Radio Friendly Unit Shifters!

His title may be a mouthful, but it just exemplifies how many things Ayappa Biddanda can do, and do well, that he is Senior Director, Grass Roots & Video Promotion/Tour & Events Marketing at Concord, the largest truly independent music and theatrical rights company in the world. In an Industry Spotlight a few years ago, Ayappa told Play MPE some of his career highlights included: booking Matt Nathanson on The Howard Stern Show; booking Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats on The Grand Ole Opry; setting up an album event for Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; coordinating an unprecedented video premiere across MTV Live, MTVU, CMT Music, BET Soul, and BET Centric for Valerie June; being with O.A.R. on Capitol Hill in DC for Arts Advocacy Day alongside Norman Lear and Rep. John Lewis; booking Melissa Etheridge on the Power 106 Morning Show in LA to discuss her tribute to Stax. We talked about not only some of these stories, but how he's also gotten to work with legends like Merle Haggard, Tanya Tucker, Dolly Parton & Indigo Girls as well as newer artists like Amythyst Kiah and Allison Russell, coming from East Tennessee out to L.A. and back to Nashville, where he currently resides.

Great to visit with John Harper, DJ extraordinaire from the Outer Banks, NC! You can hear him these days on radiofreeobx.com and he's got a thriving wedding DJ business at johnharperdj.com. He used to be heard right here in Charlottesville on 3WV and we chatted about what Cville was like a couple decades ago, how the landscape of AAA radio has changed since he got into it on the ground floor in the early 90s, his days as a kid radio pirate, what the best wedding reception songs are and why and who the best American band of all-time is.

Krystal Robbins (VP of Radio Promotion for ANTI-/Epitaph Records) might just take the cake for the most coolest artists mentioned per capita so far on RFUS! We actually recorded this in late 2020, but the podcast guest booking agent (aka me) took a few months off in 2021. Now we're back into a new season in August of 2021! In her years at ANTI- alone, Krystal has worked with everyone from Neko Case to Mavis Staples, from M. Ward to Mike Ness & Social Distortion to Michael Franti & Spearhead. Krystal has worked on behalf of legends like Tom Waits and Joe Strummer as well as newer acts like Jade Jackson, Son Little and The Antlers, to get airplay on some of the best radio stations in the country from KROQ in L.A. to WFUV in NYC. We shared stories of those gone too soon (like Cobain & Cornell & WFUV's own Rita Houston), the surprise equinox release of Fleet Foxes' latest amazing album, and (on a lighter note) RBF syndrome, dating back to Epitaph's heyday of Bad Religion, Pennywise, Guttermouth and so many more and an intern named Frances Bean Cobain.

After a hiatus following a brief Season Two, we're back in business on RFUS with Jack Barton! It was a privilege and an honor to speak with one of the true mavens of the AAA format, who comes at the industry from basically all sides (although I forgot to ask if he's ever played in a band!). Like so many affected by what Little Steven calls the Big Bang of Rock'n'Roll (The Beatles on Ed Sullivan), he got into radio in college which led to a career working in radio and retail in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York. He then returned to Philly to cover the industry for FMQB and in recent years has expanded his own business into the realm of not only format charts and news and summits, but artist management, consulting, and Dark Star Orchestra merchandise. He's seen over 300 Grateful Dead shows, so we asked about some of his best Deadhead memories, a Dead connection he has with Charlottesville radio and even some advice for his beloved Sixers heading into the NBA offseason.

This week, we're thrilled to be joined by a veteran of AAA radio promotion, Jesse Barnett! We talked about a wide array of topics, from how he started in the music biz at A&M Records during the heyday of Sheryl Crow, Blues Traveler & The Gin Blossoms, to how he started his own company in 2005. We of course delved into what the "Emerson Mafia" is all about, and how after graduating college, he actually was a TV ad copywriter briefly for a well-known firm in L.A. It was cool to reminisce about how we both started in the AAA format around the same time in the 90s when artists like Fiona Apple & Alanis Morissette & Semisonic were taking over the world, and here we are in 2020, when all 3 of them have made big comebacks that Jesse has been involved in on the radio promo teams. He's worked closely with independent artists like Mike Doughty & Ingrid Michaelson, pop-crossover success stories like Michael Franti & Passenger...and, oh yeah, he got to work the surprise album from the singular sensation known as Taylor Swift. He has a whole slew of great things in store for 2021, only some of which can he divulge here now. I also admire Jesse for taking up photography as a hobby within the past decade, especially since he got so good so quickly! We even talked about cool record stores, cool Bay Area multi-band mini-festivals in the 80s, and what it's like raising a theater kid (I've got a 6-year-old who is well on his way)...so yeah, we covered a LOT of ground! Be advised, Jesse comes from the Attaway school of podcast guesting, so there are some naughty words here & there. But it's only rock'n'roll, right?

Although he's a native Minnesotan and therefore a Vikings fan, Keith "The Rev" Coes is a true Tennessee Titan of the radio industry and AAA format in particular. He was there in the very early stages of Nashville's Lightning 100, and as their Assistant Program Director and Music Director, he's shaped one of the best & most decorated commercial stations in the country for the better part of 30 years. He's amassed countless industry adventures from not only living in Music City, but regularly attending SXSW, Bonnaroo, Non-Com, Boulder & Americana Fest. After we recorded this podcast, I became aware of WRLT's "Save Our Airwaves" campaign, which officially started the same day this episode was posted...help 'em out if you can: https://lightning100.com/saveourairwaves/ p.s. there are a couple naughty words, but I figured out where the tone generator was in Audacity, so I had fun with bleeps too ;)

Josh Nicotra is GM of Brushfire Records & the manager of Fruition, Tauk, and TK & The Holy Know-Nothings. He's a (mostly) NY sports fan (with 1 Boston exception), although he lives in LA, and has since he starting working with Jack Johnson & Brushfire in 2005. He's had quite a career in the music biz and lets us know how he & the bands he works with are trying to make it through 2020.

The sonic territory covered in the latest RFUS is pretty remarkable, as we could only do with Melanie Shrawder who worked for the Songlines radio promo company for 14 years & prior to that KUT in Austin, TX and WYEP in her native Pittsburgh.  We started out talking Pirates & Steelers & Penguins, went straight into her love of Phil Collins & Genesis, touched on her youthful appreciation of everything from Journey to Juice Newton (bolstered by the Columbia House & BMG Record Clubs). We talked about her tenure booking acts like Spoon & Gary Clark Jr. for their 1st radio sessions, booking Blackalicious for a live session (which they graciously kept FCC clean!), great SXSW memories (including the late, great Rock Hall of Famer Ian McLagan) and then moving on to the promo world, helping the likes of Arcade Fire, The Avett Brothers, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, My Morning Jacket, Chance The Rapper and yes, Spoon, reach bigger national audiences through the radio airwaves.  There of course was mention of her all-time favorite Stevie Wonder, and we talked about the diversity challenges the AAA format faces.  We also discussed our mutual long-term appreciation of Pearl Jam & it all comes full circle with a new PJ side project that features Stone Gossard & acclaimed singer/songwriter Mason Jennings, who spent much of his youth in Pittsburgh.  Plus a couple other new things Melanie has been digging lately at the end (full songs in Anchor version only). And earmuff alert: there is some strong language sprinkled in, but hey it's a podcast!

Nick Attaway is VP of Radio Promotion at BMG and was recently named one of the "Top 5 Indie Promo Execs in the Streaming Age" by Billboard.  I've known him going back to my 1st Bonnaroo trip in 2006 and (as you'll soon discover why) I knew I had to have him on one of my initial episodes of the podcast!  Sit back, relax, and enjoy many tales of record biz grandeur, as only Nick could tell them!  I tried to label each segment better, based on the topics discussed...hope that helps! P.s. this episode has some salty language, PG-13 at least!

Oh man...so many stories, so little time! You could listen to the ALBUM versions of Lazy Eye & Paranoid Android 6 times each in the time it takes to listen...sorry, that's an inside joke you'll only get if you listen to this week's fascinating & fun discussion with Brian Corona (National Director of Promotion for Atlantic Records) and Steve Nice (of Nice Management & Consulting). We talk about their beginnings in the radio & record biz, and how they worked together at Capitol Records, where they helped break both Radiohead & Coldplay in the U.S. We talked about Steve's current business which helps bands like Scars on 45 get placements in movies & TV shows, and how outlets like TikTok have helped bring songs to radio like "Dissolve" by Absofacto that may have not broken through the 1st time around. Parental Advisory: there are a couple naughty words in the middle as Steve does his best Phil Costello impression. As XTC (a band sadly not available for attaching via Anchor/Spotify) would say, "let's begin!"

Great to have Jen Daunt of Dauntless Promotion on the pod this week!  She calls what she does “adult tastemaker radio promotion,” and she's got great stories for us about working with everyone from the Black Keys to Sharon Van Etten, Alt-J and Courtney Barnett when they were all brand new artists and more recently beabadoobee, plus the impending comeback records for Bright Eyes & Kathleen Edwards.  Jen is one of the best in the biz, enjoy!

What if the radio hero you grew up listening to ended up giving you your 1st full-time job?  That was the case in the mid-90s with me & the one & only Keefer, now based in Colorado at the legendary KBCO.  Great to catch up with him & talk about what got him into radio in the 1st place, the late 80s emergence of AAA as a national format, his moves from IL to MO to CO, the summer he was the official Radio Bonnaroo backstage interviewer, producing star-studded Studio C sessions, dipping his toes in the non-com radio world, returning to BCO, the joys of having a great record store a few blocks from home, what he's listening to in quarantine, what he said when he met Dylan & that time he met HIS idol, Keith Richards!

I first met Jaclyn Piermarini at Bonnaroo 2006 and by the end of that year, we both found ourselves working at the same radio station in Charlottesville, where we worked together for several years. After years in print, commercial & non-commercial radio (music and news), and some TV work as well, she's now part of the great podcast team behind Small Town, Big Crime, which got a nice plug from Buzzfeed back in March. We talked about what putting together a true crime podcast entails, what it was like broadcasting from backstage at Bonnaroo, the important role radio played in our young lives before we even knew it was a job you could have in the real world, how playlists (and before them, mixtapes) can play a very useful role in getting through tough times, and how we're trying to teach our children well. Listen for those stellar parental skills as my son busts in with breaking news about the neighborhood ice cream truck. Enjoy & here is the John Lewis quote I refer to towards the end from Elijah Jacob Mears' Twitter feed (late last year John recorded a video message for Elijah's little sister who was learning about John in school at the time): “Be kind, be hopeful, be optimistic, never get down. It's all gonna be okay, all gonna be alright. We're one people, we're one family. We all live in the same house, not just the American house but the world house. I wish you well.”

RFUS gets underway with a guy I've known for almost 20 years, who hired me to come to Charlotesville, VA 13 years ago, where my life changed in so many amazing ways. He's a radio AND industry savant, the one & only Brad Savage! He calls Akron, OH home now and gives us insight on the differences between commercial & non-commercial AAA radio, some new tunes he's digging & how he booked The Pixies AND Avett Brothers (both of whom rarely do in-studio sessions) to play at his Ohio station!

RFUS takes you behind the scenes of the radio & records biz, as Jeff Sweatman chats with often unsung greats, most of whom he's known for 15+ years, so there are plenty of amazing stories & artists in the ever-shifting music world!