Also feel free to call me at (504) 679-7300, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and leave a message with Joyce or Gail!
PLACE OF BIRTH New Orleans
EDUCATION Loyola University, New Orleans (B.A.) St. Augustine High School
RADIO RESUME Clear Channel Radio of New Orleans 1993 to Present - Started as promotions intern - Hired as promotions assistant - Served as promotions assistant director - Hit the airwaves as producer of "C.J. & Company" & Q93 swingman - Moved to 98.5 WYLD (formerly FM 98) - Became "Sunday Journal" co-producer in 2004 and "Real Talk" producer in 2007
MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN RADIO 1. Interviewing Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire 2. Hosting "Studio 98" (when I could take requests) 3. The first time I sat in for Papa Smurf to do "Mellow Moods" 4. Hosting "Friday Night Funk" 5. Producing "Sunday Journal PM" at Sophie B. Wright Charter School (September 19, 2007)
MY MUSIC Soul/R&B including Neo Soul and Funk; Jazz; Acid Jazz; House; Classical (I can seriously relax to Debussy); and Rock (don't trip when I break out the Billy Joel)
5 FAVORITE RECORDING ARTISTS Stevie Wonder Earth, Wind & Fire Jamiroquai The Time Cameo
5 FAVORITE BOOKS "Race Matters" Cornel West "The Covenant With Black America" Tavis Smiley "Do I Stand Alone?" Jesse Ventura "The Leadership Pill" Ken Blanchard & Marc Muchnick "Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice" Dennis Kimbro
5 FAVORITE FOODS Red Beans & Rice Gumbo Hot Sausage Po-Boy Jambalaya Mesquite Chicken Salad from Superior Grill
Phyllis Montana-Leblanc Sunday Journal Success Series
JULY 2011 Author/actress Phyllis Montana-LeBlanc, known for her commentary in Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke" and now known for her role as Desiree in "Treme", talks to me about life before fame and her relationships with Spike Lee and David Simon.
FEBRUARY 2011 Author/videographer/blogger Deborah "Big Red" Cotton, who moved to New Orleans two months before Hurricane Katrina, shares how she "found her heart" here and how others from around the nation respond to her writings about the Crescent City. Cotton is a native of Los Angeles, CA.
SEPTEMBER 2010 Media strategist, television producer, and president of the The Bondy Group, Kim Bondy, talks about her illustrious career, which includes work starting a television station in the Cayman Islands, with CNN, and with NBC's "The Today Show".
JULY 2010 Sonya Chatman-Leathers, the Founder and CEO of The Charity Collection, a fashion line which mostly incorporates the HIV/AIDS Awareness red ribbon in the clothing designs, appeared in July 2010. Chatman-Leathers talks about how she came to pursue her lifelong dream of being a fashion designer as well as the importance of the designs' message. She calls her efforts a combination of her two passions---designing and helping others. The Charity Collection works with a variety of organizations, including the NO/AIDS Task Force.
MAY 2010 Mildred Dillon loves money, but not in the superficial sense. She loves to help folks organize their finances under the guise of The Money Doctor. I speak to her about why she is so passionate about money and common pitfalls for people as they handle their finances.
APRIL 2010 Europe has shown a wealth of love for her, but New Orleans needs to learn about the very talented Hip Hop artist Voice Monet also known as Voice.
Introduced to the music world in 2002, she has quickly earned a name for herself as a Certified Gold (50,000+) recording artist in France for the Wax Tailor (French Hip Hop producer) record entitled "In The Mood for Life". The owner of independent record label Featherperm Records (est. 2004) has sold over 300,000 records internationally, she has toured extensively throughout USA, Canada and Europe.
Music education is also immensely important to Voice. She currently serves as an Artist in Residence for the Kid Smart program at McDonogh City Park Academy. The year 2010 will be a big one for Voice as she tour the East Coast & Canada to promote her second LP "N.O.L.A. Darling", which will be released in September. Voice will also play the Montreal Jazz Fest July 1st with Wax Tailor.
MARCH 2010 Although he is not a native of New Orleans, Khalil Osiris proudly claims New Orleans as his home. The speaker and author served nearly 20 years of his life in prison before moving on to earn two degrees from Boston University.
I talk to Osiris about how he overcame his prison time to become a highly-regarded spokesperson on avoiding incarceration.
I started the N.O. 3.0 series on Sunday Journal to expose New Orleanians to the under-40 brains and talent in the Crescent City.
D.J. SOUL SISTER May 2011
The Queen of Funk and Rare Grooves joins me to talk about her efforts to help New Orleanians share love through her "Right On Party Situations". We have a great conversation about life, music, and just having a great party every once in a while.
LAVONZELL NICHOLSON March 2011 When she and her partner won the Idea Village business plan competition, Lavonzell Nicholson was a guest on Sunday Journal. She returns as the subject of the bi-monthly N.O. 3.0 segment by Eddie Francis. He chats with Lavonzell about how her athletic past motivated her to help found PlayNOLA.
WESTLEY BAYAS November 2010 Westley "Papa Bear" Bayas is an assistant to Mayor Mitch Landrieu and serves under the mayor's community affairs branch. Westely also serves on the boards of the Backyard Gardeners Network and Evacuteer.org.
CHRIS BOUDY June 2010 A self-described geek, Chris Boudy seeks to close the digital divide in New Orleans, especially among African-Americans. The co-founder NewOrleansTech.net has a regular hyperlocal news feature on LaunchPad TV. At only 26-years-old, the Southern University at New Orleans graduate, is making a significant impact among the young professional community with his love for technology.
TIMOLYNN SAMS May 2010 A native of New Orleans and the executive director of the Neighborhoods Partnership Network, Sams is a ball of energy who enjoys community engagement. She returned to New Orleans from Charlotte, North Carolina to take the post of NPN's executive director, and has not looked back. Sams has the unique distinction of being one of "50 Visionaries Changing Your World" by the Utne Reader as well as a Young Leadership Council 2010 Role Model.
E: One of my coolest celebrity encounters
Sunday 05-08-2011 10:46am CT
It goes without saying that all of us have great celebrity stories at 98.5-WYLD. Out of the celebs that I've met, Paula Patton sticks in the back of my head. In 2006, during a post-Katrina clean-up, Paula took her time to help out a great group called the Katrina Krewe. It was during the filming of "Deja Vu" with Denzel Washington. During the clean-up, I stopped in the WYLD van to promote the effort and interview her for a sec. After walking away from me, she doubled back and said, "Hey, my husband is trying to get his music out there. Will your radio station play it?"
I asked, "Who's your husband?"
"Robin Thicke," she said.
"As in the son of Alan Thicke?" I asked. "Yeh, he has a pretty nice song I heard called 'Lost Without U'. He'll be alright. We'll play his stuff. Just give it some time," I said with a smile.
In a lovingly childlike manner she said, "Please get your station to play it. I really want him to take off."
So, as I see Paula climb the celebrity ladder with the release of "Jumping the Broom", they have a new child, (and of course Robin is doing great) it just makes me happy to say I met her at the beginning of their climb.
E: If you don't catch me here . . .
Sunday 03-27-2011 8:32am CT
Hello!
I'm so glad that you've stumbled upon my page!
You won't hear me in the regular on-air rotation during music shifts on 98.5 but you will catch me co-producing and contributing to the award-winning Sunday Journal with Hal Clark. You can also catch me on our sister station, Q93, producing and co-hosting Real Talk with Wild Wayne.
When I am not at 98.5 you can catch me on stage doing stand-up comedy, MCing shows and delivering speeches around the area. Check me out trying to make folks laugh:
© 2012
