10 Questions with ... Jamie Canfield

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Started in radio at University of Alaska, Fairbanks commercial station KSUA in 1982. Left Fairbanks in 1988 to explore the music scene of Boston, working at Rounder Records and Rykodisc before leaving for Buffalo and working for Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records. The day after 9/11, I interviewed with the great Jody Peterson at WNCS in Montpelier, Vermont where I stayed until leaving in 2010 after a blowout with PD Zeb Norris (imagine that). I moved to Ketchum in June of 2010 and by July 5th, I was made PD of KSKI-FM where I stayed until September of 2019 when I received an e-mail that I no longer worked there. Three days later, I was at KDPI, the local community station that Mike Scullion started back in 2012 helping out, and have been here ever since.

1. How did you become interested in radio?

I fell in love with radio listening to Wolfman Jack, who you could pick up on a good night in Anchorage if you tweaked the antenna on my little AM radio just right. I have always been connected to music, and radio seemed to be the way to keep that connection. Plus, I always wanted to be Dr. Johnny Fever.

2. Tell us about your days on the label side.

Luckily, I got to work for some of the best independent labels out there. Working with Brad Paul at Rounder was a good way to start, learning grass-roots promotion. Then making the segue to Rykodisc back in 2003 and working with John Hammond, Michael Sylvia and then with Mike Marrone was amazing. I saw the end coming at Rykodisc with the management changes and then with Chris Blackwell taking over, so I wasn’t surprised about being let go. Righteous Babe was a hoot, and I saw the changes coming in the music business, and decided it was time to go back to my main love—radio.

3. So, what’s life like after leaving commercial radio?

Seriously? I’m relieved. In my thirty years in radio, I found one thing to be true -- radio owners are absolutely bat-sh*t crazy. Working with volunteers who I get to train and pass on my knowledge to is amazing. You get to give them what they need and let them go and have fun. That’s what I missed about radio from when I started -- other than being on the air, radio was becoming less and less fun. The station is growing -- I’ve brought on five new DJs in the past six months, and I expect more to come in the near future.

4. Tell us about your day job.

Before I even left KSKI, I had applied as a bus driver for Mountain Rides, which is the Transit Authority here in the Wood River Valley. I was going to work in the winter, driving tourists to and from Sun Valley, the ski resort in Ketchum. As soon as I was let go, I made the decision to make that a full-time calling. I drove for about eight months before I was made Operations Coordinator, and now I sit in the bosses’ seat as Manager of Transit Operations with about twenty drivers under me. Life is a strange and wonderful trip. Sometimes, it’s on a bus.

5. Tell us about the community station you are working with.

KDPI is a broadly eclectic mix of music and information with an oddball cast of characters who all love what they do. We carry Democracy Now and Le Show, but we also air Floydian Slip and Dead Air with Cory Daniels. I’m in the process of re-starting Play Something Loud, a show I do with my wife Lara. Saturday nights will be cacophonous and full of punk rock. The other shows vary from Roots Music to Rock en Espanol. It’s a wild, cool bunch of volunteers, and I’ve trained them all.

6. What has been your biggest career highlight?

On the radio side, it had to be winning Music Director of the Year in 2008 for the last-ever R&R Triple A Summit. I think it was rigged, but I won so what do I care? On the Music Industry side was seeing Ali Farka Toure’s “Talking Timbuktu” win a Grammy after being the point person on that project. It was awesome getting a call from Ry Cooder the next day thanking me for all the work I did. I was truly gobsmacked. Also, going on Sugar’s last tour with Bob Mould was something I still talk about.

7. What new artists are you most excited about?

I know this will probably piss some people off, but I’m not really thrilled with the state of new artists out right now. Maybe it has something to do with the pandemic, but I haven’t heard a lot of new stuff that I really like. I’m psyched there’s a new Sleater-Kinney, though.

8. What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?

If you tell the truth, people will appreciate it or hate it. You have no control over anyone’s reaction.

9. What is the best advice you would give to young programmers/promotion people?

Remember that it’s a job, and the only thing that you can expect from a job is a paycheck. Enjoy every sandwich.

10. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without …

… Thanking my higher power for the gifts laid out for me by doing the hard work.

Last non-industry job:

Bus Driver

First record ever purchased:

Verities and Balderdash by Harry Chapin

First concert:

Billy Preston

Favorite band of all-time:

A toss-up between Small Faces, The Ramones, Black Flag and The Jam.

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

Watch Chinese, Korean and Japanese movies and sitting on my back porch watching my dogs run around the yard. That, and floating down the Big Wood River on a tube with my wife.