10 Questions with ... Jimmy Buff

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

1984 I was lucky enough to be an intern for WNEW-FM, a legendary Rock station in New York City. I was assigned to the morning show exclusively. Within a year, I was hired as a production assistant for the show (and still have the first pay stub I ever received from WNEW-FM as a memento of that auspicious occasion).

By 1986 the morning show had been fired - except for me. I was kept on to produce the new Dave Herman Rock and Roll Morning show. We had five good years and then left for WXRK. In the time I at was at 'NEW, they had grown much more conservative in their music approach. Thusly, in 1991, New York City was left without an outlet for new and emerging artists.

My morning show colleague Curt Chaplin (now on the People's Court TV show) and I thought we could do something about that and so we raised some money, bought time on an ethnic radio station located in Chinatown and launched Radio Free New York. For nearly a year, we did a weekday show from 6-9a and introduced to New York City acts like the Wallflowers, Barenaked Ladies, the Cranberries, Blind Melon and a myriad of other less successful bands. We garnered more press than anyone in radio except Howard Stern. And then we had a dispute with the owners of the radio station - who were more landlords than radio visionaries - and RFNY was no more (btw: After 17 years, we are having our first RFNY reunion this month; it was an extraordinary experience and I am looking forward to hanging with the people I spent foxhole time with).

New York Rock radio was still stale in 1993 (and kind of still is), so I headed north to Woodstock to WDST for my first tour of duty. I went back to New York after a year, perplexed by mountain life. But after a couple of years back, I was equally perplexed by city life so I left radio and became a carpenter's assistant for a year. But radio is in my blood and Woodstock came calling again, so back north I went. This time, though, I was ready for the change in pace and truly felt at home.

It was 1997 and the Internet was just firing up big-time; by 1999 I had an offer to go back to the city to join an Internet-only radio company called eYada.com. When the Internet went boom in 2001, so did eYada and found myself out of radio again. I ended working in television for the Outdoor Life Network, co-hosting an adventure news show (outdoor adventure is my passion). At the same time, I moved back to the mountains and when the TV gig ended, I found myself a job as middays/PD at WKZE in Sharon, CT. The year I spent at 'KZE was the most unusual I've ever had in radio - and that's saying something - so when the chance to come back to 'DST presented itself, I took it.

I have been back since January 2005 and am currently PD.

1. How did you become interested in radio?

I've always loved music and radio. I grew listening to a couple of legendary progressive radio stations: WPLR/New Haven, (whose signal easily crossed the Long Island Sound) and WNEW-FM. So in my early 20s I figured I'd give radio a shot and enrolled in broadcasting school. I didn't learn much there, but it got me an internship at 'NEW, where I learned everything.

2. WDST has been around a long time. How would you describe the current music mix on the station?

Our music mix currently features a core of classic artists and tracks, as well as a healthy dose of emerging artists. Sprinkled in are depth tracks from classic artists and some of the strong local talent we have here in the Hudson Valley, like the Felice Brothers.

3. What are the music meetings like at your station?

There are two of us - our MD, Carmel Holt, and me - and we have a typical music meeting dynamic: Carmel raves about something and then we consider if the song fits what we do and if we can support it with enough airplay. Too often - especially for Carmel - the answer is no.

4. How do you keep a balance between competing in the Poughkeepsie market and maintaining your Woodstock mystique?

Good question. We have a powerhouse Classic Rocker in our market and we want to share some of their audience, so we share some of that music. Yet at the same time, we need to shore up our Woodstock spirit, which we do by introducing new artists to the mix.

5. WDST and Radio Woodstock are very active online. Tell us a bit about that.

We've been streaming since 1997 and we have seen the value in extending the Radio Woodstock brand via the Internet; it is something we are strongly committed to.

6. What are some of your biggest challenges as an independent station?

Resources. In the market, we face off against Cumulus and Clear Channel. Where they have seven station vehicles and the power of a corporate infrastructure, we have a van and a 12-year-old psychedelically painted VW Bug and a small (albeit dedicated) staff.

7. In what ways do you tie into the vibrant local music scene?

We support local shows and music events as well as producing and promoting shows ourselves

8. You recently finished up your big Mountain Jam Festival. How did that go this year?

Mountain Jam was amazing, as usual. The show closed with a 70th birthday salute to our neighbor Levon Helm. He was joined onstage by Alison Krauss, Donald Fagen, Ray LaMontagne, Warren Haynes, Steve Earle and Alison Moorer, Jackie Green and Patterson and David Hood. Prior to that, we had 50 bands play over three days. Each year, Mountain Jam grows bigger and better. We broadcast from the mountain (Hunter Mountain, a ski area) and when I look out of the lodge window from our onsite studio I think, "Not bad for an independently-owned radio station from little ol' Woodstock!" Truly, though, that credit goes to our owner Gary Chetkof.

9. What do you view as the most important issue facing radio today?

Relevancy. If we can be replaced by Pandora, then where does that leaves us?

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

There is always good music being made. Back in my 'NEW days I remember one of the legendary jocks saying just the opposite as he was reading a horse racing tip sheet and surrounded by stacks of unopened and unlistened to CDs (and it was then I knew it was time to leave).

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

I am an avid outdoor adventure enthusiast: Trail running, mountain and road cycling, snowshoeing and kayaking are a few of my passions. Currently most of my time is spent in distance off-road running. In fact, I have an entry in a 100-mile trail run called the Western States Endurance Run (the event is in June 2011).