Music Feeds My Soul
I listen to all kinds of music, and I’m not ashamed to tell people when I like a band even if it isn’t the most popular thing to say. I also try not to judge others for their tastes in music.
Today is one of my favorite local musician’s birthday. He is a well-known piano player in Kansas City. I always use him and his music as examples when I explain my love for music to people and how I have to feel an emotional connection to the music for it to mean something to me. The very first time that I heard him play piano, I felt it in my soul and I was hooked and I’ve been following him ever since.
Mark, my favorite Jazz piano player, and I at one of his gigs on my birthday 4-5 years ago.
This week was a whirlwind week of live music for me and although I’m utterly exhausted and ready to collapse, I loved every minute of it.
Last Saturday I headed out to a rooftop bar at the Legends
http://www.kc1021.com/event/dave-and-busters-summer-concert-series-odyssey-road-726-dave-busters/ (I know, right?) and saw my friend’s pop cover band, Hot Caution https://www.facebook.com/hotcaution/?fref=ts , come off of their hiatus to play upbeat tunes on a breezy summer night. My favorite thing about this band, in addition to their wide repertoire of pop favorites spanning several decades, is their lead singer’s voice. She just belts out the chords and I can feel her voice in my soul. This band is a great group of Kansas City folks and their followers are always super friendly, so I made new friends which is always great!
The lead singer of Hot Caution at their gig at the rooftop bar at Dave and Busters at the Legends in Kansas City.
That same friend invited me to the debut show of a new project, Bloodletters https://www.facebook.com/bloodletterskc/?fref=ts, a rock band with a set of local Kansas City musicians. They played the VIP stage at Starlight Theatre for the Weezer/Panic! at the Disco concert last Wednesday. They sounded great and I’m really looking forward to seeing them develop and progress as a band.
I learned a valuable lesson at this show…never, never, never, attend a concert at Starlight in the summer without getting a VIP ticket. The VIP ticket gets you access to the air-conditioned lounge, with private (clean) bathrooms, unlimited free ice water, two private (cash) bars, and an optional buffet dinner for purchase. The lines to get in are almost nonexistent compared to the hundreds of people waiting in line for general admission access to the venue. I’m forever spoiled! It was 95 degrees outside, but I was able to literally chill out in the air conditioned lounge and watch the opening band on a nice video screen while hydrating in preparation for the headliner. There is no way that I would have survived for 4+ hours in the Missouri summer heat and humidity. LOVE the VIP lounge!
I also learned that I am WAY too old and don’t have nearly enough body piercings and tattoos to go to a Panic! show. But they were high energy and put on a good show. This was my first time seeing Weezer live, and they did not disappoint! It is so great to see that they have such a strong following nearly 25 years into their career.
Panic! at the Disco and Weezer
I headed back out to Starlight on Friday evening for the Shinedown/Halestorm/Blackstone Cherry concert. I’m surprised at the number of people who I’ve talked to this week who don’t know who Shinedown is. My college boyfriend was in various rock bands and introduced me to them. I LOVE them. Their lead singer has a voice that really resonates with me. Their rock ballads are very moving. I had also seen Halestorm and Blackstone Cherry at Rockfest several years ago. Shinedown was so amazing. I don’t know what else to say, other than that I’m in love with Brent Smith, their lead singer. It was crazy hot out, but taking ice water breaks in the VIP lounge made it bearable. The bonus of the night was the band playing the VIP stage. The summer rock camp kids from the Kansas City School of Rock played a set. They were a great group of kids who were really great performers and I could tell that they were having a blast on stage.
Saturday night brought a first for me -I attended my very first rap concert. Some friends and I went to the Rihanna concert back in March, and she does a lot of collobarating with Drake, this rapper from Toronto. So, after going to that show, I started getting into Drake’s music and saw that his tour was making a stop at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. I knew that I had to go. It was a very unique experience. It was probably the only show I’ve been to (I have no idea how many shows I’ve been to since I graduated high school -100? Maybe more?) that was a true diverse crowd. There were people from their teens on up to their 60s, black, white, gay, straight, small town, big city, suburbanites, and urbanites all there bonding over their love for this Canadian rapper. The people watching at the Sprint Center was interesting to say the least. I witnessed a dance off ala Save the Last Dance in one of the lower level sections. And I saw two guys napping in their seats. I made some new friends and was exposed to a whole new genere of music that I had not experienced via live show.
Show number five tonight was the show of the week that I was most looking forward to. Last year I got to go to South by Southwest in Austin for the very first time. https://amyguerich.com/2015/03/23/things-i-learned-at-sxsw-2015/ It was an item that had been on my bucket list for a while, which isn’t surprising considering how much I love live music and how much I travel to see shows. I stumbled upon this folk/bluegrass duo, the Lowest Pair http://thelowestpair.com/ and got to see them play twice at SXSW. I really felt a connection to their sound. They are very talented songwriters and musicians. And I’m a sucker for the banjo! Since then I’ve followed them on social media, bought all of their albums, and I check their tour schedule every couple of months. It worked out for me to drive up to Omaha to see them one weekend. But today, they were in my home town!! It was so awesome. They played a cool patio with a great vibe downtown. I’ve been waiting for them to come to Kansas City so that everyone here will love them as much as I do! Traveling to see shows is a blast, but it is even better to have one of your favorite bands come to your hometown.
#NowPlaying The Lowest Pair Say Darlin Say from I Reckon I’m Fixin’ on Kickin Round to Pick a Little
Family Ties
Families come in all shapes and sizes. The older that I get, the more that I realize that the important people in life are not necessarily those that I grew up with or who raised me. I am close to my extended family as I’ve spent a lot of time around my grandma’s siblings and nieces and nephews and their families.
One of the things that I inherited from my grandma is that we claim people we like as relatives regardless of bloodlines. For instance, she had a neighbor who we all called Grandma. Her name was Grandma Meinhardt. Even my grandma called her Grandma. I had no idea until she died that her real first name was Mabel. She was a very dear friend of our family. Grandma also accepted her in-laws as relatives right away. She loved inheriting nephews when her little brother’s eight daughters started getting married. She remembered everyone’s anniversaries and birthdays and always sent cards.
Claire was a dear niece of my grandma’s…Grandma loved bragging about Claire, her niece who was a nurse practitioner. I actually forget that Claire was married to grandma’s nephew, so she is actually related by marriage, accept for the fact that they aren’t married anymore. But she’s still one of my favorite cousins and always will be!
One of my all time favorite things about Claire is that she really doesn’t seem to let much bother her, and she cares so much for her four daughters (3 that she helped raise when she married their dad, and one biological).
Claire invited me on her annual New Orleans trip in June and I happily accepted! The funny part of this trip was when a friend of mine asked who I was going with. Now, I really don’t have a complicated family tree, but when you consider the fact that I’m so close to my extended family and we start getting into Grandma’s nieces and nephews and their kids, it can get a little hard to follow. So, I found myself laughing as I was explaining it.
Claire, and the oldest of the three daughters who she helped to raise, as well as the daughter’s biological mom and step dad were going to be going on the trip along with another one of our cousins. And then me, the random second cousin (I think?)…Six very different people with different personalities from various branches of the family tree living it up in the Big Easy! Half of us had been before and the other half were newbies!
We had an awesome time and the entire trip I kept thinking about how grateful that I am to be connected to these people and how they each have a unique life experience that I can learn from. It was also fun to experience New Orleans with people who had never been before!
Here I am with my unconventional family at a nice lunch at Commander’s Palace, home of the 25 cent martini! I won’t rat people out and tell how many we drank!
Another great trip in the books and another reminder of how grateful that I am for my extended family!
90 and Counting
If my grandma and her siblings are any indication, then I’d say that longevity runs in our family. Grandma, the oldest of six children, lived until 91, and was in her right mind up until the very end, despite suffering a stroke at 87. Uncle Jim died at age 84 after leading an extremely active lifestyle until an illness set in shortly before he passed. Four of the siblings are still living, the youngest of which is 84 years old, and lives on a farm. He gets up every morning and does his chores and tends to the cattle. The oldest of the remaining four, Uncle Bob, turned 90 last week.
90 years old he has lived! What an incredible milestone. We had a pretty big party to celebrate Grandma’s 90th birthday almost 4 years ago. I’ve tried (although I could do MUCH better) to keep in touch with my great aunts and uncles and extended family since Grandma passed away two years ago. It was with that in mind when I was looking at the 2016 calendar over Christmas last winter, that I decided that a trip to Cleveland was in order for another 90th birthday celebration.
In the months that followed, Uncle Bob’s 5 daughters were busy planning a surprise birthday party for him. As his actual birthday, May 25th, approached, I realized that I had not told Uncle Bob about my plans for a trip to Cleveland. I called him to wish him a happy birthday and he offered me the perfect opportunity to tell him about my trip without ruining the surprises to come.
“So, do you have any travels coming up,” Uncle Bob asked as we were chatting on the phone on his birthday. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to Cleveland tomorrow,” I exclaimed. He started laughing. I told him that a person only turns 90 once, so I thought that it was a great excuse to make a trip to visit him and his family.
It was truly a wonderful trip (never mind the fact that it took me 24 hours and a day trip to Nashville to get there- https://amyguerich.com/2016/05/29/life-in-the-land-of-oz/ ) We had a family dinner, complete with strawberry shortcake with fresh picked strawberries, a beautiful Mass celebrated in Uncle Bob’s honor, a surprise party/luncheon, and an after party at Uncle Bob’s daughter’s family’s house, then a wonderful Memorial Day celebration honoring our veterans and service members (Uncle Bob is a veteran of World War II), and family lunch before I had to head to the airport.
I have really fond memories of Grandma being giddy with excitement and planning family dinners and getting the house ready for Uncle Bob and Aunt Joyce’s annual summer visits, and in more recent years, Uncle Bob and his daughter, Janet. Grandma always cried when they left to make the drive back to Ohio. We had fun enjoying big meals, story telling, and pitch games. My favorite recent memories include Uncle Bob taking me to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in downtown Cleveland four years ago. The feature exhibit that year was the Eagles. It was so fun to see Uncle Bob with the headphones on listening to the narration and music at the different stations. It was a special treat for me considering that I am a huge music fan. Two or three years ago, I had the pleasure of taking Uncle Bob and Sr. Ginger on one of their Sunday drives when we were in Oklahoma for the Slavin family reunion. I truly regret not having a tape recorder in the car with us. It was SO wonderful to listen to the two siblings swap family stories on our 4+ hours in the car together. I’ll never forget that hot and muggy Sunday afternoon in rural Oklahoma. I also love hearing the stories of Uncle Bob’s and Grandma’s St. Louis adventures when he was a student and Grandma was a young professional in the city.
I added some truly memorable moments to the Uncle Bob Memory Bank during this trip. I think that my favorite moment of the trip was something that I didn’t even experience first hand. I was in the car putting on lipstick and making sure that my feet looked decent in my open toed shoes considering that I didn’t make time for a pedicure before the trip, priorities, right?!…yikes! But my cousin captured the moment perfectly. Here is Uncle Bob being surprised by his little brother, Uncle Jerry, outside of the church before the birthday Mass.
I think that next on the list of favorite memories from the trip was the Mass. Uncle Bob’s home parish put together a beautiful Mass to celebrate his 90th birthday. His family and friends took up the first five pews in church, and I lost count of how many folks came up before and after Mass to wish him a happy birthday. What a beautiful testament to a faithful person who selflessly serves his parish community!
I really enjoyed meeting and visiting with Uncle Bob’s friends at the party. I met someone who had no idea that he grew up in Kansas! I also met a woman who worked for Uncle Bob as a secretary back in 1960. She spoke so highly of Uncle Bob that it made me very proud to know him and to be able to call him a great uncle. He is remarkably GREAT!
I have to say, that another favorite memory from the weekend, albeit a little selfish, was when Uncle Bob told me that he was proud of me at our family lunch before I had to head to the airport. He will never know just how much that comment means to me. No words.
Uncle Bob is not the typical 90 year old, as evidenced by the waitress at lunch who’s jaw dropped when we told her that Uncle Bob was 90 as she proceeded to tell us about the nursing home patients at her old job who “were in their 70s and 80s and could barely walk”, or the countless Facebook comments from people who saw his picture and can’t believe that he’s 90. He drives 900 miles to Kansas every year. He enjoys a beer or two at lunch or at a family party. He attends daily Mass. When we were on the phone the other day, he said “there isn’t a minute in the day that goes unused.”
I can hear that song, “The Secret of Life” by Faith Hill playing….she says that the secret of life is a good cup of coffee, keep your eye on the ball, staying up late, etc.
I think Uncle Bob’s “secret” of life isn’t a secret at all. He’s been a devoted husband, a good father, wonderfully patient and kind (even after raising 5 daughters!), a genuinely generous and giving and extremely faithful person. He has fun, he laughs, he cries, he makes those around him want to be a better person. He LIVES!
HAPPY 90th BIRTHDAY, UNCLE BOB!
Life in the Land of Oz
I hurried out of work at 4:00 last Thursday afternoon so that I could get to the airport for a 6:00 flight. The sky was gray, but didn’t look bad. I hopped on the highway and turned on the local talk radio station to hear that there were tornado and severe thunder storm watches all across the metro, including in areas along I-635 and I-29, my usual route to the airport from the office. The talk show hosts were telling people to take cover. I kept driving. A guy texted into the radio station and said “I’m in my basement because I’m not a GD moron!” I thought to myself, “I’m not a GD moron, I’m in a hurry and have a flight to catch!”
I kept driving and the farther north that I drove, the darker and scarier the sky looked. I had been in the car for about twenty minutes when I heard that the airport had been evacuated because there was a tornado spotted minutes away. All that I could think about was my little car getting sucked off of the freeway into a tornado. I finally got freaked out enough to pull over at the next exit and found a parking garage in a mixed-use development to wait it out. The tornado watch expired and the airport was open again, so I got back on the road again!
The sky was still black and scary, but I thought, I can survive another twenty minutes in the car. Rain started pouring down in sheets, and hail started beating down on the roof of my car. By this point I wasn’t yet afraid for my safety, I was scared that my poor little car would be all beaten up! The rain got so bad that I couldn’t see and I started driving 20 miles an hour while saying a few Hail Marys just praying that I wouldn’t hit or be hit. I couldn’t pull over because I couldn’t see the side of the road. I’ve never driven through anything like it.
I FINALLY made it to the airport and after driving around the parking garage for 20 minutes, I found a covered spot for my car. I checked the airline app and it said that my flight was still on time. I knew if I hustled, I could make it through security in plenty of time to board. I had NO idea that I was about to walk into a line of about 6,000 people all waiting to get through security. These were all of the people who had already made it through security before the tornado, but had to be rechecked after the evacuation.
People kept cutting in front of me to get to other lines, and I was so angry. Obviously that made no sense because they weren’t doing anything wrong. And everything about this situation was out of my control, so I had no choice but to just go with the flow. So why was I wasting all of that energy? Beats me! I ran into some friends from high school who were trying to catch a flight to Arizona. And then I started making friends in line. After about 90 minutes in the security line and a random airport employee trying to convince me that my flight had been cancelled, I made it through to the other side! I checked at the gate and my flight was delayed for an hour, which didn’t seem so bad.
I ran into my line friends, some trying to get to Tampa, some to Denver, Albuquerque, Chicago, Nashville, and who knows where else, at the hotel bar. Well, it was more like a kiosk with a couple of stools and a cash register. It couldn’t have been a real bar because when I asked for sparkling wine, the bartender said, “we don’t have wine, but we have champagne.” Then he proceeds to serve me sparkling wine…Turns out, the 6,000 people from the security line ended up at the bar/beer kiosk! However, at the time, I had no idea that there was a line and ended up walking right up to the front where my new friends had found stools and cut in front of about 60-70 people. Ooops!
I ended up telling my life story to some guy named Turner, and made some new friends who live in Westport that I’m going to meet up with when they return from vacation in Florida. Before I knew it, I realized that my crappy, energy wasting mood had turned into a cheery, happy, and optimistic attitude. I didn’t seem too stressed when my one hour delay turned into two hours, then three, then we were finally in the air four hours after the regularly scheduled departure! I ended up missing my connection and wasn’t able to get a flight to my final destination until 4:30 the next afternoon,
Gotta love severe weather in the Midwest!
Life and the Arts
It is amazing how life can change. Wow. Thursday nights once used to explore the city are now used to go to bed early in a last ditch effort to survive what is left of the work week.
I like to title this someone(s) I used to know. Thursday night out on the town with “life long friends.” But something that never changes is that one of the few things that can get me out of my Johnson County Bubble on a “school night” is the Kansas City arts scene.
My friend, Vi (top left), is a local performing artist and writer. He is the director of the Buffalo Room at Westport Flea Market. http://westportfleamarket.com/the-buffalo-room/ Vi was born in Vietnam during the war and moved to the states, with his family, as a refugee, while a small child in the early 80s. His performance memoir, written by Vi himself, and directed by his beautiful wife Mackenzie, is playing at the Buffalo Room for the next 10 days or so and opening night was Thursday, April 30th. The production, A Butcher’s Son, tells the story of Vi’s family and their origins in Vietnam, their survival and escape from the war torn country to start life anew in the United States to get their own piece of the American Dream. https://www.facebook.com/events/1424119994562927/
Vi’s family moved to Garden City where his parents worked as butchers at the Iowa Beef meat packing plant to try and build a life for their children…a life that they could not have had in post war Vietnam. His story is so moving. Opening night of the production was tonight, Thursday, April 30th, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. It’s hard to believe that the end of the war was in the very recent past. I grew up in Emporia, KS, where Iowa Beef had a huge presence in the 80s and 90s. We lived in that little town with many Vietnamese Americans and Mexican Americans. However, we lived in a segregated world. My parents and I living the American Dream in our little house on Chestnut Street (we were poor and humble, I took the dream for granted, and I recognize the innocence and ignorance of my childhood).
While watching the performance tonight, I couldn’t help but think that we missed out on hearing the stories of our neighbors. We missed out on getting to know them and their struggles. We didn’t know them. They were Asians. They lived in a cluster of extended family. Their children and grandchildren sat quietly in class. English was their second language. They were good at math. But we didn’t try to befriend them in the classroom or on the playground. We knew that they were different. We didn’t know what they went through to make it to Emporia, KS.
I’m so grateful to Vi for telling his family’s story and for giving people like me the opportunity to learn their piece of history. Vi and Mackenzie’s vision is to take this performance on the road and to tell his story in the meatpacking towns across Kansas. I hope that I can help them to tell the story in my home town of Emporia. A town so rich with the history and stories of these refugees and their decendents.
The Butcher’s Son cast and crew.
Things I Learned at SXSW 2015
I crossed an item off of my bucket list last week. I attended South By Southwest in Austin, Texas for the very first time. Not only was it my first time attending SXSW, it was also my very first trip to Austin. There were so many great things about the week and my stay in Austin, that I’m seriously thinking about making it an annual trip!
Here is my SXSW Ten List
1. Be strategic – I spent an afternoon reading about SXSW online a couple of weeks before I left so that I would have a good idea for what to expect and which shows that I wanted to see. I made a few notes on my iPhone note pad. It would have been better had I written out each day with pen and paper and made some notes about what I wanted to see and do. I don’t need to have every minute planned, but having a general idea for what to accomplish each day is much more productive and will help to make the most out of the visit. The time in Austin goes by FAST. Along these same lines, I should have paid more attention to the genres of music and types of show cases instead of just scanning schedules for band names that sound “good” or that I half way recognize. Had I done that, I may have discovered more new bands to start following afterward.
2. Bluegrass – Bluegrass is ALIVE and well, not just in ATX, but all over the country! I really enjoyed seeing many talented bluegrass bands!
3. Utilize Social Media – I’m on Twitter, but I could have done a better job at following bands and other SXSW info pages leading up to the trip. It is also a great way to stay connected and informed during the festival. In fact, I missed a band that I really wanted to see because I didn’t think to check Facebook for schedule updates for an outside showcase on a day that it poured!
4. Celebrity Sightings/Know Who People Are – Not every black guy wearing sunglasses and riding in a Range Rover or Escalade is a famous rapper. Nick Lachey is a former member of 98 Degrees. Did I know this when we were all at the Four Seasons having drinks?? NO. I had to be a stalker and secretly snap a picture of him and text a friend to find out who he was.
5. Accommodations & Transportation – My cousin was so sweet and nice enough to let me stay at her place during South By. She’s moving away from Austin this summer, so I’ve been thinking about what I will do next year if I decide to go back. From what I experienced, I think my best bet is to start saving my pennies and then watch the calendar and book a hotel downtown. Yes, it is pricey, however, it is the most convenient and efficient way to experience South By for an out of towner. I had a car (big mistake) so I wasted valuable time driving all over the city and waiting in traffic. I also spent money on gas and parking. THERE IS NO REASON TO HAVE A CAR IN AUSTIN DURING SXSW! Staying downtown saves money on gas and parking and time in traffic. Some people utilize Uber, but there is a cost and you run the risk of getting caught in traffic. I think to get the most out of my experience that I should plan to stay downtown.
6. Safety First – Don’t try to confront a guy after he hits you with his jeep and drives off leaving your arm bruised up.
7. Have an “In” – It is all about who you know. Having an in with a band makes the experience that much better. Or it can be something as small as making friends with a bartender or a cashier at Whole Foods.
8. Badges – Buying a badge is definitely not an essential to having a good time and seeing tons of bands. And sometimes I think it is more of a status symbol or fashion accessory. However, I’m considering buying one just so that I have a chance to get into some of the official parties. Maybe it will lead to more noteworthy celebrity sightings!
9. Remember – I took pictures and made notes of bands that I liked. Next time I need to remember to pack a poncho.
10. Be On Time – I was really sad that I showed up 30 minutes late to a show and missed 90% of a band ‘s set. I was really looking forward to seeing them and was super disappointed.
30 Days Til 30 Day 2
So far so good on my 30 workouts in 30 days challenge. I had an appointment with the trainer at 5:30 this morning- he didn’t show, so I did my own cardio workout and it was a great way to start the day.
I was ultra productive at work today and actually got everything done that I needed to do before I had to run out the door to meet a long time industry friend for lunch. We caught up on all of the latest personal and business happenings. This is a friend that I can always count on for wisdom and good advice. I told him about my mixed emotions over not only getting a year older, but reaching a “milestone” age.
I took the rest of the afternoon off to get ready for out of town company. I stopped off at the fruit stand to get the last few ingredients needed for the sangria that I will serve tomorrow.
My best friends drove up from Springfield and we had fun catching up over cocktails and Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ.
Sad that I didn’t take any pictures to document day 2.
28 days to go…
#30Daystil30
Day 1
I’ve always looked forward to my birthdays, over dramatizing it, making an entire month of celebrating, etc, etc. But this year, my looming birthday brings a set of mixed emotions. I’m mostly nervous and anxious…I feel like I still have a ton to do, a lot to accomplish, but I only have 30 days.
The first thing that I did was challenge myself to step up my fitness game, so I plan to work out every day for the next 30 days…and I’ve got the entire internet to hold me accountable! I started things off on the right foot with a nice walk-jog before work this morning and a jog to CVS after happy hour.
After a long day at the office, I had a great time winding down at happy hour with an industry friend and made a nice dinner at home.
And to end the day, I did one of my FAVORITE things…made some sangria to get ready for this weekend’s company. And based on a recommendation from a very talented Port Fonda mixologist, I made my very own peach simple syrup for the first time to make my homemade peach brandy.
I’ll be tweeting #30Daystil30 @AmyGKC & on instagram @amyguerich
Here’s to the next 30 days…
There Are No Words…But I Need To Try
You may not understand this if you weren’t a loyal Kidd Kraddick in the Morning Show listener.
On Saturday, I had a nice day of working during the day and then a trip out to the Legends with a friend. I was exhausted from several days of little sleep, so I came home and was in bed by 10, and for the first time in months, slept all night until 5:30 am. I’m one of those phone addicts that checks my phone as soon as I wake up -before I even get out of bed.
I had a text at 1:06 am from one of my best friends from college that said “My friend just texted me that Kidd Kraddick died? What?”
I thought, in my groggy, sleepy state, no way! There is NO WAY that is true -it must just be a joke as a result of the “death bead confessions” bit that they had been doing all week where they jokingly acted out what they would say to each other if they were dying. I immediately got on Facebook – the first thing that I saw was a post from a friend that said “RIP Kidd Kraddick..morning commutes just won’t be the same”. And I thought, NO WAY, NO way. Then I saw a post from another FB friend that said “…RIP Kidd Kraddick! Listened to your show for many years!” My stomach started to sink as I wiped the sleep from my eyes. I knew it was real when I saw one of Kidd’s mentees post a picture of him with Kidd with a caption that read “I love you Kidd. You were a friend, mentor, and father figure to me . Thank you for believing in me. Ephesians 1:16” Right after I saw that post, I came across the post from Kidd’s company with the official statement about his death.
Then the tears came.
David Dave “Kidd Kraddick” Cradick was a long time radio show host and philanthropist. He had been on the radio for years and started to get big after he moved to Dallas to host an evening show in 1984. He moved to mornings a few years later and his popularity soared. He had a pop culture show where they talked about current events, celebrity gossip, politics, religion, technology, movies, music, etc. all with their own spin and brutally honest opinions that the fans had come to appreciate. I have gotten most of my pop culture knowledge from listening to the show – that is how I discovered Twitter! I had been listening to Kidd and his cohosts, Kellie Rasberry, and Big Al Mack, and his producer Shanon “Psycho Shanon” Murphy since the early 2000s. I had listened through Kidd’s daughter’s Caroline’s upbringing-graduating from high school, then college, Kidd’s divorce from his wife Carol, a few cast changes, and ultimately a TV show. We saw Kellie through her courtship with Freddie, marriage, then infertility struggles, and finally the birth of her daughter Emma Kellie, and her subsequent divorce. We listened to one failed bit after another from Big Al, his struggles as a father, and his second son, Peyton, being revealed on the air to his coworkers and fans. Shanon grew up on the air and eventually came out, and then shared her struggle as she mourned the loss of her toddler nephew, Ethan, after a tragic accident.
It was great when I would meet a stranger – no matter where, if we had Kidd Kraddick in common, then we were instant friends.
Kidd, Kellie, and Big Al Mack were the staples of the show, but had various cohosts over the years. I loved Rich Shertenlieb (even though Kellie didn’t) and was so sad when he decided to pack up with his wife Mary to host a show in Boston. Then came J-si who was my age! Listening to the adventures of Jsi and Kinsey was so fun! My favorite time on the show was watching Jenna progress from phone screener to full on-air personality. I share so many similarities with Jenna, and we are the same age, I feel like I know her really well and have had the pleasure of staying in touch with her via email and social media and got to meet her on a trip to Dallas.
The point I’m trying to make is that I grew to know so much about these people whose voices I heard through my radio (or lap top, then cell phone, then ipad) every morning. The first thing that I’ve done every morning for the last 10+ years is turn off the alarm clock and then turn on Kidd Kraddick who is on from 6-10 every week day morning.
So, from 5:30 this morning until 12:30 this afternoon, I was glued to the internet. I had my cellphone, iPad, and lap top on Facebook, Twitter, and Google search to read everything I could about what the heck happened. How could a young almost 54 year old who spent a good part of his career reporting on the untimely death of celebrities experience the same fate to leave behind a beautiful 20 something daughter, a career, show, family, friends, and charity? Every source seemed to be saying that Kidd and his morning show crew had been in New Orleans this weekend and Kidd died while hosting a charity golf tournament for his charity, Kidd’s Kids which took terminally ill children and their families to Disney World every November. As of Sunday at 11:47 pm central, his cause of death had not been officially released, however there has been speculation and rumors.
I was beyond sad. I spent most of the entire day (with the exception of a short trip to brunch and a shorter trip to the grocery store) glued to the internet, reading news articles, tributes from celebrities and fans, and finally, even a few social media posts from his friends, colleagues, and radio family. I listened to the radio station in his hometown of Dallas where he got his start. They spent the day paying tribute to him. It was hard listening to his colleagues and fellow DJs get emotional on the air when they spoke of his passing.
I can’t come to grips with the fact that I am SO sad and grieving the loss of someone that I had only met once face to face for about 15 seconds. How is that possible?
Luckily, I haven’t had to experience death much. I’ve had a few class mates die over the years, a great-great uncle who died in his 90s when I was 7. Then my maternal grandmother died when I was almost 9 and that was very tough as a kid. Then other than a few classmates over the years, I didn’t really have to deal with death until my great uncle, my Grandma’s brother died and I was 24. My entire family was utterly shaken, and I felt a loss that I couldn’t quite describe. I remember not sleeping for several nights and one night, I called my grandma at like midnight or something. And she said, “Oh Amy, I guess you really haven’t had to deal with death as an adult”. She said a prayer with me over the phone, and we hung up. It was a hard time for our entire family. Luckily, that was 5 years ago, and with the exception of a few family friends and distant relatives, I haven’t really had to deal with death up close and personal since then.
And then today, I heard the news of Kidd’s passing. I felt an unexplainable sadness and a feeling of great loss. I listened to Kidd every morning and if I ever missed a show, I caught up on the replays on the weekends, so he and his morning show crew were a part of my every day. I felt sick thinking about the loss that his friends, family, and radio family were experiencing.
I remembered the times that I got to go to DFW and see his show. Every time I go to DFW, I try to coordinate it with a trip to go and see the show and I even love to stay at the hotel across the street from the studio.
I’m not sure if I will ever be able to explain why I feel the sadness that I feel, but I guess the best explanation is that although Kidd wasn’t family to me and I didn’t know him outside of the radio, he and his colleagues were a part of my daily routine and therefore, like friends and family to me.
RIP Kidd Kraddick, you are sorely missed.
KEEP LOOKING UP BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE IT ALL IS.
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