Please don’t be jealous, but one of the (few) perks of being a radio dee-jay is getting to meet artists (sometimes–not ALL the time!) when they come to town.  Now, after more than 28 years in this business, I’ve met a LOT of artists.  Some are very nice, some…well, we’ll just leave it at that.  I was actually looking forward to doing the “meet ‘n’ greet” thing with Taylor Swift, simply because a) she’s a very talented, sharp young lady; and b) I doubt that she’ll ever come back to Jonesboro, simply because she is quickly becoming the Garth Brooks of the New Milennium, which means she will be more inclined to play bigger cities on future tours!

So, I waited patiently in a line with about 10-12 people ahead of me while she met them, gave autographs, and had pics taken.  Now, as I said, I have been to many of these meet/greet events, and I always like to watch how the artist(s) interact with their fans.  Sometimes, it’s like an “assembly line,” where someone working for the artist (usually their road manager) lays out the rules: “One photo only, one autograph item only, and no ‘personalized’ autographs!  Now, let’s keep it moving, folks!”

Whether it’s a listener/fan meeting an artist they love, or a guy like me who’s done it several times for years, that kind of stuff tends to take a lot of the fun and thrill out of meeting an artist.  Well, I’m happy to report that was NOT the case with Taylor Swift!  When I walked into the Meet ‘n’ Greet room in the lower-level of the Convo, there was some upbeat music playing from an iPod plugged into some speakers.  Three display cases held various dresses worn by Taylor in her music videos, giving fans an opportunity to see them up-close.  Taylor was dressed her signature sun dress (pink) and cowboy boots.  She greeted each person warmly, and was not afraid to give out hugs, especially to the several little kids who were there.  For the real little ones, this tall young lady would bend down to get on their level, ask them their names, and talk to these star-struck young’uns like they were family!  She’d pose with them for their photo op (sometimes striking a goofy pose, just to keep it fun), hugged them again, told them they were “awesome,” and said, “I love you!” as they walked away.  I was VERY impressed with her genuine, personal relationship with her fans!  She seemed to go out of her way to make it a memorable event for everyone she met!  One artist I have not met (yet) is Garth Brooks, but many people I know have (including Christie, Trey and Jim).  They say Garth went out of his way at his meet ‘n’ greets to be genuinely friendly and humble as he interacted with folks.  I think that has a LOT to do with an artist’s longevity in the business, especially when people in the radio industry are around!  They remember how the artist greeted and treated them and their fans, and that can have a direct bearing on how eager they are to play that artist’s music or promote their career!

And, yes, I took my turn meeting her and getting a pic snapped.  She hugged me, and thanked me and the radio station for playing her music.  She’s so tall and thin, I was tempted to invite her to come to the house for some of Sweetie’s lasagna!  As you can see in the photo, her slim frame just makes my bulky one look even more bulky!

I just thought you might like to know that if Taylor Swift seems like a very sweet young lady, my impression of her is…she is, and it’s genuine.  I sincerely hope she stays that way!

I try very hard to be a positive thinker.  I don’t like to dwell on negatives, and we all know it’s getting more and more difficult these days, with all the gloom economic news.  Add to that a natural disaster of unbelievable proportions that affected all of our radio stations’ listening areas and beyond, and the “conventional wisdom” was that folks here in Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri just had too much hitting them over the last few weeks for us to expect them to give as much to our annual Wish-a-Thon for the Make-A-Wish Foundation as they had before.  Last year, a record total of more than $186,000 in donations and pledges were made by folks just like you.  “Conventional wisdom” had many of us at Triple FM ready to be happy with whatever was pledged and donated, knowing that $1 was $1 more than the Make-A-Wish Foundation had before we started.

Well, so much for “conventional wisdom!”  By the time we finished the Radiothon at 7:00pm on Friday, Feb. 13th, we had a running total of $208,478.91, and the counting wasn’t finished yet!  Later that evening, we got word from our accounting volunteers that we had surpassed $219,000 and it looked like we would end up with over $220,000!  With the average cost of a wish running about $5,000, your astounding generosity will help to grant the wishes of more than 44 children with life-threatening illnesses!  On behalf of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, our great partners at KAIT, and all of us at the Triple FM Radio Group, thank you…and God bless you!

Now, here’s something to hopefully make you smile:
Heavy Headed Dog