10 Questions with ... Jessie Scott

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I've spent 46 years in the biz this week, starting at WDVE, the ABC owned-and-operated legacy Rocker in Pittsburgh. Then New York City for 10 years at WHN and WNBC. After that came the Odyssey years, to L.A., Connecticut, Florida and Nashville, before landing in D.C. at XM Radio in 2000. Took the buy-out and started Music Fog in 2009 for Americana music discovery. Made my way to Austin and became MD at Sun Radio, got headhunted by Hill Country Barbecue in New York to book their three venues. A year-and-a-half ago, I drove to Nashville to start a new chapter. I launched the CDX TRACtion Texas/Red Dirt Chart a year ago. WMOT signed on with our new Americana format in conjunction with Music City Roots in September.

1. How did you become interested in radio?

My earliest memories are of radio and music. Back then, there were no women on the radio. It was the only thing I wanted to do, so I found a way.

2. Who are your mentors?

Bill Tanner, E. Alvin Davis, Dwight Douglas, Cary Pall, Lee Abrams. There have been so many people who have helped me along the way.

3. Tell us about WMOT and the its signal reach.

WMOT is a listener-supported NPR affiliated radio station with a huge signal. It is one of only two 100,000-watt FM stations in Nashville. We broadcast from the Alabama border to Bowling Green, KY, covering a wide swath of middle Tennessee. We are actually the most powerful music signal in Nashville.

4. Tell us about its affiliation with World Cafe.

We are proud to provide a home base in Nashville for World Cafe on the air. The show has such an incredible tastemaker legacy, and we get to bring that to a city that has music woven into its fabric. Recently, World Cafe began doing Nashville-based shows, and we are delighted to be able to help them promote them and to be a partner for those initiatives.

5. For those that have never heard the station, how would you describe the sound of the station?

We dig into decades of Americana music, from even before it was named that. We mix organic sounds, including Blues and Gospel with swaggering Roots Rock, honest singer-songwriter, and edgy Americana. It is real music, made by artists not stars, many of whom live in Nashville. I like to say we don't just play songs, we play careers.

6. How do you feel about the current climate of music?

There is so much good music out it makes my head spin. Our job is to curate a lifestyle choice for the audience, keeping our finger on today's pulse while we play cool stuff from the past 20 years or so of Americana history.

7. Who are some of your on-air personalities?

John Walker does mornings. He is the Executive Producer of Music City Roots, which we carry live on Wednesday nights. Mid-morning is Keith Bilbrey from WSM and the Grand Ol' Opry. Early afternoons is Whit Hubner, who has been in the market for a couple of decades. John Patrick just joined us from WNKU for weekends. Craig Havighurst is our music journalist, and I do afternoon drive.

8. What would surprise people most about the station?

We have so many students and recent grads doing all kinds of things in association with the radio station. It is a blast teaching them, and it makes for a rewarding and energizing environment.

9. What has been your biggest career highlight?

There have been so many moments, it is hard to single one out. I will say, I am so happy to still be loving what I get to do. It has been a wild, up close view of American popular culture through music for all its crazy twists and turns through these 46 years.

10. If you wanted to completely change careers today, what would you do?

No clue.

Last non-industry job:

I sold paint and wallpaper in 1967

First record ever purchased:

Jerry Lee Lewis, "Great Balls of Fire"

First concert:

Rolling Stones 1964 at Academy of Music in NYC

Favorite band of all-time:

Stones

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time away from work?

Traveling, digging into the history and ethos of a place.