I couldn’t resist. As it appears Hockey Town will have to wait until next year (at least it appears that way now), I’m really hoping the Tigers can pull off what they couldn’t in 2006. I’m hoping they have a rematch with the Yankees later on in the playoffs. I’d love for the Tigers to take the Yankees out of contention! Sweet revenge.
Bob, I thank you for taking the time for this interview today. I greatly appreciate it. I’m going to start off by giving people a little background. You and I go way back. I honestly do not remember a time when I did not know you. For the record, as a teenager, Bob worked for Russell Canoe Livery during the summer. While I spent my childhood summers swimming in the Rifle River near the Russell Canoe Livery dock, Bob spent his time hauling canoes. Due to a bit of nostalgia on my part, and mutual Facebook friends, Bob and I reconnected via Facebook. It’s been a fun trip down memory lane. The canoe livery was a huge part of my childhood.
While I knew Bob worked as a local musician, I really didn’t know any of the particulars until we became Facebook friends. The more I learned about his career, as a musician and otherwise, the more I wanted to know. He appears to be one busy man!
Thank you, for taking the time to put this together. I definitely go back, and like you say, can’t remember a time when I didn’t come around at least once in a while to say “Hi” to everyone and make sure you and your family were all doing well. It was always a good feeling, that’s for sure, to see you guys.
Bob, I want to start at the beginning. When and how did your passion for music and radio begin? When did you first begin performing?
Honestly, for as long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed music and been fascinated by radio as a medium. I can remember my brother and I lip syncing and playing air guitar as little kids. I did the high school band thing and played drums, tuba, trumpet, baritone and bass guitar, probably due to an A.D.D. thing, but it was a solid footing for learning the basic workings of music. From that, I played with a couple of garage bands in high school and had fun doing it. We played some small shows, so I guess that when I really began performing in front of people. I also started working with some friends developing basic DJ skills and knowledge. However, I didn’t realize at the time that I was missing some key components of a musical education which led to a period of 15 years of really doing nothing with music or in radio as I made my way through corporate America. It wasn’t until after I became disenchanted with a career outside of music that I realized how much I actually missed the world of music.
How did you land your first gig? Would you mind telling us a little about it?
Yeah, that’s kind of a funny little story that involves a little background info. Around 2000 – 2001, I saw a guy playing guitar and singing at a party and I thought to myself, “Gosh, he’s not very good. I could be that bad and have fun doing that.”, and I also saw a dude from Northern Michigan, Pete Kehoe, who was playing at Bay Harbor. Pete was, and still is, AWESOME. And, my goal changed…I told myself, I wanna do what that guy does. So, I got a hold of Pete and asked him what gear he had and I went out and bought as much of the same stuff as I could find. I then started practicing in the basement and, after I lost my job in 2003, my living room. Very popular with the wife! When we moved back to Michigan in 2004, I was continuing to practice and got a chance to play at a “Relay for Life” event in Tawas or Oscoda, I can’t remember. From there, I literally started playing at a restaurant/bar about a mile from my house for dinner, and things got better from there. Pretty soon, I was playing anywhere from 3 to 5 nights per week.
Speaking of your musical career, I noticed on your website that you state a second solo album is in the works. Is that still the case? What led to your first album?
Time is the biggest thief and he’s got a great disguise. I do have a second album in the works. It’s difficult to work on, due to the time I spend in the studio on everyone else’s PAYING work. It’s coming along, though…just at a slower pace than I’d ever like. I have 6 songs in preproduction stage. I’m mostly trying to figure out how produced I’d like it to sound, or how much instrumentation I’d like to put on the tracks. I want to do as much as I can on this by myself. I think my first album…I like that we say “album”, we’re old….was a necessity for my head, just to see if I could do it. I had some great help from fellow songwriters, musicians and an incredible producer in Allen Bondar, from Dharma Records in Grayling. He offered me the opportunity to work with him and I jumped at it.
Bob, you currently play with a reunited THE POOL BOYS. I was wondering if you could tell us a little history of the band, past and present.
Well, The Pool Boys are kind of one of those love-hate bands. I love what we do, but I hate what it does to me! We have WAY too much fun and it’s a lot of strain on my body and voice. Anyway, Sal Agnello, a talented musician from Tawas was playing with an outfit and had caught my acoustic act. Him and I sat down and started fiddling around with some acoustic stuff. He then suggested that we try some “sequenced” tracks, which are pre-produced tracks that lack vocals and, in our case, guitars. So, basically, we’re playing along with a computer directed keyboard producing all of the drums, horns, pianos, bass, etc., whatever we wanted. The practice has been around since the mid to late 80′s, but a lot of musicians kind of shy away from it. However, it’s really cool, because the songs you can play are only limited by your imagination and ability.
So, right out of the gate we got the house gig at the old Holiday Inn in East Tawas, and had that for a couple of years. Then, did the casino circuit for a bit and due to my throat problems and extra children, we had to take a hiatus for a bit… which was good, because Sal really perfected the sequencing of the tracks. Last year, we started talking about the market for sequencing and we picked up a drummer, which really adds to the sound, and viola….The Pool Boys are back running around, again. We’re focusing more on resorts, casinos, private parties and festivals, for purely selfish reasons!
As a musician, what are your favorite bands and artists? Which is your favorite genre?
Oh, man…mostly people I don’t play! Um, Led Zeppelin’s always been huge for me, the Doors, Pearl Jam, Bob Seger, almost anything from the 80′s, because it was when music was fun. But, from a creation stand point, I look to The Thorns or Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The great harmonizers! As far as my favorite genre, folk based rock.
Copyright 2009-2012 Bob Hughes
Let’s switch gears for a second. I know that you also host a local radio morning show called “The Drive By” on Mix 92.1 | Caro, MI. What led to your radio/announcing career? I also read that you announce for the local minor league baseball team, The Great Lakes Loons. How did that come about? As both an avid fan of radio and baseball, I find it all fascinating.
Going back to always being interested in radio and music, I worked as a mobile DJ from the time I was 14 until the time I was 23, which kept my interest and built some skills. Also, I got an opportunity to work in radio right out of high school, when I was way too young to handle it and realized there was NO money in it, and I was fine with that, back then. So, I went on my merry way. Fast forward to 2010, when my wife and I bought a house in the Caro area, I saw a radio station on the way home from the closing and stopped to see if they needed someone, well TA-DA, I had a job in radio. Some personnel changes were made to move me into a morning show co-hosting slot and that’s where I find myself today. With the Great Lakes Loons, I responded to an open tryout and got the job as their on-field host. I’m really pretty fortunate, I have very fun jobs and both Mix 92.1 and the Loons are great organizations with great people.
Ok. It is time to discuss the inevitable. There is a local well-known radio personality on WHNN-FM that happens to share your name. What confusion has that created over the years? I know you had fun with the situation when you were younger.
Really? No kidding? I hadn’t heard of this fellow….Yeah, Bob is a great guy and we have a lot of fun together, especially with the name thing. We only live like 7 miles apart, which again is interesting. It’s a two way street for the confusion, though. He gets questions about his name being on a marquee for a performance and I get people trying to tell me they’ve listening to me for years. I’m not sure if there is any other radio market in America that has this problem. I know when I first worked in radio in the area, the station had me use a different name. This time around, I was like, who cares.
And, yes, there were times in the past when Bob’s name was thrown around a bit liberally for shameless acts that shalln’t be mentioned! Good times.
In addition to performing on-air and off, you also own Bob Hughes Studios. How did you first become involved in voice-over work? What made you decide you to go into business for yourself on the production side of things? What projects do you have coming up?
Once again, back to my disenchantment with corporate life, I had an opportunity to get back into media productions in 2004. I started working with some outdoor television producers, including Mike Avery, which led to videography, video editing, commercial production and lending my voice to show intros and spots. So, I found myself buying a bunch of gear and figured I better make some money to support the purchases and Bob Hughes Studios was born. I work mostly online with a couple of ad houses and contract sites, and it keeps me pretty busy. One thing I have found is that with my name on the door, I definitely care more about what leaves the editing bay. I take great pride in having won industry awards for quality and creation, having my voice on 6 of 7 continents, as well as watching my business grow over the past 8 years.
Developing projects are kind of hard to nail down. Currently in the hopper are a couple of product videos for the web, a steady stream of eBooks and other voice over projects. I don’t like getting too far out in the calendar, though because it slows down turnaround time for customers and I like getting them their products as quickly as possible.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to pursue a creative career and go into business for his or her self?
Find your passion and do it early in life! Don’t be afraid to ask for help and take the chance while you have nothing to lose. Get the education for the creative career you are interested in and be aggressive in your pursuit!
The one regret I have is not pursuing music creation more aggressively when I was 20 or 21. I didn’t know I had a gift and I never took the time to really look into myself and find out what was in there. But, had I just listened to my heart and looked to others to help me find this out, who knows what could have happened, good or bad.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions! It was fun catching up. I know you are a vet of Operation Desert Storm. I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for your service to our country.
Well, thank you for thanking me. I’m glad I was able to serve, because so many are not able. It’s always great chatting with you, that’s for sure. Thank you for considering me an interesting topic! I hope your readers find something interesting, as well!
Copyright 2009-2012 Bob Hughes
You can find more information on Bob Hughes and all his endeavors as the links below.
I’ve tried writing this post several times over the last five months or so. Sometimes there is so much to say, no mere words can do the subject justice. Somewhere along the line, somewhere between childhood and adulthood, I forgot what baseball once meant to me. I also forgot just how intertwined baseball is with some of my favorite childhood memories.
It all started with me getting the crazy idea that my baseball obsessed boyfriend Brian and I should watch the Ken Burns’ documentary Baseball, all almost 20 hours of it. I checked it out from the library sometime early in September. Brian and I then spent the next couple of weeks watching the entire documentary, including great interviews with Bob Costas, Yogi Berra, and Rachel Robinson, the widow of Jackie Robinson, among others.
For me, the most memorable part of the series had to be the clip of Bob Costas discussing his first experience at Yankee Stadium with his father. As a young child, he was awed by the sheer size of the stadium and the size of the pitching mound. After the game, fans back then could cross the field to a second exit. As Bob Costas and his father crossed the field, he became very upset. He loved baseball so much that somewhere during his childhood he got the idea that Yankee greats such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were buried on the field. He didn’t want to disturb what he believed to be their graves. The stories of baseball memories bringing together fathers and sons, as well as fathers and daughters, stayed with me.
I found myself asking why baseball is so different from football, hockey, or basketball. I’m not sure, but I do know this: there is something about baseball that transcends time. I have memories of watching the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup in 1996 and 1997 with my Dad, as well as countless other games, but my most powerful memories all relate to baseball.
Many of my earliest memories of my Dad involve baseball. As a very young child, I remember watching the Detroit Tigers with my Dad and eating Schwann’s black cherry ice cream. Somehow my Dad ended up attending one of the 1984 World Series games at Tiger Stadium. At that game he bought a signed baseball that sat on the roll-top desk in his office for years. In fact, it might still be there. I loved that baseball and thought that it was amazing that my Dad attended one of the World Series games. I also remember rummaging through the top drawer of my Dad’s desk and coming across his father’s Mason ring. In the eyes of a young girl, the Masonic symbol was a baseball diamond. Above all, there were the games.
Throughout my early childhood, my Dad, a former high school athlete who played football, basketball, and baseball, played on a men’s softball team. As a preschooler, I loved watching my Dad play ball. I liked the entire experience. I was so proud to have my Dad out there in his lucky #3 baseball hat with his well-worn glove. I loved watching him bat.
Of course, it wasn’t just about baseball. I also loved playing in the dirt next to the dugout, running around the poker straight pine trees behind the dugout, and playing with the old-fashioned water pump between the dugout and the pines. More than anything, I loved going to the bar with everyone after the games. As my Dad and his friends, along with their wives and girlfriends, drank pitchers of beer and talked, I played pinball, foosball, Pac Man, and enjoyed pop and chips. It is no wonder I could relate to adults well as a child. I spent a lot of time around adults and enjoyed every minute of it.
I also loved spending time at my Grandparents’ house. A trip to my Dad’s parent’s home was never complete without spending time with their neighbor’s son, Brian K. We were the same age and he happened to have something I wanted desperately as a child, a tree house! I vividly remember one afternoon spent playing in his tree house. His dog somehow came off his lead and I became scared as I really didn’t know his dog. Brian K. told me to hang out in the tree house until he chained up the dog.
It was that day his Mom invited me to attend one of Brian K.’s Little League game with his family. In the eyes of six year-old, it was a very big deal. I felt honored to be setting on the sidelines cheering on Brian K. along with his parents. At the time, of course, I wanted to be out there on the field too. While I did play softball for one season at age 11, I am no athlete. My Grandpa R., who loved to watch me play, insisted he never saw anyone walk more than I did. As I’ve always been exceedingly short, no one ever learned how to pitch to me. Instead, I collected baseball cards.
I’m not exactly sure when and why I started collecting baseball cards, but my favorite will always be the Topps 1987 wood grain cards. They remind me of my Grandpa B. My maternal great-grandparents owned a cottage on Sage Lake in northern Michigan. I spent many summer weekends there with my parents, my sister, my grandparents, and most of my extended family. My Grandpa loved to get all of his grandkids, all girls at the time, in his station wagon to take them to the candy store. He’d let us pick out whatever we wanted. I picked out baseball cards to add to my collection, mainly ’87 Topps. I still have my baseball card collection and fond memories of my Grandpa asking me if I was sure that is what I wanted.
I loved everything about collecting baseball cards. Organizing them by team, deciding which packs of cards to purchase, and looking up prices all were fun. It is fitting that I lost interest in collecting cards as I became a teenager. My last full set dates to the strike shortened 1994 season. Around that time I lost interest in baseball. Coincidentally, it is also the same year the local grocery store, my favorite place to purchase cards, closed.
Around that time my Dad took my little sister, my little brother, and me to a Tigers game at Tiger Stadium on the corner of Michigan and Trumbull. That day happened to be Little League Day. My Dad knew this, so he had my sister wear her softball shirt, my brother his t-ball shirt and hat, and me my old softball shirt. As a result, we had the opportunity to go out onto the field before the game. I’ll never forget looking back at the stands of old Tiger Stadium from the field. I’m grateful to my Dad for ensuring his kids had that experience. There is nothing better than going to a baseball game with your Dad. Having the opportunity to get out on the field of a historic stadium made it that much better.
Somehow I lost interest in the game, but it is still there, was always there, waiting to be rediscovered. While it was not our first date, Brian and I did go to a Lansing Lugnut’s game at Oldsmobile Park in 2004. It happened to be Senior night for MSU students. We had a wonderful time. It should’ve been my first clue as to what extent baseball would play a role in our relationship.
Since we began dating in 2004, I attended his cousin’s wedding at Comerica Park, the new home of the Tigers, an experience which deserves its own post; I endured the 2005 World Series win of the Chicago White Sox, Brian’s favorite team; I suffered through the loss of a World Series with the Tigers in 2006; and each year, the baseball rivalries begin again. Brian’s Mom, Cindy, roots for the New York Yankees because of Curtis Granderson. Brian roots for the Chicago White Sox for no apparent reason. Meanwhile, Brian’s younger brother Todd and I root for the Tigers as proud Michiganders. Baseball season is never boring as long as Brian is in my life.
The Detroit Tigers all reported to spring training in Lakeland, Florida yesterday. I can’t wait for the new season to begin! I may personally not know the stats week to week, but I do know who does. I hope Prince Fielder becomes an important part of the team. Here’s to a great season for the Tigers! May they beat the White Sox and the Yankees always and forever.
I just wanted to take a minute to mention a few things going on behind the scenes. I’m still in the midst of designing the static pages here at Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde. The pages listed below are updated at this point, although I reserve the right to change them at any time, without notice. Please take a moment to look around.
I plan on updating My Political Views page tonight. Hopefully I’ll get an opportunity to update my Resources pages this weekend. Tomorrow I finally plan to publish my long promised baseball post. It seems fitting as Detroit Tigers must all report for Spring Training 2012 in Lakeland, Florida tomorrow. I haven’t looked forward to baseball season this much since I was a child, and I am not alone.
I’ve long loved radio and decided to put all my favorites in one place. I’m not sure when I first loved listening to the radio, but as a child, I remember listening with headphones late into the night, long after I was supposed to be asleep. I also made plenty of mix tapes. That doesn’t even mention one of my favorite childhood pastimes, creating radio stations, original jingles included, using a Fischer Price tape recorder. Today, I can’t stand to be in a car without the radio on. Enjoy.
My senior year at MSU I decided to get involved with the major student radio station on campus. It is something I did purely for my personal enjoyment. I love music, and playing music, that much. Everyone involved with Impact 89FM starts out on their online training station The Fix. After learning the basics, you are left alone to spin music for a few hours by yourself. You can’t imagine how much fun I had in the studio! My only regret is that I didn’t get involved as a freshman.
The radio stations I always associate with my childhood are WHNN-FM and 102.5 WIOG. Throughout my later elementary school years, I rode to school with my Mom, who taught 6th grade at the time. She listed to WHNN-FM every morning to catch Johnny Burke’s morning show. Thanks to that station, I know the music of the 50s, 60s, and 70s pretty well – and appreciate it. I still listen to Johnny Burke every morning on my way to work. WHNN-FM covers a huge chunk of Michigan.
While WHNN-FM catered to my parents’ generation, 102.5 WIOG is still home to current pop. It was the radio station as a teenager. Like WHNN-FM, 102.5 WIOG has a huge reach. Unless you liked country as a teenager, you listened to 102.5 WIOG. Back in the 90s, mainstream alternative and SKA ruled the air waves.
94.5 The Moose and 98 KCQ are the two big country stations in Mid-Michigan. Growing up, I hated country music. Now, there is a lot of it I love. In my opinion, pop isn’t nearly as relevant as it once was. Country is now the genre featuring the best artists and innovation. I grew up a fan of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Motown, and the Beatles. Today I love Toby Keith, Blake Sheldon, Miranda Lambert, and even the Dixie Chicks. Go figure.
Driving anywhere with my Grandma during the summer months meant the Detroit Tigers on WSGW – NEWSRADIO 790 and Ernie Harwell. Any radio broadcast of the Tigers will remind me always and forever of my Grandma.
Back in the day FM TALK 100.5 AND SPORTS! actually turned into a pirate radio station for a while. I love the concept of anything to do with pirates. Before that, it happened to be an alternative to 102.5 WIOG.
Where do I even begin with KOOP? It is the reason why I love Austin so much to this day. Somehow I consented to go on a blind date with a man who happened to be very involved with KOOP. At the time, he hosted the show ATX Live. He is still involved with KOOP after serving as president of the co-op for several years. Today he serves as the Tech Team Area Coordinator for KOOP.
At the time, his involvement with KOOP led to us spending plenty of time together checking out local bands, artists, and even festivals. Andy even introduced me to one of my best friends in Austin, his former manager Cheryl. Of course, they originally meet through KOOP. I can’t begin to imagine Austin without the music.
It was directly as a result of Andy’s involvement in KOOP that I decided to go back to MSU and get involved with the Impact 89FM, even if only for one semester.
You can read more about my experiences in Austin below:
Undoubtedly the internet is saving the radio from obscurity. I love the fact that in many cases fans can now go to the website of their favorite band and/or artist and listen in. In particular, I love The Beatles website for this. Not only do they play everything in the Beatles’ catalog, they play John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s solo work as well. What is there not to like?
Well, it’s been a quiet mid-winter weekend here in Michigan. We’re all still buzzing about the Tigers new acquisition – Prince Fielder. You would not believe the stunned, and very pleased, reactions among my Facebook friends. While spring training may be a ways off yet, there appears to be genuine excitement surrounding Prince Fielder. Personally, I can’t imagine a more meaningful move by Tigers’ management.
It all goes back to those long ago days in the early 90s when Cecil Fielder, Prince’s father and one of my favorite Tigers of all time, reigned supreme. It is wonderful to see Prince Fielder return to the team he hung out with as a child (see article). I can’t wait for this baseball season. It’ll be interesting to see how Prince and Cabrera work together. Spring can not come fast enough.
As for baseball, I’ve been working on a definitive baseball post for months now. It is that good. I now hope to post it the date of the Tigers’ first spring training match-up, March 2, 2012. I may not reflexively know the standings of the Tigers and White Sox all baseball season long, unlike my boyfriend Brian, but I am interested. I love the fact that baseball allows you to come to it when you please. It is just always there in the background… waiting.
Vintage everyday does it again. At times I can’t get enough. Today one of my favorite topics took center stage, even if only for a few hours. The Beatles. I will never get enough of them or their music. The pictures included above are just perfect, some of which I’ve seen before. My favorite picture is the very last picture in the post. It doesn’t get better than the Beatles hanging out in the pool.
Well, as a result of the blog post above, I ended up at the Life website. That, of course, led to the discovery of a wonderful photo gallery of Madonna (aka Madge) throughout the years. Yep, Madonna takes over in all her bustier glory. Music and acting be damned, she easily could’ve become famous for her fashion sense, or her lack of it, depending on your opinion. Love her or hate her, she’s always been unique.
Back at vintage everyday I discovered a picture of Madonna, before becoming the queen of pop, with her family. It reminded me of why I continue to love her attitude despite everything. At heart she is just a Michigan girl who became famous for being herself. I’ve always loved the fact that she wasn’t afraid to be controversial and wasn’t afraid to use her sexuality to the fullest.
Despite all of my love of her music, her attitude, and her roots, I can’t pretend to love everything Madonna’s ever done. She can’t act for one. Well, I shouldn’t say that. I loved her in Evita and in A League of Their Own, two of my favorite films of all time. Then again, in those movies, the characters she played weren’t too far off from her public persona. When you play just another version of yourself, is that truly acting? I’m not sure. Everything else she’s been in over the years film wise tends to be forgettable at best, regrettable at worst.
No matter how much she embarrasses herself in public in the coming years, there will always be a special place in my heart for Madonna, especially her music. The soundtrack of my childhood would have to include Material Girl, Like A Virgin, La Isla Bonita, and This Used To Be My Playground, among many others from her back catalog. I can attest that I’ve loved Like A Virgin – and almost every song on The Immaculate Collection – long before I even knew what a virgin was.
Then there are the Beatles. Here again I’d have to include an entire album or more of Beatles tunes on any soundtrack of my life. I won’t even begin to narrow down my options here. There are only a handful of songs that I wouldn’t want to include from the Beatles catalog. I predict the Beatles will still inhabit some place in pop culture 100 years from now.
As usual I’ve been busy behind the scenes. There are a few important upcoming posts that you will not want to miss!
I recently interviewed Jennifer Malone Wright on her new book The Birth of Jaiden as part of her blog tour. I enjoyed the experience and hope to participate in more!
Coming soon are pieces on baseball and on the economy, jobs in particular. I have so much to say and have tried to write both posts several times. Sometimes things hit too close to home. I also want to discuss Steve Jobs at some point.
I also hope to soon work on several book reviews that I need to write. As I mentioned earlier, they will be posted to BlogCritics first and then here. As always, there are too many great books and too little time! Stay tuned.
And because the Tigers need all the help they can get …
