but overall, um the the city of Bowling Green, more more likely in the city versus versus the counties versus the smaller, smaller towns.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Did your guys' hometown of Glasgow ever have any issues with you having a child on the spectrum?

SPEAKER_00 21:16

No, no, because um, you know, even through high school, you know, he was he was designated as that. And uh we talked to counselors and he talked to counselors and we tried to manage that that situation. So no, the high school he went to was great for that. I will I will say stellar things about Glasgow High School where he graduated from. They were they were they took care of him and uh they they met his needs of what he needed needed to do with school and how he needed to manage that.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

And do you think uh Dartmouth has been the same way?

SPEAKER_00 21:46

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. They they have lots of programs out there, lots of social support uh at Dartmouth for him. So I I don't think he has any any issues there. And he's in probably one of his favorite places world. Working, which he he loves maps and he loves traveling, and he works in a map room for his job at school. So, I mean, he's living his best life, is the way I look at it in a lot of ways.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

Okay. Did you ever look at the Kelly Autism program when he was looking at colleges?

SPEAKER_00 22:15

No, no. He he decided where he wanted to go to school, and basically he went through a we we traveled uh 3700 miles. It would have been in 2022 in my car to look at 13 different colleges that he wanted to go to. So he had already, you know, said in 11th grade year, I'm gonna go to the I'm gonna go here. And his number one pick was Middlebury, but it was in the aspect of what they would offer financially for him to be there, was more than that, you know. I mean, pretty much.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

Okay. I'm just asking that because I was only given one option when I was looking at college back in 2016, 2017.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

Okay. Yeah, I mean, he was like I said, his academics were very he did a great job with all his academic stuff. You know, I think the the the academic team helped him out with a lot of that. I do, but yeah, he went and looked at 13 different colleges. He he just applied at him. He he wanted to go on the road and look at them. I mean, that was him. So it was just, I wanted to look at this college, this college, this college, this college. My other one is kind of the same way and not on the spectrum, as far as I know. Okay. We've never tested the other one.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

So I will say I was the polar opposite. I was only allowed to look at two colleges.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Okay. Yeah, he didn't want to stay in state. He did apply to state colleges. Um, he went through the governor scholars program. My other one's going to the governor scholars program this summer. We've already looked at a couple different schools for him. Again, high aspirations on his point too, but his GPA is great too. So, I mean, that's part of it too. The the opportunities are there, but they they've worked very hard to get to those opportunities. I mean, in a lot of ways. They've done a great job. That's all. That's all I mean. I I'm so proud of, proud of, proud of William and proud of his brother too.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

Oh, I was gonna ask about how how has the transition been with going from Commonwealth to um Seven Mountains media, if you feel like talking about that.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Yeah, sure. It's it's been great. It's very, it's very interesting coming in here and working against these folks for 27 years. And uh they're radio people. We're all radio people. We all love this industry. We all want to try to make this industry better. We all want to try to do the best on the air. And that's always the way that I've always looked at it. And everybody in this building is no different than the people I worked with over there that they they want to do their best to do the best job they can do too, to be a part of this industry, to be creative. And that's what I that's what I see here too. So in that in that world, no, not a whole, not a whole lot of difference. It it people are people in this industry are we're very we're very odd just overall.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

Why why I asked this is because it was very talked about in the media. I was asked questions by other people. It was even brought all the way down to Frankfurt of like, is it gonna go well? Was what I got asked.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

Sure. And it's it's it's also how people deal with with their environment too. So, you know, obviously environment changes and you you have to deal with different personalities going from one place to the other. You know, maybe you are familiar with those other personalities, but you know, life changes and you have to deal with those changes. I mean, just straight up. Or or you don't. One of the two. I mean, you you have two choices, or you don't go, you you go work somewhere else. But what what I what I've taken on here is you know, there's a lot of great radio people in this building, and I enjoy being here.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Was there anybody you grew close with other than the people that you came with?

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Uh, in a sense of the the people in the the radio, the other radio group.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:39

Yeah. I mean, I you work with somebody that long, and and a lot of those folks I've worked with that long. So yeah, I mean, I I'm close with them. I still talk to them. They're you know, they're friends because I've known them that long. It's it doesn't really change any of that. I mean, if we're competitors on the air, that's different to me.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

Any person you've enjoyed working with in the new building?

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Well, I could say, you know, I I enjoy working with Dan Jackson. He's got a lot of creative knowledge uh in the production group, and that's that's where I am most of the day. Of course, Alan Austin and and Andy, uh, you know, those guys I see in the afternoons every day. So as a whole, I would say right there, you know, right off the bat, you know, people on air, those would be the people on air because those are the folks I deal with, you know, are most of the time on the air at the same time I am.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

And I know Bratcher's death was so sudden. How did that go? Because Andy's kind of told me a little bit about it, but we didn't go into too much detail about that.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

Yeah, he, you know, it was a conversation before the weekend. So, you know, I mean, it basically happened over a weekend. And the conversation before the weekend was, you know, I'm not feeling good. I'm going, I'm okay. Well, have you gone to the doctor? No. I'm just like, well, you may want to go get that checked out. And then, you know, the next thing we know, he has some issues, and the issues are, you know, cardio, pulmonary, and stuff that's probably a little genetic too in his family. I didn't know he was dealing with any of that at all, but you know, it's healthcare is very expensive, and you know, it's it's one of those things that we need to fix overall, and I think there's you know ways to do that. It's it's not a very good situation right now overall uh in that in that world.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

And did it break you walking in on a Monday knowing that he was gone?

SPEAKER_00 27:22

I I it it was just such a a sudden thing that happened. I I really don't know, and I don't think it's done in the sense of dealing with him and the situation because really there's still not closure at this point to be realistic to that, because we're having an event for him coming up, and I don't really think there'll be any kind of closure until that point, for me at least. So I still think about it, I still look around, I go, wow, okay, he's not there.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

It's like, did you like not touch his desk at all? Was a lot of his stuff still there?

SPEAKER_00 27:57

He he didn't have a lot, he didn't have a lot of stuff in this building at all. He didn't he had a few things on his desk, not not very many things, you know. He didn't sit at his desk a whole lot, I mean he was in the studio a whole lot when he was here. So his desk was not his desk and my desk were very different in what's what's on our desk. I mean, mine's a lot of this junk that I collect. And you know, he just had a few things on his desk and he didn't sit at his desk a whole lot. So that was that was not the place he sat. It was there, but yeah, uh as he you he didn't use it now.

SPEAKER_01 28:25

Somebody was in the studio and he'd go back and sit there for a few minutes, but because I know when when it happened, because actually we had a piece of equipment die like going into that weekend. Bratcher died. I think it's interesting of like when spirits like leave the earth, like they'll go mess with stuff. I was telling Andy about this. I don't know if you heard that.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

Oh, I I I didn't.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

Yeah, I we had a piece of equipment die on a Friday night, and by Tuesday we heard Bratcher high past.

SPEAKER_00 28:59

Gremlins is what he would say. He would say gremlins are in it. He would that's what he would always say. Something goes wrong. All right, gremlins in there, so I think the gremlin is him or it's uh his bird watching. He used to always watch the birds. He would, he would, uh he had a little bird, bird bath out in his backyard and he would go, he had a little bird app on his phone, he would try to listen to all the different birds out there. So I always wonder if I always wonder if his reincarnation is a bird. Because I've got lots of birds around my house. So I always hear birds chirping, and I he's always told me to get the bird app. I've never got it. I have all kinds of birds around my house. I probably should get it for that reason to determine how many birds there are around there. But I always wonder if, you know, if that's if that's him and and the bird, you know, because he he loved those birds.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

And did y'all ever think of taking a break from the local local show when he passed?

SPEAKER_00 29:44

No, not really. Um, because that was something that he was so passionate about doing that that needed to roll. He was very passionate about local music, he was very passionate about putting those artists on the air. And no, that needed that needed to roll on just for that reason.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

Because I know people would ask of why wouldn't you take like a one-week break? Because usually when big things happen, people take breaks.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Well, I think we took a break because it was Thanksgiving, because Thanksgiving was the next week. So it was probably after the week of Thanksgiving that that show came back. It it probably was gone that week because that was probably, yeah. It I think we were on that Thursday, and then we were off the following Thursday. So we came back and we talked about it a little bit that week, and then we we took a break for Thanksgiving and kind of reorganized a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

And did you ever think that you would be the one kind of co-running it?

SPEAKER_00 30:35

No, not really. And he didn't want Bratcher, didn't want me co-running it. So him and I had very different ideas on things a lot of times. So um, no, I I did. I did. You know, he brought Andy in there for the reason that Andy is the younger guy that goes through the shows on the street. I'm the older guy. I go out to a few, but not not not like I used to at all. So as you get as you get older, you you you tend to go less to things like that. You have lots of other, I don't know, uh, home stuff to do, and just, you know, I have kids and there's just different things to do that I do. So I want to be in their time too while they're there, while they're while they're with me here and they're not in college. Um, that's the way I look. I've always looked at that.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

And how many years has the local local show been going on?

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Well, the local show has been on, I'm trying to think. So we're we're looking at probably because Cody Meek was the first one on there. So that would have been like 2000, maybe. And I did it for a little while. Bratcher was in a he was in Elizabeth Town and Barge Town, and then he took it over. I'm trying to think, late, he's been on it for 2008, maybe 2009, somewhere in that range. So I'm trying to think how long ago. I I do not remember the exact dates because I did it for a little while too, and then came back off of it. So I'm sorry, I'm not exactly sure on those dates, but it is only three people have done it. So Cody did it, I did it, and then Bratcher did it. And Bratcher did it for the majority of the time.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

And it sounded like he was he was going to retire from it and pass it on, if I'm understanding correctly.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Well, I don't know that he wanted somebody on there with him that was going to see some of the bands that he was going out to watch some of the some of the bands, but not as much. Like I said, you know, he would go watch bands occasionally, but it wasn't it wasn't every weekend or every other weekend, you know, exposing new bands. So that was kind of the reason to put Andy on it too, because Andy is out doing that in Bowling Green where most of the bands are playing.

SPEAKER_01 32:26

And do you feel you and Andy get along?

SPEAKER_00 32:29

Yes. Oh, yes, I do.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Okay. Because like I listen and I'm like, it goes pretty well with him and you from listening since you two took it over.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I I I think there there are things that we can do to, you know, expand it a little bit. And we've talked about different things like that too. So I mean it's it's you know, everything's a work in progress, is the way I look at it. So you want to try to improve what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

And what would you like to see the local show doing going forward? Any secrets you want to reveal?

SPEAKER_00 33:02

More interviews. I think we need to do some more interviews. I think both of us need to do more interviews. I think it needs to expand a little bit, you know, regionally it needs to expand a little bit with some of the bands, so you don't have the same bands on every week. So you want to have a variety of stuff on there, you know, and whether that's Louisville, Nashville, Elizabethtown, Frankfurt, I mean, Lexington. I mean, there's bands there. I, you know, I went out and saw a band out of Lexington uh a couple weekends ago. There are bands that can be on there from different places where you could get an interview, you know, via this way podcast or whatever, you know. Uh, and that's kind of where that's kind of where I'd like to see it go. So we have some more content, content that people are going to tune into. That's that's really what we're trying to do with radio.

SPEAKER_01 33:41

Yeah, I know. That's pretty cool. And do you do you have any memories with hanging out with Bratcher by chance that you would like to mention?

SPEAKER_00 33:52

Uh well, I um I'm you know, that dark new day, I had already mentioned that a little bit earlier where we went to Nashville and saw that. You know, that that was that was a that was a big memory. Um, I remember going with him to see Sunvolt in Nashville in the 90s, and we went to the Exit Inn. You know, we used to like to go to some concerts, Blackstone Cherry up in Covington. You know, we went to a few shows together, went to some local shows together too. One of the last ones I remember going to him was over here at Tidballs before it closed in Bowling Green. So um with him, him and I were there, and Cody was there too.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

So never made it to Tidballs, yeah. And I and I lived in Bowling Green for about seven years.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

Yeah, that was a very interesting venue.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

And is there any local bands you're tired of playing?

SPEAKER_00 34:36

No, I mean we're here to promote the local bands. So I mean, it's not it's not in the sense of I could be tired of playing lots of bands, but that's not that's not why we're here in the same in the same of music as a whole, you know, uh, same songs, that kind of thing. You could be tired of the same songs, but we're here to to put something out for the community and something that they like, and that's really what it comes down to at the end of the day. So whether or not I I could go home and listen to my own stuff on my own, you know, computer or radio or whatever, you know, that's kind of the way I look at that. There's lots of places to get music. So we're here to provide a service and and we hope people enjoy what they're listening to. We want to entertain them. We hopefully make them laugh and and take their day somewhere else, other than seriousness. I mean, there's there's too much serious and awful stuff going on on the planet. Uh, you know, I I would rather take them someplace that's not there. You know, that's what I hope to do.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

It what was there any shows that died when the O Chi point like went away?

SPEAKER_00 35:33

Well, like like local kind of shows on the station as a whole?

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:37

No, not not not really at that point, other than the local show. So I mean, I think things had had kind of narrowed to that point. I mean, there hasn't been really a like a you know, like a m local metal show or anything like that on there in a while. So uh I did one at one point in time, but it's been a long time.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Would you like to see it come back?

SPEAKER_00 35:55

I don't know. I did like one week I would do a metal show and the other week I'd do an alternative show. I, you know, I mean, that could be something that I could do if I found interest in it or found the time to do it. There's lots of other things we could do, and there's lots of places for music. So, you know, it's definitely not something I would put off the table.

SPEAKER_01 36:12

Was it easy easy to transition from point to goat?

SPEAKER_00 36:16

Yeah, I mean, the the thing is the format on the goat did not change a whole lot from what the point was at that point in time. So the point was more classic rock. It was not that much different than the goat. Goat leans a little bit older. The the point at that uh when it when it was on 105.3 when it came over to this building was leaning a little bit newer, but it wasn't playing new music at that point in time either. So it hasn't been playing new music on the point since probably about 2014. That would be the 98.3 and the 98.1 frequency and all of that. That that basically took the new music in 2014.

SPEAKER_01 36:53

Okay. Because I did listen to a little bit of the original point before all this craziness happened.

SPEAKER_00 37:01

And the on 103.7. Yeah, on 103.7, yeah, the it it when it changed from 103.7 to 105.3, it did not play very much new music, and then basically the new music went away not that long after we had it on 105.3, so a couple years. And then it when we had the 98.1 and the 98.3, all the new music went there.

SPEAKER_01 37:21

And how I got pulled into doing this was Tony gave me homework to listen to some of the radio stations.

SPEAKER_00 37:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 37:30

Because yes, I have been introduced to some of the some of the local radio stations when I did do local radio internships.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 37:41

Are you a supporter of students doing local radio internships than possibly doing something like PBS?

SPEAKER_00 37:50

Oh, absolutely. I mean, whatever wherever they can get involved in doing radio and and different things involved with audio, they I I'm very supportive of that.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

What advice would you give to someone who's trying to make it in the radio industry?

SPEAKER_00 38:03

Learn a lot more than the radio industry. At this point in time, there's so many different ways, and this is a good way. Podcasting, a lot of the stars are coming out of podcasting and and different forms of uh broadcasting on the internet. There's lots of things out there like that that weren't out there when I started in radio at all. So I don't know if I would have gone that way at that point in time and maybe been on a different path, but you have to use all the resources that you have out there. There's a lot of free resources to use too. So you know, you be aware of that, be aware of you know, different opportunities, internships, and things like that that you can get into too.

SPEAKER_01 38:38

Because I'm always asking everybody this because uh everybody I've interviewed so far has had some impact on the autism community. Do you see yourself as an advocate?

SPEAKER_00 38:52

I I would see myself as an advocate. I I am I guess my the way I look at anything is as I will hopefully provide empathy and understand someone's situation. That's really the way I look at things. Uh that's whoever it is, you know, you you you've got to give them the time, you've got to talk to them, you know, and realize their situation. Don't be judgmental of their situation. You don't know what their situation is. That's that's the way I try to look at people overall.

SPEAKER_01 39:19

And I enjoyed talking with you. And where can people um look for you on social media, on the airwaves?

SPEAKER_00 39:28

Of course, they can go to the hearethgoat.com, they can go to the app, they can go to the website. Uh Axe on the radio. There's there's a Facebook page there. There's uh locals only with acts, there's a Facebook page there. I've got I've got a few I've got a few pages that I need to be more interactive with that I'm not as interactive with right now. So I get a little burned out on some of that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 39:50

Yeah, I do too. It's hard. It was great talking with you. I'm so glad you took time out of your day to do this. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 40:01

Thank you. Thank you, thank you for taking the time too.

SPEAKER_01 40:04

And this was a simple discussion.