7/19/09 Blog/Playlist: In-studio guest TJ Kirby

If you've heard TJ Kirby, host of "TJ and Company" on Saturday afternoon from 3-5 p.m., you know he's a funny and wacky guy. So, I asked him to start my show by giving me one of those wild, over the top introductions as he does for himself. I figured that will wake people up big time!

I started with a short music set:

Intruders – Cowboys To Girls
Murmaids – Popsicles and Icicles
Johnny Nash – Hold Me Tight
(in between here was a Walter Brennan-ish character thrown in by TJ. I was playing two songs from the same CD, so he offered this up to fill the gap inbetween. I think it will make a cute promo to use in the future!)
Steve Alaimo – Every Day I Have To Cry
The Seekers – I'll Never Find Another You

TJ Kirby grew up in the Atlanta area, got 45 rpm records as an allowance as a child and loved to play those records for other people. That began his desire to do radio, eventually going on to work at stations in Georgia and Tennessee, such as Radio Free Georgia, Oldies 96.3 in Nashville (working with a hero of his, Coyote McCloud) and station WYXE ("Wixie and Dixie"). While working at a classic country station, he interviewed numerous artists. Coming from the top 40 era where the DJs were more of a personality than they tend to be nowadays, TJ brings that feel to his "TJ and Company" shows with the emphasis on having fun.

TJ is also a songwriter. He started writing poetry after his marriage ended, then began writing songs. After being involved in music industry events in Atlanta, he moved to Nashville in 1981. He's had a cut with the country/inspirational artist Cristy Lane and music in a movie. He gave some great advice to songwriters out there today: keep trying, go to workshops, learn your craft. If you manage to get your best songs listened to, take note of whatever they say and go away and take it as knowledge.

Other songs played:

Earth, Wind and Fire - September
Cristy Lane - Believin' In Your Love (written by TJ)
Ronnie Bowman - Love For An Angel


Just a reminder: I'll be a guest on TJ's show on Saturday August 1, so hope you tune in. He's become a great mentor and friend to me. Thanks, buddy.

Frequency To The Heart

Have you been a "day-maker" lately? It's probably one of the easiest things to do. And here's one of the most common ways to do that—it's with a kind word. Sure, some people will think something positive about a person, but they don't always say it to them for whatever number of reasons. But I've run out of fingers to count the number of times I've been glad I did say something because I learned afterward that by doing so, I've made someone's day.

So don't hold back. Don't hesitate. Say what you think. Make someone's day.

Closer – Soul Serenade – King Curtis

I had a few seconds before the hour ended so I thought I'd throw in a station ID off the top of my head. I completely botched it up...boy, am I useless without a piece of paper in front of me sometimes.
_
While I'm at it here, I'll add a couple of notes about last Tuesday, when I substituted for Steve Haggard and Kimberly King on their show "The Haggard and King Radio Hour". After I played the theme, I heard someone talking as I was about to speak. That meant one thing: automation was on. So I ran over and shut that off and ran back to the board and did my thing. That and not being real sure I'd fill the whole hour with the music I had (Steve and Kimberly talk much more during their show than I do!) kinda threw me off but it all ended up okay.