Country's African-american Broadcasters Feel Welcome, So Why Aren't There More?

With consolidation in the radio industry making for fewer jobs, it is more critical than ever not to get pigeonholed into one format. That's the message being sent by the handful of African-American programmers currently working in country. While country, despite sharing some musical roots with R&B, has often been perceived as 'the redneck format,' those broadcasters report largely positive experiences and wonder why more African-Americans aren't drawn to the format.
'I have a true love of radio. If you're a professional, then you are in it for the radio,' says Ronnie Lane, PD of WRBQ Tampa, Fla. Lane, who has held stints in top 40 radio as well as country, believes attitudes have changed for the better about African-Americans working outside of R&B and related formats. 'When I first started, I found that people were surprised that I was a black DJ in top 40 radio,' he says. 'But now in the '90s, you really don't get that at all. They just think, 'He's a radio guy.' '
All of the programmers we spoke with have worked in several formats, some by choice and others by necessity. They say this experience and flexibility has been an advantage for them, especially in today's consolidation crunch.
WFMX Greensboro, N.C., APD/MD Rita Kelly started her career at an AC station in the early '80s. Within two years, she was offered the midday shift at country sister WFMX. Although she says that 'it was a great opportunity that presented itself, it was a concern at first (because) there were not a whole lot of black people in the format. But it was a challenge. That didn't stop me; it just made me want to do it more.'
WRBQ MD Wanda Myles says, 'I live my life with the attitude that things are chosen for me. When I decided to take the job in country radio, I told one of my friends, 'I think I'm going to love it,' and I do. Now I know (that) it's really the only format I ever want to work in . . . The more diverse people are, the better off they will be.'
So why are there so few African-Americans in country radio and the country music industry?
'I need to find out whether it's (because) black people don't consider applying to country as a job opportunity or (because they) are applying and being rejected,' says WFMX's Kelly. 'Judging from the reaction of my (African-American) friends who give me grief about being in country radio, I think it's probably (that) we are not considering the country format as a job opportunity. If that is the case, then we're missing out. Sometimes black people look at country music with disdain or ridicule, but country music is . . . white soul music.'
Tony Kidd, OM of adult R&B WHQT (Hot 105) and AC WFLC Miami, spent his early radio years in the country format, including WZZK Birmingham, Ala. He now says, 'I have yet to run across someone working black radio today who says, 'Man, I really want to go work country' or even 'I really want to work in radio, and it doesn't matter what format I work in.' Most people will say they want to do urban or maybe they might stretch it to CHR, but that's usually the extent of it.
'I would also say that most programmers in country don't go out of their way to look for African-American employees, but it's the same in any format,' Kidd adds. 'I don't go out of my way looking for any one particular type or race of people. I just look for the right person.'
A self-proclaimed radio mercenary, Sam Weaver, PD of R&B KPRS Kansas City, spent several years as MD of WUSN (US99) Chicago. He believes that 'professional announcers and programmers don't necessarily work a format, they just work radio. If all you're doing is looking in one format, you've just cut out a whole world of opportunities.'
WRBQ's Lane says, 'It concerns me somewhat that there are so few blacks on the country side, but people have a choice, and they just do not choose country. They probably think the door is shut in country radio when it's really just the opposite. The acceptance is there in country, but not many blacks are interested in the format. I'm sure if you are a successful programmer at an R&B station, why would you want to come over and program country? But there are more and more situations where if you're an out of work programmer, you just need to work. I could do any format, if necessary,' says Lane.
Patrick Clark, MD of KGNC Amarillo, Texas, thinks it's more a matter of taste. '(People) would rather stick with what they like. Outside of R&B, you're more likely to see blacks in top 40, because of the music crossing over, but rarely in country,' he says.
Adds Myles, 'I still get the question all the time, 'Do you really like country music?' and I'm like, 'How can I possibly program a country radio station and not like the music?'
'I've been in the format now for eight years,' she adds. 'I did take same time off in between. I worked in top 40 for a while, basically because I had to have a job, but the whole time I was trying to get back into country. It was because of my love for the music but also because I love the people. The artists are incredible and more accessible. The labels are more friendly. That just lends itself to the whole country way of life--simple and family-like. The music is about life and things I can relate to.'
More African-Americans are acknowledging their love for the music, as evidenced by the recent formation of the Nashville-based Minority Country Music Assn. (MCMA) as well as the signing of African-American country acts like Trini Trigg and Wheel (see sidebar), who join a pantheon of black country artists that includes Cleve Francis and Charley Pride.
Weaver, however, suggests, 'In any format you work, you don't have to like what you play. As a matter of fact, even in the music genre you like, there are some songs you love and some you hate.'
SURPRISING THE LISTENERS
All of the programmers with whom we spoke feel that country listeners are by far the most friendly and open-minded, although they say listeners are often surprised when they meet an African-American radio personality. 'When you don't fit that picture of what you are in their minds, they are speechless. There is a term for it--cognitive dissonance--and you can see it in their faces as they try to make these two things mesh in their mind,' says WFMX's Kelly.
'The first few times I would get up onstage, I would make a joke out of it and say, 'You didn't think I was so tall did you?' ' says KGNC's Clark.
WHQT's Kidd recalls working at WZZK, where 'I constantly found that we had many black listeners. When our morning show would do a remote--and they were pulling (a) 20 or 30 share at the time--you would see three to four black folks there . . . It's just like in the '70s and early '80s, when you had a lot of white R&B radio listeners who would never admit it. I think it's the same for blacks who listen to country radio today.'
African-American programmers say that in country, they have found an extended family, often one more amicable than in other formats in which they have worked. 'I was shocked at the warmth I've received,' says Kelly. 'The Nashville people have to be some of the greatest people in the world to work with. My race made no difference. I was conscious of the fact that I was different, and there may be some unsaid things by people, but no one ever made me feel uncomfortable. In the back of my mind, I was always waiting, expecting to hear some off-color remark from someone who wasn't aware of the fact that I was black, but it never happened.'
Kidd says that this business is too quick to pigeonhole. 'There are no ideas that are strictly one format. Any PD can go into a city and listen to any formatted station and say, 'I may not know any of the music, but that is a great-sounding station.' Good talent is the same across the board as well. On-air personalities who are genuinely sincere can entertain no matter what format,' he says. And as WRBQ's Lane notes, 'I will be glad when we get to the stage where we are not categorized at all, especially in the music business.'

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