Wow, I can’t believe it has been this long since I posted a new blog. I seriously need to get back at it because I miss it. Things have just crazy lately with the job situation for myself and the hubby. We just end up way too stressed and tired for much of anything else and have gotten lazy and depressed. (that's a whole other story.) However, I always find myself going back to my dream of being involved in country music in some way, shape or form every year as the awards shows and Fan Fair roll around each year. Music is the one constant thing that cheers me up no matter what is going on in my life, and of course the recent Academy of Country Music Awards helped snap me out of my rut.
The ACMs were recently held in Las Vegas and my buddies at my favorite country radio station (97.3 the Dawg in Lafayette, LA) were nominated for Small Market Station of the Year. Of course, I had to show the station some love, so I chatted with music director Stephanie Crist about the station’s huge nomination. By the time I spoke with her, the radio winners had already announced, and unfortunately, they didn’t win. However, despite the loss, everyone at the station was very surprised and honored just to be nominated among the 2,400 country radio stations throughout the country, which is a major accomplishment all by itself.
With Crist as music director and Bruce Mikells as program director, Acadiana’s Best Country is undergoing several changes and heading in a new direction, which will be very exciting for the loyal listeners. Crist says the station is proud to be one of only 152 reporting stations that help determine chart success for the artists and their music. As current music director, not to mention two-time Gavin Music Director of the Year, Crist is very involved with and well-known in the Nashville music industry and has attended CMA Music Fest (still better known as Fan Fair to everyone) for the past 16 years and plans to travel to the festival once again this summer. She has also attended the ACM Awards many times, as well as many other industry events.
Perhaps even more important to Crist and the rest of the Dawg gang than its strong Music City ties, is the strong community bond between the station and its listeners throughout Acadiana. The station is an avid supporter of many local events and charities, namely St. Jude and Zoie’s Angels. Crist proudly says the Dawg was one of the original flagship stations to participate in the St. Jude Country Cares Radiothon when it was started by Randy Owen (lead singer of the band Alabama) back in 1989, and adds it is great to be able to help support such a wonderful cause. Each year, Crist and the gang do a fantastic job hosting the radiothon to help raise awareness and money for the patients and families of St. Jude.
One such family particularly touched the hearts of station employees. Travis and Chastity Schexnayder lost their young daughter Zoie to cancer in 2004, and they wanted to do something to give back to St. Jude and the Ronald McDonald House, where Zoie was treated and the family stayed during her treatment. The couple started a grass roots organization named Zoie’s Angels to help raise funds and collect necessary items, such as paper products and cleaning supplies, for families going through the same ordeal and staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Memphis. The couple became friends with Crist, and the station began hosting the Zoie’s Angel Drive for the past several years. Once the donations have been collected, Crist travels with the Schexnayders to Memphis to personally deliver the donations to the families at St. Jude and the Ronald McDonald House. Crist says, “This was a grass roots effort and the Schexnayders allowed us to be a part of it and help them. It has really changed all of us here at the station.” Crist adds that in addition to the radiothon and Zoie’s Angels drive, the station does its best to promote any event throughout Acadiana benefiting St. Jude.
I am a proud Dawg listener and am so happy to see them recognized by the ACM for their hard work. I know they will be nominated again and win in the future. As much as I love country music and living vicariously through the station’s relationship with Nashville and the industry, I am so proud of their community involvement and support of St. Jude. My grandmother was a big supporter of St. Jude so I became a Partner in Hope to honor her after she passed away almost two years ago. And being a St. Jude supporter, I also came to be a supporter of Zoie’s Angels and what the Schexnayders are doing to give back to St. Jude. And simply put, I just plain love the Dawg because Stephanie, Bruce, Brad Vincent and the rest of the gang are the coolest people on the planet.
The ACMs were recently held in Las Vegas and my buddies at my favorite country radio station (97.3 the Dawg in Lafayette, LA) were nominated for Small Market Station of the Year. Of course, I had to show the station some love, so I chatted with music director Stephanie Crist about the station’s huge nomination. By the time I spoke with her, the radio winners had already announced, and unfortunately, they didn’t win. However, despite the loss, everyone at the station was very surprised and honored just to be nominated among the 2,400 country radio stations throughout the country, which is a major accomplishment all by itself.
With Crist as music director and Bruce Mikells as program director, Acadiana’s Best Country is undergoing several changes and heading in a new direction, which will be very exciting for the loyal listeners. Crist says the station is proud to be one of only 152 reporting stations that help determine chart success for the artists and their music. As current music director, not to mention two-time Gavin Music Director of the Year, Crist is very involved with and well-known in the Nashville music industry and has attended CMA Music Fest (still better known as Fan Fair to everyone) for the past 16 years and plans to travel to the festival once again this summer. She has also attended the ACM Awards many times, as well as many other industry events.
Perhaps even more important to Crist and the rest of the Dawg gang than its strong Music City ties, is the strong community bond between the station and its listeners throughout Acadiana. The station is an avid supporter of many local events and charities, namely St. Jude and Zoie’s Angels. Crist proudly says the Dawg was one of the original flagship stations to participate in the St. Jude Country Cares Radiothon when it was started by Randy Owen (lead singer of the band Alabama) back in 1989, and adds it is great to be able to help support such a wonderful cause. Each year, Crist and the gang do a fantastic job hosting the radiothon to help raise awareness and money for the patients and families of St. Jude.
One such family particularly touched the hearts of station employees. Travis and Chastity Schexnayder lost their young daughter Zoie to cancer in 2004, and they wanted to do something to give back to St. Jude and the Ronald McDonald House, where Zoie was treated and the family stayed during her treatment. The couple started a grass roots organization named Zoie’s Angels to help raise funds and collect necessary items, such as paper products and cleaning supplies, for families going through the same ordeal and staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Memphis. The couple became friends with Crist, and the station began hosting the Zoie’s Angel Drive for the past several years. Once the donations have been collected, Crist travels with the Schexnayders to Memphis to personally deliver the donations to the families at St. Jude and the Ronald McDonald House. Crist says, “This was a grass roots effort and the Schexnayders allowed us to be a part of it and help them. It has really changed all of us here at the station.” Crist adds that in addition to the radiothon and Zoie’s Angels drive, the station does its best to promote any event throughout Acadiana benefiting St. Jude.
I am a proud Dawg listener and am so happy to see them recognized by the ACM for their hard work. I know they will be nominated again and win in the future. As much as I love country music and living vicariously through the station’s relationship with Nashville and the industry, I am so proud of their community involvement and support of St. Jude. My grandmother was a big supporter of St. Jude so I became a Partner in Hope to honor her after she passed away almost two years ago. And being a St. Jude supporter, I also came to be a supporter of Zoie’s Angels and what the Schexnayders are doing to give back to St. Jude. And simply put, I just plain love the Dawg because Stephanie, Bruce, Brad Vincent and the rest of the gang are the coolest people on the planet.
