The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit Show - A musical mid-life crisis -- a late-night search for meaning and happiness airs on WRIR LP Monday nights from 9 PM to 11 PM. Stream the show @ www.wrir.org
Hey Listeners,
Tonight join me for a musical celebration of my 10 years (10+ as The Haberdasher) hosting The Man In The Gray Flannel Suit Show. The show first aired from 1 AM to 3 AM in October of 2008. After 6 months I moved to the 11 to 1 spot and spent 6 years there and have been on in the current time slot from 9 to 11 for about 3 1/2 years.
A lot has happened in those 10 years. Not long after the show first aired, Barack Obama was elected President. Fast forward 10 years and we are on the eve of what may be the most important mid-term elections in our countryâs history as we near the end of the second year of the Trump Presidency. On a personal note all three of my kids graduated from high school and two from college during the past 10 years. We lost some family members â including my brother-in-law but have had many great times as well.
WRIR has been on the air almost 14 years. I first got interested in the station before it ever broadcast. I had lunch with one of the founders of the station and even pitched a show. I had done some radio in HS and even had a show at WDCE after I graduated from UVA. Unfortunately the timing wasnât right to get involved at WRIR due to my work schedule, but I was a faithful listener. Three years went by before I reached out to WRIR again with a show proposal for a show with my son called Generation Gap. We didnât get the show, but I began volunteering and served as AAA Music Director and started subbing for other shows. I did that for about 4 months before getting the coveted 1 AM to 3 AM time slot.
The early days of the Haberdasher
WVHP FM â 1978
WDCE â 1985
Now 10 years later Iâve done over 500 shows â thatâs 1000 hours of radio. Conservatively I spend twice as much time preparing for my show as I do on the air â so thatâs another 2000 hours of âradioâ or a total of 3000 hours of of radio work in the 10 years.
I typically fit in about 30 tracks each week â which means in the last 10 years I have played @ 15,000 songs. I try to play artists that are ânew to meâ every week. Usually I feature @ 10 artists each week that Iâve never played on my show before. Thatâs about 5000 new artists. Iâll introduce two new artists to my show tonight as well.
I often have a theme for my show and those themes have ranged from music from Native American artists â inspired by the documentary Rumble to tracks from fake bands to music inspired by Mad Men and every and anything in between.
I burn CDs for my show. Here are the spindles with the DCS from past shows. You can find all my shows beginning in February 2010 at Radio4all.net.
But I havenât done it alone. Itâs a community station and Iâve tried to include the community by inviting friends to co-host with me. Helen has done 6 or more shows featuring her brother Stuartâs music as tribute to him. Iâve had my kids and their friends up in the studio. Iâve been joined by Trusty Sidekick Lando, Dr. Straz, Pop, Uncle Rich, Mike Norvell, Will Bigelow, Bryan Appel, Bo Bowden and many others. Last week I was joined by Matt Creegan and he shared some gems from his 78 collection.
Some weeks I have the chance to give away tickets to my listeners. Iâve given away tickets to see Dave Mallett, Broken Social Scene, Anders Osborne, Rhett Miller, The Wood Brothers, Cracker, Carbon Leaf, Shooter Jennings, Patterson Hood, Keller Williams, Bedouine, Marco Benevento, and Blitzen Trapper (and a few others too). If youâre not tuning in â youâre missing out. Thanks to volunteer Mike Rutz, host of Activate!, for maintaining relationships with area clubs and making these ticket give-aways possible. And Iâm giving a pair of tickets away tonight to see Chris Robinson and the Brotherhood at The Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville this Thursday night.
Iâve had many bands play live on my show. Paulo Franco has made 4 visits to the studio. Twice with an assortment of singer-songwriter guests for a songwriter in the round event (modeled after Vince Scelsaâs In Their Own Words series from the Bottomline) that included â Paul Pearce, Elana Lisa, Russell Lacy, Preston Duncan and others. Rob Williams has played live twice as has Tin Can Fish Band. Iâve also had Mama Tried, Lâil Ronnie, Tide Rose, Dubbest, Wylder, Lâil Jimmy and the RobNSons, and tRiO wHat.
There are so many great programs on WRIR and Iâve had the pleasure of helping out my fellow DJs and subbing for a number of them including â Edge of Americana, Lost Music Saloon, Louisiana Dancehall, Global A-Go-Go, Pop Goes the World, 12 Fluid Ounces, Time Again Radio, Motherâs Milk, Over the Edge of the Pop Narcotic, Wide Ear Folk, The New Music Machine and a handful of others. Iâve also had a fun time hosting a couple of our revolving host shows â Cause and Effect and End of the Century.
Itâs been a great 10 years and Iâm looking forward to many more. As always thanks for listening. Enjoy.
The Haberdasher
The Metrolites The Man In the Dorian Gray Flannel Suit In Spy-Fi Go-Go Golem The Knitters Born to be wild The Modern Sounds of the Knitters Universal Music Group International Tim Curry, Cast Rose Tint My World The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) 1975 Ode Records Comp John Hartford Turn Your Radio on Aereo-Plane 1971 Rounder Jeannie C. Riley The Generation Gap The Generation Gap Plantation The Wild Tchoupitoulas Meet de Boys on the Battlefront The Wild Tchoupitoulas Island Records Phish Tweezer 2009/03/06 Hampton Coliseum Chris Robinson Brotherhood Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go The Magic Door Silver Arrow Records Rock Ural Thomas & the Pain The Right Time The Right Time 2018 Tender Loving Empire Album Rock Beat Root Revival Come Together Live At Austin City Jams Gillian Hills Zou bisou bisou Twistin' the Rock : Gillian Hills, Vol. 9 Barclay The Replacements Everything's Coming up Roses Songs for Slim - EP New West Records Rock Hedwig and the Angry Inch sugar daddy Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Original Cast Recording) Rhino Atlantic Rodriguez Sugar Man Cold Fact 1970 Clarence Avant Catalog Rock Magali Noël Fais moi mal johnny Les grands succès de la chanson française : 1956 Musicor John C. Reilly & Angela Correa Let's Duet Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Deluxe Edition] 2007 Cheech & Chong Let's Make a Dope Deal Cheech & Chong's Greatest Hit Rhino/Warner Bros. Bob Marley & The Wailers Kaya Kaya (Deluxe) 1978 Tuff Gong Jiri Grossman and Nada Urbanakova Jackson Hold Johhnymu Cashovi NRBQ Here Come The Whistleman Ludlow Garage 1970 Sundazed Music Rock Eddie Hinton Shout Bamalama Very Extremely Dangerous Island Def Jam James Hunter w/ Van Morrison Turn on Your Lovelight Believe What I Say 2006 Hepcat Kelly Hogan & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts Wild Mountain Berries Beneath the Country Underdog 2000 Bloodshot Records Paulo Franco La Estrella Del PaÃs Live on The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit Show 2014 self-released Comp Rock LOC Preston Cochran Take the Skinheads Bowling Live on The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit Show Lil Jimmy and the RobNSons Lazy River Live on The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit Show tRiO wHat Stamp Stump Stomp Live on The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit Show