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Issue #69 – Student Successes
by L. Swift and Jeff McQ
Growing up in Nashville, Tennessee, Kristen Musser grew to love radio.
Since starting her apprenticeship, Kristen has gotten a wide range of experiences in broadcasting, thanks in part to her mentor’s broad base of connections in both Internet and terrestrial radio. While Eric has been teaching her a lot of the ins and outs of broadcasting with his own weekly Internet indie-rock music show Revolver Underground, he also maintains a relationship with his former station, 102.9 “The Buzz,” Nashville’s premier rock station. He arranged for Kristen to shadow radio personality Hayley St. John during a live broadcast, to see firsthand what goes on in the studio behind the scenes. Kristen recalls it was an eye-opening experience
“What the listener hears versus what [is] actually going on is a whole other world half the time,” she says. “I had no idea that it was a lot of recording and then mixing it around to make it sound-wise, and then playback. And so I’ve realized that not a lot of the live stuff is actually live.”
One of the challenges Hayley says she’s been working on is developing her “radio voice,” and how to sound more conversational on-air and in recording work without sounding hesitant or awkward. She says both Eric and Hayley gave her good advice about it. “One thing that my mentor told me to do that’s helped tremendously is to bring up a picture, either on my computer or a print, of somebody like a friend or a parent, boyfriend or something, and post it right there beside whatever you’re reading,” says Kristen. “That way, it looks like you’re talking to somebody to sound more conversational, and not like a robot or a receptionist.”
Now approaching the end of her apprenticeship, Kristen is quickly finding her feet in broadcasting, making solid connections, getting some great opportunities for experience, and making some opportunities of her own. While she is currently developing her own Internet radio podcast—a talk show called 20somethingRadio that will talk about the issues young adults face—her mentor Eric is now also entrusting her with more responsibilities with his show Revolver Underground, asking her to produce the show while he works on expanding its reach. “I am producing the show now,” says Kristen, “and once a month or so, I’ll pick out the music and do the entire show myself. I’ve done that twice now, and it’s nerve wracking but so fulfilling at the same time. I love it!”
But for Kristen, perhaps the most personally rewarding experience has been gaining an important new connection—namely, the man who first inspired her to pursue a career in radio, Lonn David.
“The radio show that played late Saturday nights when I was a teen, and the DJ that hosted it, are back on the air after 13 years,” she says. “I jumped up and down and screamed like a Beatles groupie upon finding out he was back. I wrote him an email to express my excitement and tell him how much the show meant to me, and he replied! …He encouraged me in my choices and actually recalled the day that I got to meet him when picking up a prize I won over the air. But what’s awesome is that he wants me to keep in touch…It’s a huge, uplifting confidence boost having your radio idol interested in your career.”
But it gets even better. “To put a candle on top of this whole cake,” she says, “he’s agreed to do a Skype interview with me for my upcoming podcast/demo that I’m working on.”
That’s right: the DJ who first inspired Kristen to become a radio show host comes back on the scene just as she’s about to launch her career—and is slated to be her first guest on her premiere podcast!
Talk about coming full circle.
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