The Bobby Bones Show - The man who leads the development and execution of Country Radio’s biggest networking event on Takin A Walk

Episode Date: February 3, 2023

On this bonus Friday episode of Takin A Walk-Music History on foot we talk with Executive Director of the CRB/Country Radio Broadcasters RJ Curtis.CRB is the organization that puts on the annual Country Radio Seminar in Nashville Tennessee.RJ is a long time country radio/Music Row executive who has impacted nearly every aspect of the format and he discusses the current state of country music along with the CRS 2023 event.The Takin A Walk podcast is featured in Feedspot's Top 100 Music Podcasts You Must Follow in 2023 List found here: https://blog.feedspot.com/music_podcasts/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends.

Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcast. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo.

My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. It would not be...

Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Owens, correct? I doctored the test ones.

It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg Gillespie and Michael Mancini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences.

Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Readers, Katie's finalists, publicists. We have an incredible new episode this week for you guys. We have our girl Hillary Duff in here, and we can't wait for you to hear this episode. They put on Lizzie McGuire at 2 a.m. video on demand this guy's two a m libym whatever time it is lizzie mcguire and i'm wild a wild batch you were

it was like a first like closet moment from me where i was like you're like i don't feel like she's hot like the rest of that no no no i was like she's beautiful but i'm appreciating her in a different way than these boys are i'm not like but listen to lasco dristas on the i heart radio app apple podcasts or whatever you get your podcast well i'm so happy to be in nashville for this episode a taken a walk with a man who has his fingers on the pulse of Music City. RJ Curtis is the executive director of the Country Radio Broadcasters Association, responsible for, among other things, the outstanding country radio seminar.

RJ's career spans every aspect of the business, starting in radio as a baby teenager DJ, which is amazing to me since he's only in his early 30s right now. So, RJ, thanks for being on the Taking a Walk podcast. Thank you. I like this idea of, you know, walking around. Yeah, walking is a, has a lot of benefits, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah. Set to see where we are.

We're on 16th Avenue South. The Heart of Music Row. There's a famous song from the early 80s. I think it came out in 1980 by Lacey J. Dalton called 16th Avenue. You may have played it somewhere in your radio journey. But I always love the line. God bless the boys who make the noise on 16th Avenue. I love that.

And so there's been a lot of noise made on this street. Fairly notorious part of town at a good way, right? Yes. Yes. And, you know, we're walking towards... the end of 16th Avenue on Music Row, but as just about 100, 200 feet up ahead, we're going to walk past one of the most famous recording studios. In my opinion, in all of music history, and that's the Quonset Hut that Bradley Owens and his brother. So what's it like being in your leadership position with the go-to event of not only the country business,

but I would dare say the seminar business in general around radio. Everybody loves this event. What's it like being in your position? You know, it's a lot of fun. I mean, I went to CRS as an attendee for many, many years before I was involved in it. I first came to CRS in 1985. I got on the agenda committee about 12 years later, and then on the board in 1999.

And then you get kind of this behind the curtains look at it. It's a lot of fun to put together. It's a lot of work, but you feel a sense of responsibility because of what you just said, the way you framed CRS, it is a go-to event. People look forward to it when we didn't have it in a real setting in person in 2021. People were disappointed.

So you feel like you got to deliver. You've got to deliver a great educational curriculum. You've got to deliver speakers. The luncheons, the lineup, new face is the whole thing. And it's honestly, it's a challenging job, but it's one of the coolest jobs I've ever had. I really enjoy it. Okay, so this is what you were talking about here. This is the historic site of Deca Records and the Quonset Hut.

The Quonset Hut. Now, originally, it's all been built up. There's a new facade. around it. If we go to the back of the building, you can just see the outline of the original Quonset Hut. And they literally took like a World War II Quonset Hut and set it down here and built a recording studio in it. And some of the most famous recordings in the history of country music happen in that room. A lot of Patsy Klein stuff, Waylon Jennings. I went through a program here called Leadership Music in 2015. And I sat in the middle of that room where like Waylon

Jennings cut, Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line, which is one of my favorite all-time country songs. And it's just, yeah, it's really cool in there. It's very modern. It's not like, you know, it was obviously in the 40s and 50s, but I like studios. I've been to a lot of cool recording studios, excuse me, and I don't know. Some people may not feel this way. I go in there and I feel the vibe. I think I imagine who was in that room and what they were doing.

One of my first experiences is not to get off track about CRS, but. When I was at KZLA, we did a number of events and actual live broadcasts from the studio in the Capitol Records building, in the tower. And, you know, Sinatra, the Beach Boys and all that stuff happening there, Buck Owens. I mean, yeah, it's pretty cool sitting in a studio like that. So when did you fall in love with Country? Well, I fell in love with Country. Country music, probably about two years after I got into the format. I didn't grow up listening to country music at all.

And I tell this story, and it's absolutely true. The first country song I ever listened to from start to finish, because I had no choice, was my first night on the air as a part-timer at KZLA, about two weeks after it flipped country. I got a job there and never listen to country music. And the reason I hadn't listened to a country song from start to finish, because I had a choice. I could turn it off as it came on the radio.

But I didn't have a choice playing it. And I fought it for a couple of years. But country music is a, I mean, if you are someone who likes music at all, okay, it is, there's a gravitational pull. You cannot resist it. Resistance is futile. You know, it's just such a wonderful, intoxicating format. The stories, the songs. You know, when I started working at KZLA, I was 20 years old. And, you know, I was heavily into 70s rock and all that. And that to me was like the ultimate.

And I got into this format, and it just kind of sucked me in. It didn't happen quickly. But once I was in, I remember making it. I did, in 1983, I made two decisions, life-changing decisions. One was to get married, and the other one was to marry country music. And that same year, I married Lori Gregg, and I said, this is the format I'm staying with. And both were really great decisions, I'm happy to say. Oh, that's so awesome. So give us a state of the state right at the moment.

of the format, of the country format. Wow, that is such a loaded question. You know what? I'm going to say it's good, and it always has a great potential and a huge upside. When you look at the format, just in pure numbers of radio stations, country always has a lot of outlets,

playing our music. And so that tells me that there's a big appetite for it, and it's still very viable. But inside of that, I think it's a challenging time for country radio because it's being attacked from so many different sides. We're in an environment with streaming is blowing up. People can invent their own radio stations, do a lot of stuff online. There's other content out there that competes for listeners' attention.

attention. It's mainly an in-car listening experience now. So it has its challenges. And then if you go really, you know, micro on it, then you can get into this conversation about where the music is going. And this is a format, of course, I'm closer to it being in it, but this is a format that spends, I think, more time than any other format analyzing itself. and where it is. And if you watch the Ken Burns documentary a couple years ago, you really saw how we in the format and everybody involved in the making of it angsts over where the music is, you know, where it's going, what the future is.

Is it celebrating its legacy and its past enough? All that. But in general, I think there's a lot of upside still. But everything, yeah, everything goes through cycles, right? I mean, top 40 goes through cycles, country goes through cycles, so that's not really unusual for radio, right? No, I don't think that's unusual for any format. How you doing?

Three Wiseman. All right. Speak for yourself. Yeah, I mean, every format goes through highs and lows. And I think about it, like, here's an example. The class of 1989, class of 89, when country really, really blew up. I think it was because of a lot of amazing music, Garth, Clint Black, Brooks and Dunn, Travis Tritt, Martini McBride. All these artists had exploded and kind of hit the mainstream.

But I also think that top 40 at the time was going through a little bit of a tough identity crisis because hip hop was coming into mainstream, and I think mainstream top 40s were having a tough time figuring out how to program that. Does it fit? Is it too gangster, you know? And I think country really benefited from that. I think we took advantage of that,

in addition to having some amazing music. So do you feel that sometimes it's true of other formats where it can be a bit me-to-ish at certain moments, Like once one path begins and, you know, A&R just rushes into signing that same type of artist. I think we may be more guilty of that. I mean, being, you know, being completely true to ourselves. Country may be more guilty of that, too. We'd spent a lot of time, as I said earlier, angsting about where we are and what kind of music and is it too country.

But yes, I mean, you saw a little bit. of that in the mid-90s when, you know, the class of 89 was really blown up. You know, everybody wants the next, I'm not sure Garth Brooks could have been duplicated, but, you know, now I see, I'm not being critical, I'm just saying what I see. I feel like a lot of labels are trying to find the next loop combs. You know, that kind of regular guy, not a pretty boy, just a regular guy who, someone I used to work with Montevaden at all, she's at country-herstead. check now, but when we were at All Access, Luke started blowing up, and she said, she framed it perfectly.

She said, the reason I like Luke Combs is, because he's a kind of guy who looks like he could write a great country song and change your oil all in the same day. Yeah. It has that kind of every man look. I do see a lot of that now. I think that's appealing to core country fans, but yeah, that's been going on for a long, long time. I don't think it's a bad thing.

You know, it's like, if it's working, give them more. Right, exactly. Okay, we've just stopped here at a place. Can you describe this for those that can't see it right now? Yeah, this is... We are standing in front of a statue of a piano and a gentleman playing the piano. And I'm going to defer to John here.

This is, is this Owen Bradley? Yeah. Yeah, that's Owen Bradley, who is, you know, back to the... the Quonset Hut and sort of some of the most amazing music ever created on Music Row. Produced Patsy Klein. Yes. Yeah. That's awesome. Look at that. Yes. And there's a, I have to say that I don't know that I've ever really stopped here.

I've driven by, this is a circle, by the way, for those of anyone listening, we're in a traffic circle here at the end of Music Row. And I've walked by here, and I've driven by it a million times that I don't know that I've ever stopped and shook hands with Mr. Bradley here. Well, you need to get out and take a walk more, aren't you? I do. That's why you're here. I'm so glad you're in town. Yeah, it's therapeutic. Beautiful day here. Absolutely. So talk about music discovery as far as radio first. And then we'll talk about it as it relates to streaming services as well. So how is music

discovery occurring for consumers of country music these days? I think it's happening online primarily. I think streaming services, you know, Spotify and Amazon and Pandora, I think they own that lane right now. A lot of it has to do with just the amount of music they can put on their site and playlist, and people can generate their own lists and find songs. Country radio, this might sound harsh, but I feel like just not intentionally, but I feel like they kind of surrendered that position about 10 years ago

when playlists began getting tighter. So that's not to say that country radio isn't an important component of all this, because nobody can bring home a record. Nobody can take a hit record and bring it to critical mass like country radio can. I mean, that's something the DSPs will never be able to deal, in my opinion. You know, because when all of country radio, particularly the reporting stations, are on a record, and they're all playing it in heavy rotation across the country, it can take a hit record and take it from here to here and put it into hyperspace.

And that creates all sorts of opportunities for the artist, national TV bookings, maybe some commercial opportunities in terms of the music being synced out and licensed, and touring, and then merch. So I really feel like radio has a very big role, maybe on the front end not so much, but when they get behind something that's new and on the front end, when they decide to do that, I think they're still very, very impactful. They still have that power. Just the reach of radio alone creates opportunity.

So the curation aspect, though, where personalities play a role, we obviously have, well, we have a global audience listening to this, but we have a lot of people because of my affiliation with the radio business and the radio business listening. And in an era where personalities seem to be disappearing frequently, talk about why they shouldn't disappear when it relates to curation and music discovery. Because I don't think you can create enthusiasm. and passion, interest, all those things, unless you have a human being behind the microphone endorsing that and talking about how exciting it was. I think it's so cool when you hear a radio

personality who went to a show the night before talking about like that one moment in the show. Maybe it was the moment where all the cell phones came out and the lights went on. Maybe it was a song. Maybe it's one just a show stopping experience. There's nothing that can duplicate that like someone preaching that word and being an evangelist for the music. Or it's something that they heard on an album cut or this single and they just get all behind that. Because radio listeners do look to personalities to lead the way for them. I still think that's happening.

And I think that's really, really important. So they may not, the radio personalities on the air, they may not be curating the music in the sense that they're creating the playlist and picking the songs. But they are curators in the fact that, they can really move the needle, create excitement, and get the listeners to rally behind their enthusiasm for new artists and live moments in music. So do you feel like ownership of radio companies gets that?

I'm not sure ownership does. I think boots on the ground does. I think that the executive level of radio, the programmers, And I think that's the important part, because they're doing all they can. You know, as challenged as radio is with budgets, and you look at, you know, Beasley just laid off a bunch of people, Odyssey has done that, as challenged as they are with, you know, personnel and the workforce. The people that I know on radio that are at the station level or even at a corporate level, they are so enthusiastic about the business and the music. That is, that has, it's harder for them to do their job because they don't have the resources at the station level. But they are, radio now, everyone I've ever met in radio, it's like very mission driven, you know.

I don't know if I've ever really met anybody in radio who just looks at it as a job, as a means to an end. A lot of people got in radio because they were passionate about something they heard on the radio or whatever part of the business they wanted to be in. That's why they did it. And once you get into the business, you do feel that mission to serve your community and your listeners. And if you're really tied into and married to the format, then you feel an obligation to serve the greater good of the format. And I think in country radio, the people I know at the station level, the enthusiasm is just as strong as it ever has been. And maybe stronger because they have to fight so much harder. And they're out there fighting.

They're fighting for artists. They're fighting for their community and they're fighting for their listeners. I really believe that. I don't think anybody, radio people, they're frustrated, but they're not defeated. But I also think you pointed out something relating to the country format, which is the fact that, you know, in a lot of other formats, there's not as many head-to-head battles in markets anymore. and because maybe there's just not, you know, people at stations to, you know, care in that regard. But, you know, back to your comment about the mission-driven nature of country, there are head-to-head country battles that still matter to this day, aren't there?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Look at markets at Houston, Phoenix. There's one in Seattle. Atlanta. And smaller markets. Yeah.

And I think that's healthy. I think it's healthy. You know, I was in two markets when I was in radio that were pretty fierce battles. One in San Antonio. That's also another one. I didn't mention that. And that's been going on for decades, right? And in Phoenix, I was at KNIX, and Camel was an upstart.

When I was there, they launched Camel. That's how long ago that was. It was 1988. And, yeah, you want the market share. But I think that everybody in those situations, was there to serve the greater good of the format, to drive usage of the format to a higher level, and to win, right?

Yeah, sure, people wave the flag and they get really happy about driving a competitor out of the format, but I'm not sure people really like to do that, because if there's a hole, somebody's gonna jump right in there, and then you gotta hold another competitor you don't know anything about. But the Country Radio Association, embrace not just terrestrial radio in the traditional sense. It embraces all forms of radio delivery systems, right?

The Country Music Association? Yes. Yeah. Right. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. That's their charter.

Right. That's important. Very important to them. I'm a board member now, and I'm learning more and more about how they're going about that. They have a lot of initiatives that. some of us don't ever hear about. You can't ignore what's there. No. Right? I mean that doesn't seem like a wise strategy.

No. No. So in closing, talk about the authenticity of the country artists. Everybody always talks about, you know, just how delightful they are to deal with. You know, coming to your event, you know, it's a, you know, it's a very, you know, rejoicing moment of celebration and camaraderie and smiles and goodwill. What's the deal? Why are they so nice? You know what? I don't, I think it has to do with the connection that they build with listeners and a responsibility to build a stronger connection. You know, country artists now are a little different.

When I first got in the format, artists would come into the radio station and he'd ask them, hey, where are you from? Where'd you grow up? And a lot of them were from smaller rural communities, and they grew up listening to country music on the local country radio station. And I think some of those values, the cultural aspect of the authenticity and the community, the communal aspect of country music and that kind of thing. And now it's interesting because this generation of artists that we're coming to see now and go to see radio stations and we meet backstage,

they may not come from a rural community. Or if they do, they're tech savvy. And I remember, actually, when I was at All Access, I interviewed T.J. Osborne. And I was asking them about the difference between the radio generation, the iPod generation, and the streaming generation. And so now, if you're a teenager or early 20s artist, you're a digital native for the most part. You've grown up with a device in your hand.

That's your radio. It's not just the radio that was on the kitchen table or just in the car. They're listening to everything. So their world in terms of what they've been exposed to is a lot bigger. And I think that's a great thing, actually, because country music artists from 30, 40, 50 years ago came to it with a smaller example of what country music could be for them.

In many ways, they were sort of just impersonating or finding their own voice among the influences that they had at a smaller level. Now country artists have all sorts of things coming at them. And I think it's awesome when you meet a young artist and maybe they didn't listen to country music that much when they were young. But then they discovered it later in life. And all those other influences that affected them sort of come in and coagulate into what their perception and their interpretation of country music is. And I think it makes it fascinating.

I think it's great. I welcome it. So, and I still think it's authentic. It's a different kind of authenticity. It's not built on small town, rural America. It's built on having access to the whole world. global music through the internet. But by and large, I can't tell you that I've met many country artists that are assholes.

You know, they're just, they are people, you know, you hear personalities say this, and you hear people who are inside this town say this. It's true that most of the artists that I've met are people that you could sit down and have a beer with or have like a conversation or stand on the corner in Nashville and talk to. Oh, it's music row. I'm smiling because I agree. Yeah, I mean, I love it. That's one of the things I love the most about it,

and I really appreciate you taking a walk and welcome me to Nashville. I'm glad you're here. Hope we do it again. Taking a walk with Buzz Night is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, They take matters into their own hands. I vowed I will be his last target.

He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wood.

My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, who. Dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there.

Yeah. It would not be. Right. It wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to thanks dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. In 2020, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd

was accused of fathering twins, but the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Owens, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through

the same thing. Greg Gillespie and Michael Marantini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is love trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Can you? Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Readers, Katie's finalists, publicists. We have an incredible new episode this week for you guys. We have our girl Hillary Duff in here, and we can't wait for you to hear this episode. They put on Lizzie McGuire 2am, video on demand. This guy's bobo-o-b-a-m-m-m- Whatever time it is, Lizzie McGuire. And I'm like, a wild bat you were with. It was like a first closet moment from me where I was like, Like I don't feel like she's hot, like the rest of them.

No, no, no. I was like, she's beautiful. But I'm appreciating her in a different way than these boys are. I'm not like, but listen to Los Coleristas on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or whatever you get your podcast.