TIMBES....PG 9
HERMAN.......PG 8
Vol 24, No. 2 • June 2024
News You Can Use
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Enjoy the sweet gospel music on weekends broadcast by Baby Jock on WOJG FM These days, the songs on the radio are available on Tracy Shaw has the inspira- computers and serenade listeners with the touch of a button. tional, uplifting, and soul-stir“We have all these songs at ring world of gospel music at our fingertips. At our station, his fingertips. As the weekend disc jockey we’re free to play the music we want to play,” Shaw said. on WOJG, 94.7 FM out of “I play what I’m feeling Bolivar, Tenn., Shaw is the that day. I try to meet the youngest son of Johnny and moods of people and be versaOpal Shaw, who have owned tile in what I play,” he said. the all-gospel station since During his sets, listeners may 1991. Shaw said his dad has 60 years of experience in radio hear a mix of old-school gospel, new artists, contempoand passed on that love of gospel through the airwaves to rary styles, and the always popular gospel quartets. him. Shaw said the inspirational “I started at age 15 working music he plays is intended to at my father’s AM station,” lift the spirits of listeners. “I Shaw said. “It was mainly know we can uplift a person. pushing buttons.” People tell me, ‘You lifted my Now, he shares his love of spirit.’ That makes my day gospel with listeners across when they say that.” He said the 14 counties in North Mississippi and Tennessee that he has heard from people who are going through difficult sit within WOJG’s broadcast times who have told him that reach. Shaw is on the air the music he played brought Saturdays 7–11 a.m. and Sundays 6–9. A Memphis resi- them through it. His shows offer a steady dent, Shaw commutes to stream of gospel sounds, Bolivar for his shows. including a “double play” of “It’s my ministry that God the inspirational song of the wants me to do,” he said. “It’s day. There are four breaks not a job. It’s my passion.” within Return Address: P.O. Box 1292 Corinth, MS 38835 each hour for Shaw to talk to listeners POSTAL PATRON and give “shoutouts to
schools and businesses.” Shaw said his father is his inspiration for what he does on the air. Every DJ has his own style, but Shaw says he models his on-air time after listening to his father. “I’m the younger version of him. I got his style of music,” he said. “He’s my favorite DJ. He’s always positive and upbeat.” Johnny Shaw gave his son the first opportunity in radio when he was 15. “I started at 15 working at my father’s AM station. Mainly, I was pushing buttons.” That job led to his on-air nickname, Baby Jock, which has stuck around through all his years working full- and part-time on radio. He became a disc jockey in 1995. After graduating from Tennessee State University, Shaw said he returned home to serve as general manager for WOJG from 2005–2014 at his father’s station. He found another job in Memphis, but two years ago, the weekend time slots became available. “I do enjoy working on weekends.” “At 15, I didn’t think I would be doing this, but I’m loving it.” Contact Tracy Shaw, the Baby Joke, at (731) 658-7689 or like us on Facebook to request and listen to your favorite gospel tunes.
By Lucy Weber
Tracy Shaw