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10 Questions with ... Dave Jackson
February 22, 2022
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. “Alternative is a tough sell in the South, so we tend to stick with guitar driven new music and heavy emphasis on familiar gold cuts.”
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1. How many years have you been with the station now and what are you most proud of?
18 years. I would say the thing I am most proud of is the nominations in the past for Small Market Alternative Station of the Year by industry trades like the old Radio & Records, and how consistently KXNA has been one of the highest rated Alternative stations in the South/Southwest, especially at a time when so many stations in the format in our region have dropped out and changed format.
2. The station’s former owner Steve Butler passed away. Tell us about the new owner Elizabeth Marquis and how you have been able to keep The X 104.9 intact.
Elizabeth has kept a hands-off approach to The X, why mess with success.
3. It was a solid Fall ‘21 Book for the station. Tell us about the latest ratings and why The X 104.9 has been a successful Alternative station?
Alternative is a tough sell in the South, so we tend to stick with guitar driven new music and heavy emphasis on familiar gold cuts.
4. In 2020, you brought back station vet Jason Hines aka “The Roach Motel.” What led to the reunion?
We brought Roach back into the mix to Afternoon Drive after moving our previous Afternoon Drive team to Morning Drive.
5. Tell us about the rest of the on-air staff at The X 104.9.
Mornings are anchored by the AMX which is hosted by Branden Lee, who I hired and developed into a morning talent right after I arrived at KXNA. And we end the day strongly with one of the best talents around Jeff Mrozek who had previously worked for me in Albany, NY.
6. So, the music is more guitar driven on The X. Give us the 411 on the imaging on the station.
Over the years we have used an outstanding local female voice talent Mareike Hornick for our imaging, she has done work for Howard Stern, XM Radio and WTMX/Chicago. That mixed with the outstanding stuff from Frostbytes.
7. How would you describe yourself as a programmer?
I would say my style of programming would be to create great conditions for on-air talent to experiment a little, and not be beat over the head constantly with formatics. I would much rather have an on-air talent I had to reel-in than one I had to push.
8. What part of your job do you love the most?
The part I love the most is still the music. I love seeing and hearing from listeners who are excited about music they've just discovered. I watched young teenagers this past Summer go nuts over old Sublime songs at a show of theirs, and turning my 80 year old father on to one of the latest Black Keys songs "Going Down South."
9. What would surprise people most about you?
I would say some people after they meet me are surprised at how much I love the sporting outdoors.... duck hunting, flyfishing....
10. What do you remember most from meeting the late-great Jack Buck in the elevator when you were 7 years old?
The thing I remember most about Jack Buck was the kindness he showed me for that brief ride down the floors, the very act of just introducing himself and asking if i was going to the game today and who my favorite player was, what position I played.....guy was a class act and just the meeting set something in motion for me and this career, the only job I've ever had.
Bonus Questions
You previously used to go flyfishing with Steve Butler in the Florida Keys. Give us the story on what led you to become a radio station owner in Key West, Florida and tell us about Barefoot Radio.
Steve and I signed on WXKW in Key West in 2010. I first came to Key West for one of my younger brother’s wedding in 1994, I remember driving thru the old historic part of town and thought how fun it would be to do radio here, sorta like John Corbett's character in the TV show Northern Exposure but at the Southernmost point. The serendipity of that moment, and the last 12 years of owning that station, is what makes life great.
How often do you get back home and what are your top priorities when you go back to Missouri?
I get back to Missouri and Louisiana to see family mostly and to take in a St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, or New Orleans Saints game.
Favorite new band over the past year?
My favorite new band over the past year isn't necessarily new really but I love the stuff CAAMP is doing.
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