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10 Questions with ... Christian
December 10, 2019
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This week, we look back at 2019 with the best answers to some of our best questions.
Brad Moist
A&R
Gotee Records (1/25/19)
"I do think artists that know how to speak to the listener instead of speaking at the listener are serving and shaping our industry well. Ryan Stevenson, Tauren Wells, Darren Mulligan of We Are Messengers, Michael Cochren of Cochren & Co., I believe these artists know how to write songs that relate to the core, Christian music consumer-the pain they may be feeling and to remind them of the comfort in Christ. I do think radio will play a role in their success. Radio may not be the only thing they listen to and they may not listen to in the traditional sense, but I do believe they trust the brand of their preferred station to deliver and introduce to them music that is positive and uplifting."Tyler McKenzie
On-Air
WPOZ/Orlando (3/25/19)
'I decide I'm going to be encouraging and real. Sometimes those worlds don't mesh. Most of the time they don't. It's in the real that God always provides the encouragement. I pray each day that He would move me out of the way to work through us!Prayer and devotion is important to me. I try to start and end each day with both. I have an amazing co-host (that loves to make me crazy) and an incredible producer. We desire to honor God and have a blast while pointing people to His love. We genuinely like each other and feel grateful that we get to do what we do."
Beth Bacall
On-Air
WFSH/ATLANTA (5/6/19)
"My heartbeat is to make sure people know that they matter to God, that they are loved, no matter what. I'd like to be known for being a non-judgmental friend who is ready with a musical message, a good word and a side hug. Allowing God to guide me is my hearts desire; I always have a lot ideas and energy, and I want to work wisely. There isn't one thing God can't make happen with the CCM audience and the message in the music. This audience is passionate, caring, needy, helpful, fun, and willing the give back.I'm a dot connector that encourages consistently. God is able, available, and on the move, we just need to be willing and receive it. All are welcome, all are loved. My pastor Andy Stanley reminds us always to ask, 'what does love require of me?'"
Grant Hubbard
promotion
Grant Hubbard, LLC (5/20/19)
"Keep in mind, I had the privilege of working so many big-time artists: Steven Curtis Chapman, Newsboys, Chris Tomlin, Toby, Hillsong, Crowder and on and on. My favorite part of the business is launching an artist to radio, getting airplay, and watching the consumers respond. I'll hold onto those memories from several artists. Also, I've worked with some of the best people in this business. I stay in touch with people that worked for me in the 90s all the way to those I hired in the last couple of years. I'll hold those memories close and continue to build those friendships over the next chapter of my professional life."Rob Dempsey
PD/On-Air
HisRadio (6/10/19)
"A few things make radio worth getting up for every day: The passionate team I serve every day. Their drive is contagious. Driving into emerging technology. We need to be where they are and are going. Finally, the hope of helping someone like me find a relationship with Christ."Don Buettner
PD
WLAB/Fort Wayne (7/8/19)
"I value the fact that so much of the content we feature on Keep The Faith is impacting lives. It's amazing the stories we get from listeners all over the world. Personally, there have been numerous pieces and features that helped me through some dark times in my own life, more recently."Jen Mouttet
Jen Mouttet Promo (7/21/19)
"There is nothing more fun or professionally-rewarding than to be a part of an unexpected hit song. In our format, we have the unique distinction of having our "smash hits" change hearts and lives. Pretty incredible. It's pretty great to be a small cog in the wheel that contributes to that kind of impact."Chalmer Harper
MD
KSOS/Las Vegas (8/5/19)
"My hope is that I have offered Christian Radio friendship, peace, kindness, empathy, and compassion. As well as a little bit of dreaming, and fun along the way. I believe those things that I mentioned are strengths in leadership, and are vital to our industry."Erin Branham
WRBS/Baltimore
Promotions Dir. (8/12/19)
"I love that we get to be a light to a stressed out, hurting, chip-on-the-shoulder community. While the people in the Baltimore metro area may be tough, it's the tough people who need a lot of love and grace and need to know they don't have to be the ones to shoulder the burdens. I'm really excited at how our collective teams are all working together through our individual departments to create a unified message to encourage our listeners wherever they are and however they are choosing to interact with our station - online, social media, events, text, streaming, email, etc."Dan Sheldon
WCTL/Erie
PD/On-Air (8/19/19)
"Most of my adult life, I was addicted to sex and porn. To the point it was all I ever thought about. In October 2008, I heard a voice say to me while looking at hardcore porn: 'This isn't how you are going to be a good husband or father someday.' I clicked off the Internet that day. A few days later, I went on a train ride with a couple of friends who are born again Christians. On our way home, we stopped at a place to eat and I unloaded on them all about my addictions. My friend Debbie said, 'All you have to do is confess your sins to Jesus and accept Him as your savior.' I looked at her and said 'I think I just did.'
From that moment, I have been fighting against my porn addiction. It is now in my heart to help men with the same struggles. I go to weekly meetings of Celebrate Recovery where I have become an accountability partner to a couple guys. I do prison ministry twice a month with many men who are in on sex charges. I did a mission trip to a porn convention in Denver with XXXChurch where we talked to people in the industry and convention goers about how much Jesus loves them. We made shirts that said "Jesus loves porn stars" and handed them out.
I also have a vision for Erie where I go in to porn shops and strike up relationships with those who work there. I want to help people who are in the shops that want help, like I did when I was going to those places. That isn't happening right now, but it will in God's timing."Libby Carver
PD/On-Air
WBSN/New Orleans (8/26/19)
"Growing up, we were always listening to music. Every weekend, we'd pile in the car and drive around to open houses, and we'd always have Dad's stations on as our soundtrack. So, I guess I'd say listening. It sounds so simple, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to tune out your own station.Another thing my dad tended to come back to was to not be afraid to break the rules. He'd say, 'Do something unexpected.' He loved providing people with moments of surprise and delight, and I think that's always stuck with me.
Troy West
KSBJ/Houston
PD (9/9/19)
"I manage great talent. I give them guard rails and step out of the way. I let my people do their job. I let them be creative and cheer when they win. I protect my people from outside annoyances and people who demand their time."Rodney Miller
MD
KFSH/Los Angeles (9/23/19)
When January 2011 rolled around, I was still out of radio. That's when I really started wondering if my radio career had finally come a close. I vividly remember driving up I-80 towards Reno, NV and saying out loud, "I will go wherever the radio road takes me, but if this is the end of the road, it's been a great career."
Four months later, I got an unexpected call from Chuck Tyler, the Program Director at Salem Media Group in LA, asking if I would be interested in joining them as the Fish Morning Show producer.
In April 2011, I was hired; but then I spent the next 14 months commuting between LA and Sacramento every week. I would leave my house in Sacramento on Sunday afternoons and drive to LA for the work week. I'd either spend the night at a hotel, or crash on a friend of a friend's couch or sleep in the backseat of my Hyndai Accent hatchback in the gated garage next to the radio station.
Once again, I was living the radio dream....Looking back now, it was the hardest decision to make at that time."Brant Hansen
The Brant Hansen Show Host
CURE International (9/30/19)
"...My operational definition of wisdom is 'knowing the relative value of things': what matters, what doesn't. What matters a lot, what kinda matters but not that much.
I think peace matters a lot. Being joyful. Being humble, above all things. And enjoying the people I come across during the day.
And smooching my wife.
Life is a vapor, and things start simple and then get complex. But I think if we keep growing up, they get a lot simpler again, you know?
Jesus loves me, this I know. So let's find something to laugh about."
Candice Grey
MD/On-Air
WNWC/Madison (10/7/19)
"Madison is unique in that Christians do not fit into any other specific groups. We obviously don't dive into politics on air, but I would say Christians in Madison are all over the map in that realm. Which I love. You can't assume that when Jesse and Aaron call in to give a gift during Sharathon that Jesse is a woman. You can assume that if you play Matthew West's 'Unplanned,' you will get letters for and against the message. Madison is all over the map and I love that we're able to have loving, meaningful conversations with people with so many different perspectives."
Keith Stevens
KTIS/Minneapolis
PD/On-Air (10/21/19)
"I think my on-air personality has always correlated with who I am. I often think, though, that the era of my career that truly reflects 'Keith Stevens' is the one that I am in currently. Contemporary Christian is who I really am. Where I can really be myself on the air and share my life. This is it. As often as we think we could try or do different formats, this is the one format where I am totally true to myself and the listeners. So, I think I'm the most adventurous now. And that's why I think it's been so successful."
Ali Storm
WLFJ/Greenville, SC
On-Air (10/28/19)
"Three years and eight months after announcing our plans to adopt, we are finally traveling to meet our daughter! We're adopting a beautiful four year old from Burundi. It's been a long journey, but my prayer has always been that I'm not the same person at the end as I was when we began in 2016. I've run four full marathons and read War and Peace; but nothing compares to the feeling of crossing this finish line!"Sarah Shinn
National Promotions Mgr.
Fair Trade Services (11/04/19)
"'I Have This Hope' by Tenth Avenue North was a particularly personal song for me to work. My aunt, Beth, had been diagnosed with cancer around the same time I heard that song for the first time in its demo stage and I immediately knew it was her story. It was actually a very difficult single for me to work because by the time it was a single, Beth's health was declining and during that time the song became my lifeline for sure. On the other side of it, it brings me such joy to see the impact that song had on me, my family, and tons of other Christian radio listeners."Taylor Hohulin
PD/On-Air
KNWI/Des Moines (11/22/19)
"The light went off about two weeks into my senior year of high school. I thought I wanted to go into sports medicine as a physical therapist/personal trainer, but then I took high school anatomy and realized there are far too many bones in the human body for me to memorize them all. Once I realized all those memory slots in my brain were occupied by Ghoti Hook and Ace Troubleshooter lyrics, I started thinking about going into radio. I'd fallen into some speech competitions and done fairly well, and the college I was looking at - John Brown University - had a Broadcasting program where you got to work at this Dove Award-winning radio station KLRC. The rest is history. The draw to Christian radio just felt natural. Music was such a big influence on my faith and on my life that I wanted to be part of giving these artists a platform to share a life-changing message in such a fun way." -
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