CARLTON FLETCHER: A wish fulfilled … a void left empty

“Music is what we like to play. All day … to soothe your soul.”

— War

Unlike Tara Dyer, whose heart-wrenching column in Sunday’s Herald about the sale of the local Queen Bee radio station’s signal was filled with hurt and loss, I don’t have the right to insert myself into what was hers and Tripp Morgan’s venture and lament the loss of something that was a vital part of her being.

But, man, not being a part of that unique, only-one-of-its-kind station does leave a huge void in my life.

Anyone who knows me even a little bit knows that I love music. Next to the people in my life — and a few other necessities — it’s the most important thing. When Tara gave me, Todd Fox, the whole Bodean and the Poachers crew, Kenny Mitchell, Windham Towson and Brandon Smith the opportunity to check off what was for most of us a bucket-list item by serving as on-air DJs, it fulfilled dreams.

Fox and I talked about that fact one evening, and I think we were both surprised to learn that the other had actually engaged in faux radio broadcasting at some period in our younger lives.

I never was — and I’ll never be — someone who had the voice (let’s face it, I sound like a hick) or the skills suited for radio that both Tara and Kenny Mitchell possess. But once I got the hang of the equipment, how fun do you think it was for me to sit in that cool-as-ice booth (and I mean the decorations/layout, the booth was actually hot as hell because among the things that were never completed in the station was adequate air conditioning) and just play music for three hours? And not just any music, but the best music ever made.

I love that Queen Bee listeners/Albany Herald readers have joined me in lamenting the loss of the station. It was, again, one of its kind. The music playlist surpassed 8,000 (compared to the 75-200 of most stations around here), and while some complained that the Queen Bee was not genre-specific enough … sorry, but you missed the point. The point was that there is good music in all genres, and only the most close-minded stick only to one genre without at least sampling what else is out there.

I thought I had a pretty good grasp on music and musicians, but spending evenings at the Queen Bee introduced me to a spate of great artists (new and old) whose music I’d heard little or none of, artists like Tyler Childers (listen to “Universal Sound” and “Long, Violent History” … wow), Jason Isbell (“If We Were Vampires” and “Cover Me Up”), Sean Rowe (“The Promise of You”), Damien Rice (“Delicate”), Zach Bryan (“Crooked Teeth”), Brandi Carlile (“The Joke”), Isak Danielson (“Power”), Aden Paul (“The Ballad of Mr. New Orleans”), Leon Bridges (“Texas Sun”), Rory Gallagher (“Brute Force and Ignorance”), Texas Radio (“Those Red Lips”).

In return, I got to share some of my favorite music, stuff you just don’t hear on the radio, songs like “Southern Band” by Henry Gross, “Welcome to the Boomtown” by David & David, “California Love” by Tupac & Dr. Dre, “Savage” by Eurythmics, “So Fresh, So Clean” by Outkast, “Are You Experienced” by Jimi Hendrix, “Fire on the Pontchartrain” and “Long Fall” by Lost Trailers, “All of My Memories” and “Casey’s Last Ride” by John Denver, “Piece of the Rock” and “Baby Love” by Mother’s Finest, “Pony Boy” and “Seven Turns” by the Allman Brothers, “Something So Fine” and “Sky Blue and Black” by Jackson Browne, Gov’t Mule’s live version of the Allman Brothers’ “Soul Shine” … and the list just goes on and on.

I’ll miss hearing regularly from the “four musical wise men of Tifton” — Brian, David, Earl and Lonnie — (plus the self-titled “one wise-ass from Worth County,” Eddie), Chris from the Eastside, Strat, Steve from Ocilla/Fitzgerald, Nate, “Ram Man” from Sylvester, random musical calls from my kids Steve and Jordan — the former in north Alabama, the latter in Savannah — Brewer, Jim, Jaxon, Ray, Mike, the Moultrie Crew and lots of other unidentified listeners who called to make requests and to say they loved the station.

I’ll miss those calls, but most of all — like others in the community — I’ll miss the music. Sure, I have my records and my CDs, and I even know how to go to YouTube to hear certain songs. But, man, there ain’t nothing quite like hearing a favorite song on the radio. It’s like the surprise visit of a seldom-seen friend. That that was in our grasp and has been taken away is sad.

But unlike other listeners who now can go back to listening to the same few “classic” songs on a loop, day-after-day, at least I got to sit in that booth for a year-plus. It’s one of those things no one can take away from me.