Well, friends, it's been almost a year exactly since I quit my job at KTSH in a dramatic gesture of principle. Have these been the smoothest eleven months of my life? No. But they've been full of rediscovery and opportunity, and I have to say the future is really looking bright.
Case in point: I've been asked to do a guest DJ spot this week on Orange County's favorite classic rock station KXOJ (The Juice!). As you know, I've been lining up more and more of this subbing gigs, and this summer's going to be a great time for them, as a lot of the more steadily employed disc jockeys will be taking off on vacation. I think it's only a matter of time before Lost Moon Radio and I find a new permanent home.
I'm especially excited about this week's job because I'll be broadcasting live from the KXOJ Tent at the Orange County Fair. (Stop by and grab a bumper sticker!) So I'm loading up the ol' rocket with travel snacks and plotting a return course for Earth. As always, I'm looking forward to visiting the mother planet, and particularly the OC Fair. I haven't been in a number of years, but as a kid the fair was always one of the highlights of summer for me. I remember it like yesterday: tromping around in a the scorching heat, losing two month's allowance on the carnival games, betting on the pig races while eating chocolate-dipped bacon, and forcing my little brother David onto the tilt-a-whirl. He never wanted to go, but I know deep down he really loved it. The whole place was a kid's dream. I felt like Pinocchio on Pleasure Island, but no one tried to turn me into a donkey.
I also always love the fair for being the site of my first ever rock and roll concert: the Kingston Trio, who I saw under the stars in the open-air amphitheater when I was just seven or eight years old. I can still remember those perfect harmonies, calling my juvenile heart south of the border....
Speaking of musical guests, on the day of my broadcast the OC Fair is going to feature a very exciting pair of them, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart! The Wilson sisters are old friends of mine from before I left Planet Earth, so I'm really looking forward to seeing their show. I'm hoping I can even convince them to drop by the KXOJ tent for a quick hello on the air. Fingers crossed.
Anyway, you should get tickets to Heart's show at the Pacific Amphitheatre, and you should be sure to check out their new album, Red Velvet Car, which debuted at #11 on the Billboard Album Chart a few months ago. (Not bad for a band that first charted back in 1976.) It's a terrific record, and it continues Heart's triumphant return to their hard rock roots, following up on 2004's underappreciated Jupiters Darling (an album that I won't claim to have inspired ... though I certainly consider myself a member of its target audience).
So tune in this week! In the spirit of the season (and my return trip to Earth) I'm dedicating my broadcast to the theme of Travel, and I'm putting together a set list of terrific tracks. I'll see you at the fair!
