10 Questions with ... Shannon Stone

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I have programmed Classic Rock in Arizona (KYJT) and Country at KKCS in Colorado Springs. I am currently programming True Country, one of four country formats that Dial Global provides to well over 500 country stations in the US, along with the Armed Forces Network around the world.

1) Your first music-related job was mixing at a club right out of high school, correct? Tell us about that experience. How did it first come about?

I won a contest held by the club for a spot on their DJ roster. That club started a career DJ-ing at some of the top clubs in Denver and in Hawaii. I was featured in several national magazines as one of the few female club jocks at the time. I was also one of the first to mix video and records in the club scene back in the '80s.

2) When did you first fall in love with music? Can you remember how old you were and what kind of stuff did you first gravitate towards?

I can remember being very young, four or five years old and sitting next to a big record console my mom and dad had growing up. Music was always on from the minute we got up and through out the day. All kinds of music from Jazz to Blues to Country. A big stack of vinyl that would be flipped over to play the other side midway through the day.

3) How did working in a club evolve into working in radio and how did you snag that first job?

I had an opportunity to do the weekend mix shows on KQKS in Denver. That evolved from spinning records and remixes on the weekends to talking on the show and later joining the morning show and middays as an on air personality.

4) So, how did you end up in Country?

I had an opportunity to come back to radio in Colorado after doing TV news in Arizona. It was more of a chance for me to come home and be around my family. If it would have been polka, I would have taken it - I was just lucky it was a PD position at the heritage Country station in Colorado Springs! Bonus!

5) At Dial Global you program True Country-what is the job description like?

Just like everyone these days -we wear a ton of hats, but this feels close to the way radio use to be. Those "good old days" everybody talks about still exist here in DG-land. It is really about the music and the personalities and cultivating that environment of creating great entertaining radio. I feel very lucky to be a part of the company.

6) There are 4 country formats that carry over 500 radio stations, plus Armed Forces Radio, correct? Tell us how that works and how do you interact with that many PDs?

True Country is the newest of the four Country formats provided by DG. We have about 60 stations across the country and continue to grow. Our Mainstream Country station is carried by the Armed Forces Network and bases around the world. I work with each True Country affiliate individually and see them as partners. It really takes a partnership on both ends of the satellite to make things run smoothly and I am just a phone call away.

7) Who have some of your mentors been both inside broadcasting or out, and how have they inspired you?

My biggest mentors and fans have been my mom and dad. From an early age they shared with us a love of music and an attitude of being able to do or be anything.

You always remember your first. My first PD was Dave Vanstone and he took a kid off the street and gave me a shot at radio. He is the reason why I wanted to program - he made it look so effortless and had created such a great environment for winning radio. I thought, I want to do what he does.

I followed John St. John (not in a creepy way) who was PD at KYGO. I watched for and try to emulate strong women in radio on many different formats - Mary Chavez (Cha Cha), Stacy Cantrell, Cheri Marquert, Lori Cobb, Penny Mitchell, Rashke, Jennifer Page and Becky Brenner.

There was a basic theme of being passionate about what they did and that made them good.

8) Do you still work in nightclubs at all as a mixologist, and do they still use vinyl?

Current club music is still being pressed on vinyl but fewer and fewer club jocks are dragging it around. I recently gave up on the multiple crates of vinyl and went for the ease of a laptop. I miss the art of the vinyl but no one knows on the dance floor -they just want to hear the music.

9) How many 12" singles do you have? When did you start collecting them?

I started collecting 12" singles in the '80s and I have lost count. Honestly. Every time I move I try to let a couple of boxes go, but it's tough. I am a record hoarder. All these songs are like little treasures and each song takes me back to a place and time.

10) What goals do you have for yourself for the next five years?

Dial Global has some amazing technology that I believe will be the future of radio. I hope to continue to be a part of the momentum here. I got lucky and I am doing what I really wanted to do when I grew up.

1) What's the worst club mix of a Country song that you've ever heard?

Achy Breaky Heart. I was working at KQKS, a dance station in Denver, when it crossed over.

2) What are your other hobbies outside of music?

Colorado is a hiking, biking outdoor mecca, so anything outdoors.

3) If you weren't in radio what would you be doing?

Trying to get into radio!