Some Personal News

I’m taking some time off. I’m actually writing this from Las Vegas. I don’t gamble. But I came out to shoot guns and fly helicopters and rest before the deluge. Here’s a picture I took yesterday. The pilot landed inside the Grand Canyon.

I’d appreciate your prayers.

Have you ever had something happen to you for which you are excited but also deeply sad? I’m sure the Germans have a word for it. It is the summation of the emotions I’m going through right now.

Starting a week from today, I’ll be taking the noon to 3 slot on WSB Radio in Atlanta. The station is the most listened to news-talk station in the country and I know what a big deal this is. I’m also mindful that I am only there because the man I considered a mentor who urged me to get into radio has died.

He should still be there.

That also means I will be doing six non-stop, consecutive hours of radio five days a week. My own show that I started and self-syndicate is 9am to noon ET. Having pour as much time and energy into getting that show off the ground, I will not abandon it. As a result, I will do that show 9am to noon and then do my Atlanta show from noon to 3pm ET.

Every weekday.

Prayers are appreciated.

I know it is not sustainable and hope I’ll be able to have more to share on that in the future. For now, this will be life. It is also why I am taking a week of rest.

You know, I really did fall into radio by accident.

I was on CNN at the time and the local host in Macon, Georgia, where I live, got arrested in a crack house allegedly “producing rap music.” He wasn’t smoking crack at least, but marijuana was alleged to be involved. Regardless, he got yanked and the local station asked if I might try my hand at it just for the day until he got out of jail.

I did.

A day became a week became three months, for which I was paid in an expired gift certificate to Outback Steakhouse.

But while this was happening, Herman Cain was gearing up for a presidential race and WSB Radio in Atlanta, needed a replacement. The head of the company heard me and Cox Media Group, the station’s owner, offered me a weekend slot on the radio.

I declined.

They then told me they really wanted me to take over for Herman, but given all I was already doing, I wasn’t sure it was for me. In mentioning this to Rush Limbaugh, he informed me that I was crazy if I didn’t do it and he’d never speak to me again if I said no.

I said yes.

Within a year, I was hosting evening drive time on the most listened to news-talk station in the country. I’ve been in that slot ever since — until this coming Monday.

Two years ago, I decided I wanted to do more. My time change had necessitated just a two hour show with lots of stops for traffic. In August of 2019, I started doing a 9am to noon show and then, four hours later, would come back for my two hours of local drive time in Atlanta.

It has been fun building my own show. It has been great to be the voice of drive time in Atlanta. I have gotten to fill in for G. Gordon Liddy, Neal Boortz, Herman Cain, and for several years was a regular fill in for Rush, whose advice has been generous and helpful for a decade. My morning show listeners are across the state of Georgia, but my livestream numbers indicate I already have a national show. With several thousand daily listeners, 45% of them are outside Georgia.

So many of us felt like we lost our best friend when Rush died. I used to drive with my dad and listen to him. Then, in college, I would nap to his voice in my dorm room between classes. It was the coolest thing ever to get to know him, even if only slightly, and have him encourage me in radio.

After I uninvited Donald Trump from the RedState Gathering in 2015 in Atlanta over this Megyn Kelly remarks, Rush was one of the first to reach out — singularly focused on what I should do to keep my relationship with my audience.

One of the few times he ever called me was when I was not expected to live in 2016, in a cardiac ICU unit. He just called to encourage me.

Two months before his death of lung cancer, he reached out to insist on giving my wife a new iPhone because her chemo from lung cancer was messing with her finger prints and he knew her Touch ID wasn’t working on her iPhone.

From Rush, I’ve learned my job on radio isn’t to save the radio, but to entertain and keep people company. I’ve learned the importance of building a relationship with my audience that gives us room to disagree with each other. I’ve learned the importance of the clock and story telling. I’ve learned to surround myself with people who can be candid with me in radio because so many will not be. I’ve learned a lot.

But I’m not sure I’m ready for what is coming and sad his death is the cause of this change.

God has a plan and all things work for the good of those called according to His purpose. So I’ll trust in him and pray he sustains me moving forward.

All the best,

Erick