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10 Questions with ... Lori Bennett
February 25, 2019
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. The usual. Couldn't sing very well or play an instrument and was completely obsessed with music, plus the people on the air who talked about music. Thought it was a great way to meet boys and/or musicians. Note to parents: If your daughter is motivated by the above, just know she will bring broke-a** artists and/or air personalities home to "crash for a few days"
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Total Midwest girl! Most of which working on-air and/or programming in Detroit at heritage stations and calls such as WNIC-FM, WDVD-FM, WJR-AM, WDRQ-FM. Blessed to move to one of the GREATEST growing cities in the U.S.A., Grand Rapids, MI.
1. How did you become interested in radio?
The usual. Couldn't sing very well or play an instrument and was completely obsessed with music, plus the people on the air who talked about music. Thought it was a great way to meet boys and/or musicians. Note to parents: If your daughter is motivated by the above, just know she will bring broke-a** artists and/or air personalities home to "crash for a few days."
2. How did the discussions within the company come around to launching a Triple A station in Grand Rapids?
The commonalities between the Ann Arbor market, with our heritage Triple A WQKL, and the evolution of the lifestyle in the Grand Rapids market was just so obvious. The sold-out summer concert series at Fredrik Meijer Gardens alone this past year with Brandi Carlisle, The Decemberists, Blondie, Michael Franti & Spearhead etc, was an awfully big wakeup call. Here's all these fabulous bands with these amazingly engaged fans and no real place to call home. Not to mention a continuously growing local music and arts scene in West Michigan.
3. How would you describe the music mix you are striving for on the station?
I'll let the feedback from the audience describe it: "New and different, plus oldies for millennials like the Talking Heads and Counting Crows(?!)" "The GOOD music I've been missing on from Beck and Vampire Weekend." "You're like my Spotify, the artists I love with suggestions for tracks I never heard before, but you're better because you're playing classics. Too." "All ages at my house and you always surprise us" "R.E.M hasn't been played in West Michigan in 10 years ... thanks."
4. What new artists are most interested in?
Matt Maeson just left the building after an interview as I'm writing this, so.....
5. Do you have a live air staff yet?
Yes! And yes! They're having SO much fun.
6. What is your biggest challenge at the station?
Personally? Time. Just ... time. Everything else is GOOD.
7. Can you clarify - will the calls revert back to WKLQ?
Already has!
8. Tell us about the Grand Rapids market.
Growing, thriving, burgeoning, incredible, classic and inspirational. And populated by the most philanthropic, nicest people you will ever meet. Worst drivers, though. Pedestrian? You're doomed.
9. What's the best piece of advice anyone's ever given you? The worst?
"Live in the moment. Most people don't get to do what we do." "You'll never make it in radio, especially with that Michigan accent, you should just go home and have babies." I KNOW! #beforelawyers
10. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ...
Coffee. Coffee. Then wine. Then coffee.
Bonus Questions
Last non-industry job:
Library job in high school.
First record ever purchased:
I never bought anything. I swiped all my friends.
First concert:
I wasn't allowed to go to concerts growing up (!). How'd that work out for us long-term, MOM??? LOL
Favorite band of all-time:
I seriously change this every day depending on mood. Overall, it's cliché I'm sure, but ... the Beatles. Everything in current music, it all goes back to The Beatles. Even if you don't like them. you have to respect.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time away from work?
Insert ROFL emoji for "spare time away from work." The hours between 8p and 10p you will find me in my kitchen as a side hustle chef; cooking healthy meals for my busy GR friends to have in their freezers. All while blasting the Q. Or one of my other fabulous nine stations.
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