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10 Questions with ... Joan Holiday
July 19, 2021
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
I started as a receptionist at WHCN/Hartford, worked my way up to on-air, volunteered doing a show at a great community station (WWUH Hartford)) for eight years for the love of it, and the rest of my career has been at two Triple A stations: WRNX/Amherst, MA and at WRSI for the last 11 years, where I’m now the PD.
1. How did you become interested in radio?
I needed a job, and got one as a radio station receptionist, even though I was studying art history, ha ha. Then I decided being on the air looked a lot more fun than being a receptionist. I was right: it is!
2. Congrats on 40 years! What are you doing to celebrate this great milestone?
Raising a glass! For 40 days! We’re also airing listeners’ recorded messages about the station, playing WRSI favorite music from the last 40 years and revisiting interviews we’ve done through our history. We’re also hosting a couple of concerts, including a great show with Winterpills and Rubblebucket!
3. How has the music on the station evolved over the past 40 years?
It used to be a bit folkier. We still play and love that stuff, but now we go from The Beatles to Jason Isbell to Big Mama Thornton to Silk Sonic to Beyonce to Wet Leg, and out in a hundred directions from those! And, of course, a lot of great LOCAL music and specialty shows! Our motto is Different Is Good. And it is.
4. How has Northampton evolved?
It’s not the scruffy up-and-coming arts town it was in the ‘80s … it’s a little more polished now. But Northampton is still an arts mecca, and we love being smack dab in the middle of it.
5. Do you anticipate a new way the station will operate considering what you have experienced and learned over the past year and a half?
We’re even MORE aware of our role in this vibrant community, and the responsibility we have for bringing people together, whether physically or just emotionally. We’ve reassessed what we do that is truly important and tweaked the things that might have needed tweaking; for instance, the value of a promotion must really be there for our listeners and clients before we go out on an appearance. We’re very clear about our mission and our legacy.
6. Now that the COVID restrictions are losing up, what annual events are you reviving at the station?
It’s great being part of the music scene again, and we’re jumping back in to being at local and regional shows like the Green River Festival.
7. Are venues and concerts picking up?
Yes, thank goodness! We all really missed them.
8. What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?
I believe in the power of music and connection. And I have always loved the people I work with.
9. What would surprise people most about you?
I prevailed in an encounter with a black bear, using my voice and my Kindle! And I love Ancestry.com.
10. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without … ?
… Coffee. Love. Quiet time on my front porch. Coffee.
Bonus Questions
First record ever purchased:
I inherited a LOT of albums and singles from my older sisters, but the first record I bought myself was A Night At The Opera by Queen (It was a great choice.)
Favorite band of all-time:
The best band in the entire universe, The Beatles, of course!
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time away from work?
Reading, swimming in lakes and rivers, traveling, hanging out with my husband and our family and friends.
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