August 19 2019, Issue 667
WMIL’s Wolfe Hits 30
Majoring in wildlife biology at NC State lasted one semester before future iHeartMedia RSVPP & WMIL/Milwaukee PD Kerry Wolfe switched to communications. As much as the initial major might have prepared him for working with radio and record pros (see stories from them below), living at the college radio station and becoming a broadcaster clearly paid off. Wolfe celebrates 30 years at WMIL this month, and he has a few not-so-secret secrets to share about radio longevity. CA: You worked in North Carolina and Colorado springs early in your career. What brought you to Milwaukee? KW: I worked for the late Kevin O’Neal at WRNS/Greenville and WBIG/Greensboro in Kerry Wolfe North Carolina. Kevin went to Milwaukee and started calling me every couple months. After a few of those he finally made an offer I had to consider. I moved in August 1989 to be APD/MD and do middays. After about a year, Kevin got the call to go to WSM-FM/Nashville, and I got promoted to PD. What was the adjustment in going to Milwaukee? Being someone who loves the mountains, I loved Colorado Springs. Coming here, the winters were tough, but if you stay long enough, you grow fur. Your body gets used to it; you learn to cover up, and summer, spring and fall are easy to love. I got married shortly after I moved here and adopted a child. I’ve had opportunities to move to most of the top 10 markets but never did. Why not? First, it’s a great place to raise a kid. We’re right in the middle of major league sports, an hour from Chicago and – if we want that smaller trendy city – an hour from Madison. Milwaukee is the perfect size and I got to work for some great managers. At one point we had four ownership changes in a month, but I didn’t want to leave. What have the highlights been? Winning two CMA and ACM station awards is big. And I never had any regrets in hiring. Billy Greenwood’s dad – who has since passed – was our afternoon drive talent,
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All To My Shelf: Team Dan + Shay celebrate the No. 1 “All To Myself” this evening (8/19). Pictured (l-r, back) are Warner Music’s Scott Hendricks, manager Lisa Ray, the label’s Rohan Kohli, Kristen Williams, Ben Kline and (l-r, front) Dan Smyers, Warner’s John Esposito and Shay Mooney.
NSHoF 2019: Marcus Hummon
Spotlighting individual inductees leading up to the Oct. 14 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala begins with songwriter, recording artist, composer, playwright and author Marcus Hummon. His cuts include Rascal Flatts’ “Bless The Broken Road,” which took home the Grammy for Best Country Song in 2005; The Dixie Chicks’ “Cowboy Take Me Away” and “Ready To Run;” Sara Evans’ “Born To Fly;” Tim McGraw’s “One Of These Days” and Wynonna Judd’s “Only Love.” A lifelong Marcus Hummon
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