Radio Friendly Unit Shifters‪!‬ Jeff Sweatman

His title may be a mouthful, but it just exemplifies how many things Ayappa Biddanda can do, and do well, that he is Senior Director, Grass Roots & Video Promotion/Tour & Events Marketing at Concord, the largest truly independent music and theatrical rights company in the world. In an Industry Spotlight a few years ago, Ayappa told Play MPE some of his career highlights included: booking Matt Nathanson on The Howard Stern Show; booking Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats on The Grand Ole Opry; setting up an album event for Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; coordinating an unprecedented video premiere across MTV Live, MTVU, CMT Music, BET Soul, and BET Centric for Valerie June; being with O.A.R. on Capitol Hill in DC for Arts Advocacy Day alongside Norman Lear and Rep. John Lewis; booking Melissa Etheridge on the Power 106 Morning Show in LA to discuss her tribute to Stax. We talked about not only some of these stories, but how he's also gotten to work with legends like Merle Haggard, Tanya Tucker, Dolly Parton & Indigo Girls as well as newer artists like Amythyst Kiah and Allison Russell, coming from East Tennessee out to L.A. and back to Nashville, where he currently resides.

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Great to visit with John Harper, DJ extraordinaire from the Outer Banks, NC!  You can hear him these days on radiofreeobx.com and he's got a thriving wedding DJ business at johnharperdj.com.  He used to be heard right here in Charlottesville on 3WV and we chatted about what Cville was like a couple decades ago, how the landscape of AAA radio has changed since he got into it on the ground floor in the early 90s, his days as a kid radio pirate, what the best wedding reception songs are and why and who the best American band of all-time is. 



 


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Krystal Robbins (VP of Radio Promotion for ANTI-/Epitaph Records) might just take the cake for the most coolest artists mentioned per capita so far on RFUS!  We actually recorded this in late 2020, but the podcast guest booking agent (aka me) took a few months off in 2021.  Now we're back into a new season in August of 2021!  In her years at ANTI- alone, Krystal has worked with everyone from Neko Case to Mavis Staples, from M. Ward to Mike Ness & Social Distortion to Michael Franti & Spearhead.  Krystal has worked on behalf of legends like Tom Waits and Joe Strummer as well as newer acts like Jade Jackson, Son Little and The Antlers, to get airplay on some of the best radio stations in the country from KROQ in L.A. to WFUV in NYC.  We shared stories of those gone too soon (like Cobain & Cornell & WFUV's own Rita Houston), the surprise equinox release of Fleet Foxes' latest amazing album, and (on a lighter note) RBF syndrome, dating back to Epitaph's heyday of Bad Religion, Pennywise, Guttermouth and so many more and an intern named Frances Bean Cobain. 


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After a hiatus following a brief Season Two, we're back in business on RFUS with Jack Barton!  It was a privilege and an honor to speak with one of the true mavens of the AAA format, who comes at the industry from basically all sides (although I forgot to ask if he's ever played in a band!).  Like so many affected by what Little Steven calls the Big Bang of Rock'n'Roll (The Beatles on Ed Sullivan), he got into radio in college which led to a career working in radio and retail in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York. He then returned to Philly to cover the industry for FMQB and in recent years has expanded his own business into the realm of not only format charts and news and summits, but artist management, consulting, and Dark Star Orchestra merchandise.  He's seen over 300 Grateful Dead shows, so we asked about some of his best Deadhead memories, a Dead connection he has with Charlottesville radio and even some advice for his beloved Sixers heading into the NBA offseason.


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This week, we're thrilled to be joined by a veteran of AAA radio promotion, Jesse Barnett!  We talked about a wide array of topics, from how he started in the music biz at A&M Records during the heyday of Sheryl Crow, Blues Traveler & The Gin Blossoms, to how he started his own company in 2005.  We of course delved into what the "Emerson Mafia" is all about, and how after graduating college, he actually was a TV ad copywriter briefly for a well-known firm in L.A.  It was cool to reminisce about how we both started in the AAA format around the same time in the 90s when artists like Fiona Apple & Alanis Morissette & Semisonic were taking over the world, and here we are in 2020, when all 3 of them have made big comebacks that Jesse has been involved in on the radio promo teams.  He's worked closely with independent artists like Mike Doughty & Ingrid Michaelson, pop-crossover success stories like Michael Franti & Passenger...and, oh yeah, he got to work the surprise album from the singular sensation known as Taylor Swift.  He has a whole slew of great things in store for 2021, only some of which can he divulge here now.  I also admire Jesse for taking up photography as a hobby within the past decade, especially since he got so good so quickly!  We even talked about cool record stores, cool Bay Area multi-band mini-festivals in the 80s, and what it's like raising a theater kid (I've got a 6-year-old who is well on his way)...so yeah, we covered a LOT of ground! Be advised, Jesse comes from the Attaway school of podcast guesting, so there are some naughty words here & there.  But it's only rock'n'roll, right?


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Although he's a native Minnesotan and therefore a Vikings fan, Keith "The Rev" Coes is a true Tennessee Titan of the radio industry and AAA format in particular.  He was there in the very early stages of Nashville's Lightning 100, and as their Assistant Program Director and Music Director, he's shaped one of the best & most decorated commercial stations in the country for the better part of 30 years. He's amassed countless industry adventures from not only living in Music City, but regularly attending SXSW, Bonnaroo, Non-Com, Boulder & Americana Fest. After we recorded this podcast, I became aware of WRLT's "Save Our Airwaves" campaign, which officially started the same day this episode was posted...help 'em out if you can: https://lightning100.com/saveourairwaves/

p.s. there are a couple naughty words, but I figured out where the tone generator was in Audacity, so I had fun with bleeps too ;)


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