Small Factory "The Last Time That I Talk To You"

I was not particularly experienced. Or interesting. But they asked, so I came.

I had only been a DJ for a short time, when one of the local Middle Schools invited me to come speak to a class, during career day.

I was living on the Virginia/Tennessee border, hosting a nightly modern rock show. I was in "Country" Country, so the weird stuff I was playing was pretty alien to most folks.

I wasn't much of a public speaker at that time, so after a few questions about how much I got paid, and several inquiries into whether I had brought everyone free CDs (uh, No), an uncomfortable silence started to settle in.

There was a hand from the back of the room.

"Yes? You have a question?"

"Uh, yeah. I just wanted to say that I really liked that interview you did with Small Factory the other night."

I had interviewed an independent band on the air a few nights earlier. I didn't expect that anyone had listened, or cared.

The Middle Schooler's name was Lori T. Being in Middle School in "Country" Country and loving indie rock was not something you could share with a lot of people.

We took Lori in.

Lori would run Casey Kasem's program on the weekends. And when she was in high school, she started fill-in airshifts, eventually taking over my Saturday night iteration of the modern rock show.

You are on the air sometimes, wondering if anyone listens, or cares. And then you think about someone like Lori T. who absorbed that weird music that her peers would never listen to, and who grew up to be a cool cool person, in part, because there was someone on the radio who spoke her language.

Lori T is now Lori T B, and she and her husband live in Music City: Nashville, Tennessee.

Next week, she's going to be the guest blogger on this page. Here's a preview from Lori:

"Briefly, I have a real kick ass job. Bobbie's Dairy Dip is a unique piece of Nashville history, an original drive-up hamburger and soft serve stand (you know, like the ones the Beach Boys sing about). The building has been around since 1951. It's a special place with a very special clientele-- families, hipsters, and even some famous folk from time to time. Here are songs I've picked representing my five favorite celebrity encounters while working at the Dip."

Check it out all next week, as Lori serves a cone to Emmylou Harris, Ben Folds, Taylor Swift and others. Yum! And Yeah!