The absolutely best part of the Blue Suede Connection story is how we came about; formed by the purest means, love and friendship.
In the fall of 2016, three Elvis friends, Dan, TL, and local entertainer, Kevin Booth, were trusted by a new community radio station in Greencastle, PA, 93.7 WRGG, to fill a few hours every Sunday with Elvis!
Some times in life it's all about timing, and that's what it was for us, as Dan had just started doing a few hours on the air for them in the afternoons, and had the experience behind him (we aren't kidding when we say he's a 20+ year radio vet).
First and foremost, we were excited to just hang out with each other, laugh, and spin Elvis music. I think all of us had to pinch ourselves, in awe that we were trusted to be doing the one thing we'd all been doing in the privacy of our own homes our entire lives--enjoy Elvis!
Every week, we talked Elvis, acted silly, and some day's, even shed a few tears with each other. It relieved stress from the weekly grind, and over all, readied us for the start of a new week.
And what's even better? We were hearing from our listeners that they too felt like Blue Suede Connection was the start of their week, putting them in a good place for their own grind!
Fabulous!
Back then we called our little ditty, Elvis Now Radio! Man we loved that name, but it wasn't long before we realized that if real true Elvis fans, like us, were digging this kind of Sunday party, then there were millions of others just like us across the globe! Syndication was an obvious next step right from the start.
We'd all been involved in the Elvis world for, well, forever! We'd all made life long friends because of Elvis, like Dan and Kevin; fell in love because of Elvis, like Dan and TL. Elvis had long before us been the common dominator to many great things, in many lives.
When Elvis was asked to do the 1973 Aloha via satellite, they didn't just choose him because he was one of the greatest entertainers from America, though that helped, they picked him because the single name, ELVIS, was known in almost every corner of the world! They picked him because people related to Elvis, and Elvis loved connecting with people.
Syndication came in the summer of 2017. It started just as our birth at WRGG started, with a little community radio station in Standish, Maine, WZJF. The little station, now owned by Kristie Ronfeldt, had been willed to her by her uncle, Dave Patterson, upon his death. WZJF was on the air because of LOVE. Blue Suede Connection was created from LOVE.
Could their be anything more perfect than to start syndication with such a history? Exactly. That's what we thought too.
As our one year anniversary of syndication approaches, we are amazed at how our show has evolved, from the name change to the sad departure of Kevin Booth--who left to be the great daddy he is to his lovely daughter Abby!--to now to be heard in over 30 station in 5 countries.
It's it amazing what LOVE can do? And it started with you right here, reading this now. Yes you! The Elvis fan whom loved the man first and shared it with us each week. We are truly blessed. And we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love and friendship.
Elvis' music will live on long after we are all gone, but today, in this moment in time--it's remains ours, together!
TCB/TLC
Patricia Garber
No comments:
Post a Comment