Current mood: thankful

Many questions are asked concerning the life of a radio personality. Some believe there's some sort of glory attached. Nothing could be farther from the truth. But let me give you an overview and you decide.

I've been in radio and on the air for over 35 years now. The majority of that time hosting a morning show. Most recently (the past 15 years) I've been in Northern Colorado with my morning partner, Susan Moore. We know each other way too well. Kind of like being married without any of the benefits :)

The day begins around 2:30am. My drive is about an hour as I live deep in the mountains. This gives me a great chance to think about what's to come on the program and mentally make some plans, most of which will be promply derailed.

Once I get to the station soon after 4am, I do tons of research for the show on the web as well as download a number of show prep sheets that I subscribe to for material to be used on the show. I also search for compelling audio. It is, afterall, radio.

I work on an AC (Adult Contemporary) station. (Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer and the like).

Honestly the music is of no consequence to us. We are trying to provide entertainment and information between songs to keep, capture and hopefully develop a strong following that ensures another day in the big chair. Otherwise, I best find another way to pay the rent.

Prior to going on the air I record a show for our sister Oldies station and use much of the same material I'll be using for the live program on TRI102.5. A nice warmup for the live show. We then hit the air at 5am and have News, weather, traffic, sports and of course the ever prevelant slice of life stories from our lives and those of other  "people in the news". Usually a unique blend of fun, never profane material.

I never saw it necessary to go that route, besides the audience of my station is overwhelmingly female and family oriented. There are double entendres, but hell I don't even use the word sex on the air. We call it "quality intimate time". I know that many parents appreciate not having to explain what the DJ said.

We do our best to be fun and entertain all the while taking calls and interacting with listeners on and off air. I produce a number of parodies and find ways to insert these little bits of audio irreverance into the program. There's a lot of slice of life, our real lives, because it's something most listeners can relate to. Dealing with kids, co-workers, the guy at the gas station etc.

After I get off the air at 10am, I then go into production mode. Cutting commericals, preparing material for tomorrows show and basically doing whatever else needs to be accomplished to maintain our success.

This includes MULTIPLE "personal appearances". Usually 3-5 per week. It could be as simple as doing an intro for a pro basketball game to honoring a special teacher to a live broadcast for a client, public service appearances, speaking to groups, classes etc. and anything else you can imagine someone might want us to do.

Having such a bizarre schedule can really put a damper on teh social life, especially when you have to be out at the un-Godly hour of 7pm and don't get into bed until 9pm :)

With the advent of the internet and on line streaming it's been quite an experience. Just this week, I received emails from Sao Paulo, Brazil, London, Iowa and my Dad listens quite regularly in Florida. You can always listen at http://TRI1025.com.

I've also begun an on line Independent Music showcase called Michael Stone's Indie X-Posure on http://SongPlanet.com every Friday from 4-7 pm Mountain Time. Feel free to log in and give it a listen. You'd be amazed at the quality of the undiscovered talent waiting to be heard.

Hope to hear from you. Thanks for reading. Thanks for listening. I got this idea from a MySpace friend Vilmos (http://www.vilmos.com/) and his relating of a day in the life of a stand up comedian. Fun stuff!

Enjoy the music and enjoy today.

Michael Stone