Behind the Mic

It sure has been a busy spring so far.  On behalf of everyone at WXBM and Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, thank you for all you did at the 11th Annual WXBM Children’s Miracle Network Radio-thon.  They are still counting up the “Cash Bandit” money, but last I heard the total was over $67,000!!!!  We know money is tight for almost everybody right now, so we really thank you for all you do to support the Children’s Hospital. 

We have some pretty fun events coming up in the next few weeks that we are happy to be involved with.  First up is the Santa Rosa County Fair.  The fair gets underway on Tuesday, March 31st and runs through April 5th.  On Thursday the 2nd, country star Jason Michael Carroll will be performing at the main stage.  You know Jason from his hit songs “Alyssa Lies”, “Livin’ Our Love Song” and his new one “Where I’m From”.  WXBM is happy to welcome Jason to the fair this year and you’ll also want to listen the rest of this week to get qualified to win the best seats in the house.  We have a pair of camo recliners from Aarons on Hwy 90 in Pace for our grand prize winner.  If you win, you’ll be able to sit in the recliners during the show, win a cooler from Coca-Cola and backstage Passes to meet Jason in person!  Pretty cool hu?  Listen to WXBM for more info.  In addition to the entertainment, there will be rides, games, food & lots more at the Santa Rosa County Fair next week.

Also have the 23rd Annual Beulah Sausage Festival around the corner.  It runs April 3rd - 5th.  The Sausage Festival will be at the same location as last year, at the Escambia County Equestrian Center on Mobile Hwy.  If you have never been there, the stage is in a covered building so even if the weather isn’t what we hope for, we’ll be ok.  There is plenty of bleacher seating available and you are more than welcome to bring a blanket or lawn chair to put on the main floor if you’d rather sit there.  Here’s your line-up for entertainment:  Darryl Worley (Friday at 8pm), Diamond Rio (Saturday at 3 & 9pm) and Tracy Byrd (Sunday at 3pm).  Also have a bunch of great local bands like Cheyenne, Southern Breeze, Sawmill Band and plenty more performing at the festival.  For more details visit www.beulahsausagefest.com  Gates open at 4pm Friday and at 10am Saturday & Sunday.  We’ll be there all three days….hope you will too!! 

If you like to fish, the United Way of Santa Rosa County will hold their annual “Fishin’ With A Mission” bass fishing tournament and family festival on Saturday, April 11th.  WXBM is proud to be a sponsor of this event again this year.  For more info, visit http://www.unitedwaysrc.org/events/fishinwithamission.html

COUNTRYFEST!!!  May 2nd is the date on that, and we are gonna have a blast!!!  If you haven’t heard, we are proud to welcome Craig Morgan, James Otto, Whitney Duncan and six great local acts to the stage.  You’ll save a little money if you get your tickets in advance.  Tix are $25 in advance and $35 if you get them the day of the event, so if you have already made up your mind that you are gonna go, be sure to get your tix asap.  They are on sale at www.wxbm.com, the WXBM studios, Five Flags Speedway and at Bryant Racing in Navarre.  Did I mention that kids 12 & under get in free?  No catch to that either.  All kids 12 & under get in free.  We’ll have a big “Kids Country” area for the kids to play in with a rock climbing wall, inflatible jumpers and a bunch of other fun stuff.  If your kids want to be in there all day they can get a wristband that is good for all the attractions in Kids Country for $20 or you can purchase individual tickets for certain things.  We are going to allow re-admission this year.  In other words, when you come in, we’ll give you a wristband that will allow you to go back & forth to your vehicle if you need to.  That should work out good for everybody.  We still have some room for vendors.  If you’re interested in a booth space, call us at 850-994-5357 M-F 9a-5p and ask for Sherri Owens.

That’s what we have on our calendar right now.  It has been a while since I gave you a run-down on upcoming cd’s & concerts, so I’ll post that below.  As always, thanks for listening to WXBM.  We know you have other options on the radio, so thank you very much for choosing us.  We mean it. 

Upcoming CD’s

3/31/09
Keith Urban - “Defying Gravity”
Rodney Atkins - “It’s America”
Billy Ray Cyrus - “Back To Tennessee”

4/7/09
Rascal Flatts - “Unstoppable”
Jason Aldean - “Wide Open”
Emerson Drive - “Believe”

4/21/09
Daryle Singletary - “Rockin’ The Country”

4/28/09
Dean Brody  - “Dean Brody”
Jason Michael Carroll - “Growin’ Up Is Gettin’ Old”

5/12/09
Jamie O’Neal - (untitled)

5/19/09
Kenny Chesney - “Greatest Hits Volume:  2”

6/9/09
Darryl Worley - “Sounds Like Life To Me”

6/30/09
Brad Paisley - “American Saturday Night”

Upcoming Concerts

4/2/09
Jason Michael Carroll - Santa Rosa County Fair

4/3/09
Darryl Worley - Beulah Sausage Festival

4/4/09
Diamond Rio - Beulah Sausage Festival

4/5/09
Tracy Byrd - Beulah Sausage Festival

4/18/09
Rodney Atkins - Mississippi Coast Coliseum Biloxi

4/24/09
Montgomery Gentry - Hard Rock Biloxi

4/25/09
Blake Shelton - Mississippi Coast Coliseum

5/2/09
Craig Morgan, James Otto & Whitney Duncan - CountryFest @ Five Flags Speedway

5/15/09
Sugarland & Billy Currington - Wharf in Orange Beach
Glen Campbell - IP Biloxi
Bill Engvall - Beau Rivage Biloxi

5/22/09
Confederate Railroad & Kentucky Headhunters - IP Biloxi
Lee Ann Womack - Beau Rivage Biloxi

6/30/09
Merle Haggard - Beau Rivage Biloxi

7/4/09
Montgomery Gentry - Wharf in Orange Beach

8/6/09
Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert & Lady Antebellum - Wharf in Orange Beach

8/28/09
George Jones - IP Biloxi

9/25/09
Lonestar - Hard Rock Biloxi

If you missed the details on CountryFest 2009 this morning with Marty & Linda, here’s the scoop:

When
May 2nd, 2009

Where
Five Flags Speedway on Pine Forest Road in Pensacola

How Much
$25 in advance and $35 the day of - Kids 12 & under get in free

Who
Craig Morgan - (”Redneck Yacht Club”, “International Harvester”, “Almost Home”, “Tough”)
James Otto - (”Just Got Started Lovin’ You”, “These Are The Good Old Days”, “For You”)
Whitney Duncan - (Finished 5th on Season 5 of Nashville Star)
Anna Garrott
Brad Caswell
Lathan Moore
Sawmill Band
Rusty Whitfield
Gravity Rising

Last year was the first year we tried to pull off an event like this, and any time you do something like this for the first time, you learn a few things.  We hope that each year we do this, it gets better.  We made several changes, but two that you’ll really like.  First change is that all kids 12 & under get in free.  The other big change is that we are going to give you a wristband when you first go in, and that will let you go back to your vehicle if you forgot anything or just want to go sit for a while.  DON’T LOSE YOUR WRISTBAND!!!!  You need it to get back in, so don’t take it off for any reason.  Gates open at 9am and the show will get started at 10am.  We will also have an area for kids to play called “Kids Country” that will have things like a rock climbing wall, inflatible jumpers and many other things to keep the kids occupied.  Wristbands for Kids Country are $20 for all day or you can buy individual tickets if the kids only want to do one or two things.  Tickets are on sale right now at www.wxbm.com, the WXBM studios, Five Flags Speedway and at Bryant Racing on Hwy 87 in Navarre.  If you buy on line, there will be a convenience fee, but if you buy at any of the other three locations, there will be no fee.  And just like last year there will be a $5 parking fee.  No pets, no coolers and no intoxication allowed.  It’s gonna be a great time, and by the way, it’s the National kickoff of Military Appreciation Month.  Last year, it was the local kickoff, this year it a national deal.  Pretty cool.  We love our military heros and their families.  Now that you have the info, get those tickets and we’ll see you May 2nd at Five Flags Speedway for CountryFest 2009 brought to you by 102.7 WXBM.

IT’S FREEZING!!!  Spring can’t come soon enough.  Well, it looks like the rest of the month is going to be a busy one, and a fun one.  We have the Brad Paisley concert this Sunday at the Civic Center.  As of today, there are still some pretty good seats left through the usual places to get them.  I have seen Brad two times, and I can tell you he puts on a great show.  I was a little apprehensive the first time I saw him because he has some slower songs, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  After seeing him twice, I’m really excited to see him again Sunday.  He had a great stage show, he’s an unbelieveable guitar player, and you can tell he & his band are having a great time on stage.  There are a couple other concerts & events on the horizon that I can’t go into much detail about right now, but they’re coming.  Keep listening to WXBM for more details.  We haven’t got the “official” word yet, but if you look at Kenny Chesney’s ‘09 tour dates, you’ll see Orange Beach on his schedule for the beginning of August.  If it’s on his official website, that’s official enough for me!  Check it out at kennychesney.com 

We are proud to have teamed up with Santa Rosa Historical for their first ever “Road Rally” to benefit Santa Rosa Kids House.  The event is coming up on January 24th.  Each team will get a rally book that has hints & clues that will take you to pit stops all over Santa Rosa County.  Entry fee is only $30 per vehicle and that includes lunch for the driver and navigator, and the first 100 to pre-register will receive a free full service car wash from Ronny’s Car Wash.  The event will start at 9:30am at Pace High School on the 24th.  Pre-registration is not required, but prefered.  There will be four different classes:  Rookie (ages 16-19), Veteran (ages 20-40),  Legend (ages 40+) and Corporate class for business teams.  There will be prizes awarded for each class.  Should be a fun day out on the road, and WXBM will be there for a live broadcast starting at 7:30am.  For more info call 623-1112.

On Sunday the 25th, the world famous Lippizaner Stallions are coming back to the Pensacola Civic Center.  They’ll have an early show at 2pm and an evening show at 6pm.  This year’s show is the 39th Anniversary show featuring the dancing white stallions.  Over the years, this show has been seen by over 26 million people world wide.  Ought to be a fun day/night for the kids & the grown kids alike.  Tickets are available at the Civic Center box office or ticketmaster.com.

Last thing I have for you is a reminder that the Farmers Opry is back open tomorrow night, the 17th.  They have been off for the last couple weeks but will be back at it tomorrow night at the usual times.  Be sure to visit their website www.farmersopry.com for the menu, driving directions and their calendar of upcoming shows.

That’s pretty much it for now.  Marty & I will both be off next week.  I bet he’ll be in the woods.  I’ll be relaxing at the house.  Was hoping for some warm weather so I could get the kayak out, but oh well.  I’ll have to wait a few more months for that.  As always, thanks so much for listening to 102.7 WXBM & letting us be a part of your day.

How can it possibly be 2009???  When I was a kid and thought of the year 2000, I thought of robots and flying cars.  Here we are, already nine years into the ”2000’s”.  All things considered, 2008 was another great year at WXBM thanks to you.  Thanks for listening to the the music, showing up at the events and playing the contests.  Hope you had as much fun as we did.  Have a lot of fun things already planned for you in ‘09 as far as concerts & contests go.  Let me give you a quick list of upcoming CD’s for ‘09 and concerts coming to our area.

Upcoming CD’s

1/27/09
Pat Green - “What I’m For”

2/3/09
Dierks Bentley - “Feel That Fire”
Wynonna - “Sing”

2/24/09
Jake Owen - “Easy Does It”

3/24/09
Eric Church - (title unknown)

3/31/09
Keith Urban - (unknown title)

4/7/09
Emerson Drive - “Believe”

Upcoming Concerts

1/16/09
Travis Tritt - Hard Rock Casino Biloxi, MS

1/18/09
Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley & Darius Rucker - Pensacola Civic Center

1/23/09
Kenny Rogers - Palace Casino Biloxi, MS

1/31/09
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Beau Rivage Casino Biloxi

2/6/09
Clint Black - Beau Rivage Casino Biloxi
Little Big Town - Hard Rock Biloxi
Zac Brown Band - Hard Rock Biloxi

2/20/09
Leann Rimes - Beau RIvage Casino Biloxi

2/27/09
Trace Adkins - IP Casino Biloxi

2/28/09
Jeff Dunham - Mississippi Coast Coliseum Biloxi
Kellie Pickler - IP Casino Biloxi

3/6/09
Loretta Lynn - IP Casino Biloxi
Chris Cagle - Hard Rock Biloxi

3/20/09
Bill Anderson and TG Shepherd - IP Casino Biloxi

3/21/09
Julianne Hough and Heidi Newfield - IP Casino Biloxi

3/27/09
Gary Allan - IP Casino Biloxi

4/18/09
Gretchen Wilson - IP Casino

4/24/09
Montgomery Gentry - Hard Rock Biloxi

4/25/09
Blake Shelton - Mississippi Coast Coliseum

Surely there will be more CD’s & Concerts coming, so be sure to stay tuned to WXBM for all the latest!  Thanks again for listening!!

Just want to thank all generous WXBM listeners who helped out with our Salvation Army toy drive yesterday at Wal-Mart in Pace.  Lynn said we had a great turnout and quite a few people chipped in.  As of this time last week, Salvation Army was WAY short on toys, so again, thanks for your help.  We also had a lot of phone calls from people asking how they could help every time we mentioned that on the air.  I know time is running out, but if you’re reading this on the 22nd or 23rd, and still want to help out, feel free to call the Salvation Army at 432-1501 Ex: 13 and they’ll tell you what they need.  Don’t forget Marty & Linda’s 16th annual Christmas Open House on Wednesday morning from 6-10.  We’ll have biscuits, sausages, coffee & cold drinks.  Thanks to Thompson Meats, Hardees, Maxwell House, Buffalo Rock Pepsi and Boyette’s for helping make it happen again this year.  Feel free to stop by with the kids and say hi. 

From all of us at “the end of the road” we hope you have a blessed Christmas and a great start to 2009.  We thank you for you loyalty and support in 2008 and all the years you have been behind us.  We are looking forward to another great year of music, contests, concerts and much more in 2009!!!  Thank you again for your support!!!

God bless!!

Hard to believe that Christmas is gonna be here in 15 days!  Comes up faster every year doesn’t it?  With the state of the economy, there will no doubt be more families reaching out for help.  If you’re looking for a good way to help your neighbor this year, I have some suggestions for you. 

**GIFTS THAT HEAL**

Some people have everything and some people need everything.  If you are looking to lend a hand to someone who is needy and is in our community, visit www.giftsthatheal.org

**Operation Family Thank**

The USO is looking for people who would like to write a “thank you” letter to the family of military men & women.  Could be a quick letter of thanks or a long letter of appreciation.  Letters need to be in by Dec 15th.  Please mail them to:
Operation Family Thanks
c/o USO Pensacola
Box 33135
Pensacola,  Fl 32508

**Salvation Army**

Salvation Army is looking for volunteer bell ringers.  Pretty self explanitory.  Stand in front of a retail store and ring the bell for Salvation Army.  If you have been to the mall, Target, Wal-Mart or many other stores this time of year, you have probably seen people ringing the bell.  If you can donate a couple hours of your time, it would be greatly appreciated.  To volunteer, call 850-432-1501 EX 13.

**Poinsettia Blood Drive**

Friday Dec 12th, the Northwest Florida Blood Center is hosting its annual Poinsettia Blood Drive with 102.7 WXBM.  Everyone who donates will get a free poinsettia, plus you’ll be giving the gift of life.  One blood donation can save up to three lives.  If you missed the Chrismas Bear Blood drive last week, please take an hour out of your day to donate blood at the blood center at 9th Ave & Maxwell or on Nine Mile Road just East of University Pkwy.  If you absolutely cannot donate on that day, please remember blood is in constant need especially around the Christmas season, and both Northwest Florida Blood Center locations are open weekdays all year.  For more info and driving directions visit http://www.nfbcblood.org/index.htm

**ARC GATEWAY Mardi Gras Beads**

ARC Gatway is collecting unwatned Mardi Gras beads.  There are several drop locations including the WXBM studios, so if you or your kids have beads that are just sitting around collecting dust, donate them to ARC rather than throw them away.  For more info call 434-2638

Marty & Linda’s annual Christmas Open House is Wednesday Dec 24th from 6-10am.  They’ll have the doors open to you and your family all morning.  If you want to come and see them do what they do best, stop in for a while.  They’ll have coffee, sausage biscuits and the super-duper deluxe restrooms from Boyette’s.

Have a great week.  Thanks for listening to WXBM and a real big thank you to our military men & women and their families who make big sacrifices every day.  We love ya’ll. 

Got a couple fun things for you this week.  We have our annual CMA Award Show Party at Sam’s Fun City on Wednesday the 12th.  The event will also be Linda’s wedding reception for those of us who couldn’t make it to the real deal last month.  If you’re going, be sure to tell Linda & Lonnie “Congratulations”.  Let me address some questions we usually get in the days leading up to the party.  First off, dress is casual.  Jeans & a tshirt or sweater is just fine.  The rides will be up & running for the kids and Sam’s usually gives a discount on the cost of a wristband for the party.  Sam’s will provide a meal and drinks for everyone free of charge.  The award show comes on at 7 and we’ll show it on the huge theater screen and give out prizes during commerical breaks.  We’d like to thank Dan’s Satellites in Pace for the satellite feed, and thanks to Ashley Furniture and Butler U-Pull-it for sponsoring the show.  This is an “invitation-only” party, so be sure to bring your invitations with you if you won. 

Had a big concert announcement recently…..Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley and Darius Rucker will be at the Pensacola Civic Center on Sunday, January 18th.  Tickets go on sale November 15th throught the Civic Center box office and all Ticketmaster outlets.  We are doing  a “win ‘em before you can buy ‘em” week on WXBM.  Listen between 6-10am with Marty & Linda and between 2-7pm with me, Ryan Andrew.  Just listen for us to tell you to call in & win.  Nothin’ to it.  Should be a great show too.  I saw Brad at the CC back in 2006, and then at the Wharf last August and he puts on a great show. 

We’re still getting listeners qualified to win 9,100 gallons of gas!  If you’re not qualified already, listen for us to tell you when to call in and win.  If you’re hearing about this contest for the first time, see the previous blog for instructions on how to quialify on air, and be sure to visit www.wxbm.com for complete rules.  It’s a fun contest and we’re going to give a bunch of people a chance to win a tanker’s worth of gasoline!!  Hope you can get yourself qualified for it!!!

I guess that’s pretty much it for this time.  Have a great week and thanks for keeping WXBM tuned in!

Exciting times at WXBM!!!  I paid $2.28 a gallon when I filled my truck yesterday.  Filled it from empty to full for under $35 for the first time in a while.  Hope gas keeps coming down.  No matter what gas prices do, you could be filling up for free for a long time if you win the tanker of gas we’re giving away.  Just started a pretty cool contest this week, and here’s what you need to know.  Listen weekdays for a chance to call in and guess a number between 0 & 9.  If you guess the correct number, and give us the other correct numbers, you will win a $50 gas card and be qualified for the WXBM Artist Shuffle to play for the grand prize of over 9,100 gallons of gasoline!!!!  For example, if the first three numbers correctly guessed are 4,9 & 6 (those aren’t the right numbers by the way!!) you’ll have to give us those numbers in that order, and then guess at the fourth number.  It’s a lot easier than it sounds.  When you hear it on the air you’ll catch on right away.  You can also stop by Shrimp Basket and MediaCom locations across the Gulf Coast and put your name in the registration box.  We will draw a bunch of qualifiers out of those boxes. 

Another big event on the radar is the CMA Party/Linda’s wedding reception at Sam’s Fun City November 12th.  We still have a bunch of invitations to give away.  Be sure to listen for your chance to call in & win those invitations.  We will provide food, drinks, prizes and the award show for free and the rides at Sam’s will be up & running for the kids.  The show is sponsered by Ashley Furniture and Butler U-Pull It and Dan’s Satellites in Pace will provide the satellite feed for us again.  Should be a great time.  Dress is casual, and if you won invitations, they should be in the mail soon.  Hope to see you there!

Got some big shows coming up too.  Hank is at the Wharf on Saturday night Nov 1st.  Tix at the $25 level are buy one, get one free.  Larry the Cable Guy will be at the Civic Center the following night.  And Jeff Dunham will be a the Civic Center on December 14th.  Tickets for all shows are on sale through all your usual Tickemaster locations.

Thanks for taking time to read the blog.  I’ll try to be better about posting once a week rather that twice a month.  As always, thanks for listening to WXBM.

PS….GO VOTE!!!  If you have any questions about voting locations, call us any time & we’ll be glad to help out.

Here at WXBM, we’re gearing up for some big events.  The Pensacola Interstate Fair gets underway Thursday the 16th, and runs through the 26th.  Admission prices vary depending on what day you plan to attend.  WXBM will be there EVERY day the fair is open.  Stop by to see our new camo truck, win prizes and sing some karaoke.  We are proud to welcome two great country acts to the fair stage this year too.  Bucky Covington will be here this Saturday, the 18th.  Bucky has had a couple hit songs like “A Different World”, “It’s Good To Be Us” and his new one “I’ll Walk”.  Bucky was a contestant on American Idol a couple years ago.  Then on Saturday the 25th, Billy Currington will be at the fair.  Billy’s hits include “Good Directions”, “Must Be Doin’ Something Right”, “I’ve Got A Feeling” and “Why, Why, Why”.  Bucky and Billy will both perform at 8pm at the main stage, and there is no additional charge to see the show once you’ve paid your admission at the gate.

This weekend is the kickoff of the 2008 Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival in Niceville.  The gates open at 11am Friday, 9am Saturday and 10am Sunday.  There is no set time for closing, but things usually start winding down around midnight Friday & Saturday and 9pm on Sunday.  Admission is $10 per day for adults and kids under 12 are free.  There will be a ton of activities and entertainment for the kids to enjoy.  Since it is the “Mullet Festival”, you can expect some great fresh fish and other gulf coast specialties as well as burgers & dogs for the kids if they aren’t into fish & gator tail just yet.  They have managed to round up some great entertainment this year too.  Rodney Atkins will headline Friday night at 10:15, Jason Aldean Saturday night at 10 and Sara Evans will be on stage at 6pm Sunday.  In addition to your headliners, you have a ton of local acts to keep you going all day & night.  Visit www.wxbm.com for a link to the 2008 Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival in Niceville.  Rumor has it, Linda Lawrence will be out there bringing some acts on stage.  Be sure to ask her about her wedding!

Another big event here at WXBM is the Half Price Money Sale.  It’s a real easy way to double your money.  Listen to Marty & Linda Thursday 10/16 at 7:35am and they’ll give you all the details.  I can tell you that you will have an opportunity to give us $10, and we’ll give you $20 back.  Pretty cool hu?  Marty & Linda will fill you in on the rest of the details Thursday at 7:35.

Got some other shows & events coming to our area.  Hank Jr will be at the Wharf in Orange Beach Saturday, November 1st.  Tickets went on sale a couple days ago throught Ticketmaster.  This will be the third time Hank has played the Wharf and both of his previous shows sold out.  Both were also in the summer and it was hot & humid.  Should be much better weather to get out there and see ol’ Hank do his thing.  Larry the Cable Guy will be at the Pensacola Civic Center November 2nd.  Tickets for his show are also on sale through the CC box office and all Ticketmaster outlets.  Same for comedian Jeff Dunham.  His show is December 14th at the Civic Center. 

As always, thank you for listening to WXBM!  Can’t say that enough.  We really appreciat you.

Time for another “10 Questions” blog.  WXBM’s Stacey Noles is up this week.

Q:  How did you get your first job in radio?
Stacey Noles:  I got my first job in radio by luck actually.  I did some volunteer work before I got my first paid job.  I started out doing morning news one day a week for the campus radio station at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia to get my feet wet.  After a semester there, I moved back to Panama City and attended Gulf Coast Community College, which also has a campus radio station.  I started taking basic radio classes and part of our grade was to go on air at least two hours per week on the campus station.  It was a low power AM station that played rock/alternative music, but it was great experience.  My teacher was impressed with how I sounded so he recommended me for  a job at two leading radio stations in town, so that led me to my first paid job in radio.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Q:  How many years have you worked on air and now many years at WXBM?
SN:  I have been working on air for almost 13 years total.  I started working behind the scenes at WXBM (and our sister stations) in 1996 but didn’t actually go on air until the spring of 1998.

Q:  How was music played on air when you started?
SN:  At the two college stations I worked at we played music off CD and vinyl, but when I got my first paid job one station played music off CD and the other was experimenting with a computer.

Q:  Any significant moments in history happen while you were on air?
SN:  Yes, there have been several.  The first was probably OJ Simpson getting acquitted in 1995.  Another was election night in 2000.  When I first got to work, the race was still too close to call.  About 1am Florida (and the presidency) was called for George W. Bush, then about an hour later we found out they were going to do a recount in Florida and the state had been retracted (again) to “too close to call”.  Other significant events include many hurricanes, in particular, Katrina in 2005 when I was on the air for 13 hours straight with Linda Lawrence.

Q:  What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
SN:  The listeners.  Just knowing when I come on the air and can brighten someone’s day (or night) is the biggest reward.  Also meeting listeners when I’m out on remote.

Q:  Ever have a stalker?
SN:  Once.  I had a lady who kept calling me at the station and even got my home phone number.  She would leave requests on my home answering machine.  She ended up going away.

Q:  Who is the coolest celebrity you’ve met?
SN:  I have two actually.  Taylor Swift and Jamie O’Neal.  I got to talk to Taylor and her mom for a long time and she is one artist who is totally devoted to her fans.  I had the honor of showing Jamie O’Neal aournd Pensacola when she did a concert a few years ago, that was a memorable experience.  By the way,  Jamie loved Cordova Mall and her daughter enjoyed the coin operated rides in the mall too!

Q:  Who is your favorite country artist?
SN:  I would say Toby Keith

Q:  What’s our favorite song?
SN:  I Wanna Talk About Me

Q:  Any embarassing moments you’d like to share?
SN:  Yes, there are a couple actually.  One happened when I was doing the weather in the middle of the summer.  The forcast was “a high in the mid-90’s with a 20% chance of rain”.  I got it mixed up and said “90% chance of rain with a high in the mid-20’s”.  The other occured right after I started on air.  I left the microphone on while I was answering the phone.  Listeners were calling in and making requests and they were going out over the air.  There isnt’ a DJ alive who hasn’t done this at least once!!

Want to say congratulations to Carey Dekle of Mobile.  She was the winner of the 2008 Colgate Country Showdown at the Farmers Opry on Sept 13th.  Chelsea Harrison came in 2nd and the Wes Loper band finished in 3rd place.  Everyone was great.  Thanks to all who tried out and all who performed at the finals expecially the Sawmill Band.  For a list of upcoming shows and events at the Opry, visit www.farmersopry.com 
WXBM’s KidsFest is coming up this weekend.  It’s going on Saturday the 20th from 9am-5pm at the Zoo Northwest Florida.  We’ll have a bunch of great activities for the kids to enjoy plus, music and of course the animals & exhibits at the zoo.  Admission is only $5 with a donation of a new, unwrapped toy donation to Communities Caring at Christmas.  The main parking lot at the zoo usually fills up pretty fast, so if it’s full when you get there, park across Hwy 98 at the flea market and wait for the trolley.  It’ll be running back & forth all day for free.  Please don’t try to cross 98 on foot!!!  Any questions, visit www.wxbm.com or call to studio lines any time. 
LARRY THE CABLE GUY IS COMING BACK TO PENSACOLA!!  Listen to 102.7 WXBM all week to win your free tickets including front row seats on Friday!!  Larry was great last time he was here and I’m sure he’ll be great again November 2nd.  Tickets are on sale 9/19/08 at 10am at all Ticketmaster outlets and the Pensacola Civic Center box office for $44.25 plus service charges.  Last blog I listed a bunch of upcoming CD’s, so this time I’ll post upcoming concerts.

10/3/08
Willie Nelson - Hard Rock Casino Biloxi
Sara Evans - The Palace Casino Biloxi

10/5/08
Blake Shelton - Bayfest in Mobile
Eric Church - Bayfest
Rodney Atkins - Bayfest

10/9/08
Keith Anderson - The Block in Fort Walton Beach

10/17/08
Rodney Atkins - Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival in Niceville

10/18/08
Jason Aldean - Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival
Bucky Covington - Pensacola Interstate Fair

10/19/08
Sara Evans - Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival

10/25/08
Billy Currington - Pensacola Interstate Fair

11/2/08
Larry the Cable Guy - Pensacola Civic Center

11/7/08 
Phil Vassar - Hard Rock Biloxi

11/13/08
Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson - Mississippi Coast Coliseum

12/12/08
Lonestar - Hard Rock Biloxi

1/16/09
Travis Tritt - Hard Rock Biloxi

1/23/09 
Kenny Rogers - The Palace Casino Biloxi

2/28/09
Kellie Pickler - IP Casino Biloxi

4/24/09
Montgomery Gentry - Hard Rock Biloxi