It's been a good while since I've practiced playing any instrument, so over the weekend, I decided to pick up old faithful: my bass guitar. It's like riding a bicycle! 

I've started plucking strings again because my friends hit me up to learn some songs. We've got guitars, bass, drums, and vocals; so, the potential is there for something cool to come about. The main objective is to just have a good time and jam, but if we end up sounding alright, maybe some recording will find its way to the internet. We're by no means a band, just some dudes coming together to play music! 

Making music makes memories, and whenever I get the chance to come together with friends to do so, it's always a great time. I can't wait for it next. First, though, I need to keep practicing. Gotta get back to it- till next time, thanks for reading! 

 As we get older entering different stages of life, things change.  Some are physical, some mental, and some are the things outside of those.  Possessions. Stuff you've had for years and now it's time to let go.  And as silly as this is going to sound, that's where I am with an old couch I have.  I know it's time, and I'm fine with it.

But in fairness, this to me isn't an ordinary couch.  It has a story as I look back on that's pretty cool and that's why it's been with me all these years.  You see in 1983 I was a very young broadcaster who moved to Columbus just starting off on my own and had zero money.  So I built this couch, because I couldn't afford to buy a real one, and it served me well for the next 40 years or so.  As I look at it today, it amazes me that I made it.  I made a matching chest too and that's in Florida at my house there full of pool toys.  But the couch was first.  It's what I could  - sort of afford.

I designed this humble couch as a day bed type of thing, and it was measured to fit the dumpy apartment I was living in.  I drove to my moms farm house in Berea late one Friday night and spent the weekend with her.  I used her -  I think -  70 year old table saw in the scary basement that was my "Grandpa Doc's" for the majority if not the entirety of the 20th century that I'm not sure was at all safe.  I cut all the pieces and there was a ton of them, labeling them with pen.  That took most of the weekend, then I loaded all the pieces up in my Buick Skyhawk and drove back home to my one bedroom apartment in the worst part of town along with some tools. I assembled it in my living room while watching the World Series over the course of a few nights with wood glue and nails.

Every Piece Was Labled

I belt sanded the entire thing, completely trashing my place for a couple of days. After the frame was together I nailed and glued on the platform, only to discover I had nailed in a drop cloth that was an old table cloth to the under frame and it's still there.  I bought an expensive piece ($15) of 4" foam that has lasted wonderfully. (The guy said it would and it did)  After I stained the couch, I covered the foam with a piece of tan herculon I stapled on that's still on there.  That was it.  Whole thing I think cost me $45 to make as that's what I could afford, if I even could then.  Sheesh!

Drop Cloth Nailed And Glued Under By Accident

That couch has been used for all these decades, mostly as a window sill couch after the first few years. My friends kids have slept on it, I have slept on it, company has slept on it, it survived party's, in short it has done its job.  That couch moved with me to Richmond, then to Jefferson City (2 addresses) then to Lakeland (2 addresses) then back here, (3 addresses). A few of the decorative pieces have had to be re-glued back on a few times.  Movers have loaded it on and off trucks and been in storage sheds and now it sits in the basement, warm and dry where it's been for the past 4 years.  The truth is, it just outlived its time. It's still in great shape, and I hate to part with it. But I get it, it's the memory of a different time that's the issue.

Am I proud of it?  I guess, it's not a classic piece of work, but it was my work as a broke 22 year old.  I had zero idea in 1983, I'd be writing about this is 2024, I guess I should be proud it lasted all these years and lived an exciting life - for a couch.

When I think about it, it lived my life too.  - Thanks old couch.  Maybe you'll find a new home.  (BTW it's PERFECT as a window sill couch)

In case you missed any of my articles this week from WQMX.com , here is a recap. Grab a coffee and earbuds anbd let's get you caught up.

BROWNS - People Are Different

Eat Of The Week

50 Most Important Country Songs 1980-Today #40

Forgotten Jukebox - CM-02

CMML - Terri Clark (Revisit)

Wynn At The Movies And More

Box Office Results - Kung Fu Panda 4 - (59 Million)

#2 – Dune 2  -  (46 Million)

#3 - Imaginary  -  (10 Million)

New This Week - Arthur The King  / Knox Goes Away / Snack Shack

Oscars - Oppenheimer wins 7

Razzies - Winnie The Pooh Blood And Honey 2 (sweeps)

Neve Campbell – Will be in Scream 7 – got the money worked out she skipped Scream 6

The Batman Part II, - With Robert Pattinson, postponed a year, It will now open on October 2026 instead of October 2025

WOW! - Screenwriter Simon Stephenson accusing the makers of Holdovers of plagiarism. Says he has evidence Holdovers screenplay was "plagiarized line-by-line" from his screenplay for a movie script called Frisco

This Weekend – Check out my Country Music Memory Lane (link)

Also - 50 Most Important Country Songs 1980 – Today #40 (Link)

Carrie from Massillon is headed to Vegas for Garth Brooks!!!!!

Your time is (almost) up. The Oscars air this Sunday night at 7:00 on ABC. If you are a big movie person, did you see everything you wanted to since the nominations were announced? That is a big thing for many people to do in those roughly 6 weeks.

Who's going to win? Who's going to lose and because of that, cause a huge uproar? Tune in to find out. If you have your own fan favorites...good luck on Sunday night and enjoy the show!

As we rolled into International Women's Day...

The Throwback Song Of The Day at 3:20ish is always to have fun with.  

I give you a little background information that could lead you in the right direction eventhough the song is from a while ago.

Fitting Throwback for International Women's Day:

Friday means new music releases, here is what is available today to add to your library!

NEW SONGS:

Chris Janson "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" 
Brantley Gilbert "Off The Rails"
Chris Young "What She Sees In Me"
Avery Anna "Make It Look Easy"
Mickey Guyton "Woman"
Catie Offerman "Barely a Two Lane Road"
Koe Wetzel "Damn Near Normal"

NEW ALBUM:

Luke Grimes Self-Titled Debut Album

ALBUMS COMING SOON:

3/15: Kacey Musgraves "Deeper Well"
3/15: RaeLynn "Funny Girl"
3/22: Kenny Chesney "Born"
3/22: Brothers Osborne "Break Mine" EP
3/22: Chris Young "Young Love & Saturday Nights"
3/22: Cody Jinks "Change The Game"
3/29: Dylan Scott "Livin' My Best Life (Still)"
3/29: Josh Ross "Complicated"
3/29: HIXTAPE Vol. 3 DIFFTAPE ft Joe Diffie, Post Malone, Morgan Wallen + HARDY
3/29: Aaron Lewis "The Hill"
4/5: Ian Munsick "White Buffalo: Introduce You To God" Deluxe Album
4/5: Zach Topp "Cold Beer & Country Music"
4/12: Tyler Hubbard "Strong"
4/12: Morgan Evans "Live at the Sydney Opera House"
4/12: Chase Bryant "Ashland City" EP
4/19: Anne Wilson "Rebel"
4/19: Elvie Shane "DEMASCUS"
4/19: Craig Campbell "Class of 89" EP
4/26: MacKenzie Porter "Nobody's Born With A Broken Heart"
5/10: Brian Kelley "Tennessee Truth"
5/10: Scotty McCreery "Rise & Fall"
5/24: Travis Denning "Roads That Go Nowhere"
6/7: Tracy Lawrence "Out Here In It" EP
6/14: Carly Pearce "hummingbird"

We also played Gabby Barrett's next radio single "Dance Like No One's Watching" today in the Country Cafe at noon! Eric Matthews will feature it again tonight during New at 9 for Keep It or Kick It. 

Information on the all-new Dodge Charger keeps trickling in, especially within these past few days, and a blog from me on this hot new ride is long overdue. Where do I even begin? 

First, let's talk about just how different it looks from its predecessor. The biggest change has me jumping for joy: there is once again a two-door Charger! That makes me so happy, as myself and others felt the reintroduction of the Charger in the mid-2000's as a sedan was a betrayal to its legendary roots. (It was almost as sinful as calling that FWD L-Body from the 80's a Charger!) There will still be a four-door variant of the Charger come 2025, but the coupe came with the cost of the Challenger nameplate retiring after this year. 

Design on these new Chargers is a departure from the past and a stride towards the future for Dodge. The cars give off a sense of familiarity, yet they're unlike anything we've seen from Stellantis thus far. They're some sleek looking rides, with futuristic styling inside and out that doesn't disregard the company's heritage.  You can tell its Mopar, especially from the windows upward, but the changes aren't subtle. 

Beyond aesthetics, there's a whole lot I could fill you in on with regards as to why this new Charger platform is so exciting. What's probably the biggest thing is that there is no longer a V8 offering. As blasphemous as that may be for some, what's offered instead is in fact a replacement for displacement. With a battery instead of a gas tank, the Charger Daytona is what's being described as the first muscle EV. It's something else!

You can either go with that, or opt for an Inline-6 powerplant to continue making trips to the pump and to keep that rumble beneath the hood. The ICE will be dubbed the Charger Six Pack, and those aren't expected to hit dealerships until 2025. The Daytona coupe should be the first variant of these cars to arrive to consumers. Both drivetrain options put out some massive numbers, but the EV is unparalleled with up to 670hp available out the gate. 

All that power is put to the ground via AWD, and that's the only way they'll be making any Charger going forward. Pair that grip advantage with advanced launch control, and these muscle cars are going to be borderline impossible to beat off the line at the stoplight, or even at the dragstrip. The temporary top-of-the-line Daytona Scat Pack is reported to have a quarter mile time of 11.5 seconds with a 0-60 in 3.3. That's blazing fast for a production vehicle, and apparently it's only the beginning for Dodge's journey into electrification. 

On that note, Dodge has attached a symbol to this new era they're entering, and I couldn't neglect to bring it up here. To denote a new chapter in muscle, they've revived what is known as the Fratzog. The Fratzog could be found on various Dodges in the 60's, such as my all-time favorite car, the 1967 Charger. It's something like an equilateral triangle with inward-curving lines, and you'll often see it depicted in red. I don't believe it is much more than a cool logo with no deep meaning, but I dig the nod to the cars of yesteryear. 

That's really what it's all about for new Dodge; changing to keep up with the future while remaining true to themselves and maintaining their fanbase. I'm glad they had the courage to push forward into the uncertain instead of sticking with the past out of principle. There might be a little hesitation initially on the part of the consumer with just how different these cars are compared to their predecessors, but I think that will fade quick when they hit the streets. The proof is in the pudding, as we'll discover, and my expectations are huge. 

I hate to admit it, but when it comes to EV's; if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! I still consider driving one to be crossing over to the dark side, and I'd go with the Six Pack myself, but you can't argue with performance. 

Anyhow, as much as I'd like to tell you all about the Fratzonic "exhaust" the Daytona is set to have or give you specifics on the battery range or tire size, I think I'll finish off this blog here. If you would like to know more about the all-new Dodge Charger, check out these links below! 

• From Dodge's Website
• From Road and Track
• From Car and Driver

Before I came into work today, I stopped at an area restaurant for dinner. As I'm sitting there eating, I hear Michael Ray's song "Holy Water". It finishes playing, and then the VERY NEXT SONG was "What He Didn't Do" by Carly Pearce! What are the odds? Good thing neither of them were in the building...haha