One very happy memory- Meeting Johnny Cash.
Julie and I watched Walk the Line (again) last night and it reminded me of the fact that I was fortunate enough to meet Johnny Cash and to shake his hand.
One of the best times of my life was working at a Country radio station in Lansing, Michigna: WITL 100.7. I worked there as an advertising salesperson. This was before the ownership of media was deregulated - back then WITL was a big family owned by a small group of investors. Some of the sales staff had been there over 10 years (rare in radio) and our sales manager, Bill Pacelli, had been there over 25 years.
The GM of the station was Greg Capogna and he was a frustrated musician, so he spent some serious money outfitting a house band for the station: The WITL-ometers. We had some great talent at the station, Johnny D played a mean lead guitar and A J Wilson was a good front man. I got hired in as the sound man after the second gig.
Because WITL was a powerhouse station in the area, Greg leveraged this fact into getting the band to open for many big acts when they would play in the area (Tim McGraw, John Berry, Faith Hill, etc.) I would get to take the day off from my sales duties and drive the WITL van and matching trailer full of sound equipment to the gig, set it up run the show and tear it all down.
One year we got to open for Johnny Cash at the Michigan Festival on the campus of MSU. What a treat. I remember that the crew for Johnny Cash were some of the most mellow people I had ever worked with - some of them had worked for the songwriting legend for 20 years or so. They even let us use their drum kit (both drummers were left handed) and it saved all of us a lot of time and energy.
Anyway, I was pulling cable and setting up the stage and went down to the back stage area and BOOM - there he was. Johnny Freakin' Cash. That was certainly a thrill and a moment I will always remember.
One of the best times of my life was working at a Country radio station in Lansing, Michigna: WITL 100.7. I worked there as an advertising salesperson. This was before the ownership of media was deregulated - back then WITL was a big family owned by a small group of investors. Some of the sales staff had been there over 10 years (rare in radio) and our sales manager, Bill Pacelli, had been there over 25 years.
The GM of the station was Greg Capogna and he was a frustrated musician, so he spent some serious money outfitting a house band for the station: The WITL-ometers. We had some great talent at the station, Johnny D played a mean lead guitar and A J Wilson was a good front man. I got hired in as the sound man after the second gig.
Because WITL was a powerhouse station in the area, Greg leveraged this fact into getting the band to open for many big acts when they would play in the area (Tim McGraw, John Berry, Faith Hill, etc.) I would get to take the day off from my sales duties and drive the WITL van and matching trailer full of sound equipment to the gig, set it up run the show and tear it all down.
One year we got to open for Johnny Cash at the Michigan Festival on the campus of MSU. What a treat. I remember that the crew for Johnny Cash were some of the most mellow people I had ever worked with - some of them had worked for the songwriting legend for 20 years or so. They even let us use their drum kit (both drummers were left handed) and it saved all of us a lot of time and energy.
Anyway, I was pulling cable and setting up the stage and went down to the back stage area and BOOM - there he was. Johnny Freakin' Cash. That was certainly a thrill and a moment I will always remember.
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