I begin with a confession: I don’t know the world of country music inside and out.
However, I will admit to watching a lot of The Nashville Network’s “Fandango” in the ’80s—mainly because I’m a game show fan; the puns of Edgar, the talking jukebox, were worth the price of admission. On a related note, my family and I used to eat at our nearest Po Folks family restaurant in Dayton, Ohio, which host Bill Anderson endorsed.
With that, my first memory of hearing B95 must have been during the long, hot summer of 1988 while visiting Mississippi from Ohio. It was early in B95’s run. When I tuned in for the first time, I happened to catch this iconic legal ID at just the right moment…
“We’re star-spangled, flag-wavin’, fire-crackin’ — B95 — WBBN — Taylorsville, Laurel, Hattiesburg.”
…my transcription doesn’t do the jingle justice. If you remember it, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
I thought it was catchy—as I chuckled. I knew something like this wouldn’t work in Dayton and Cincinnati, home to WONE, WUBE, and as many as four other country stations over the years (including Kiss Country 101.5; FM 99.1, a longtime easy listening station in Dayton even switched to country before the decade was out). But in the American Southeast, the jingle worked.
Years later, after my family relocated to Mississippi and I entered the business, I began working—at the competition. If you know, you know.
Just before work officially started, I attended the 1992 South Mississippi Fair in Laurel. My future station’s booth looked fine—some balloons for airstaff to blow up and, if I recall correctly, a box for prize drawing entries. But B95’s booth? A pre-social media era feast for the eyes. Balloons, Buzzy the mascot, nearly all hands on deck—even the boss was broadcasting live on-site.
“Did I join the wrong radio team?” I wondered silently for a brief moment. Armed with my “Fandango”-fueled country music knowledge and not much more, I stuck with Plan Alpha.
By then, names like Kenny, Dolly, and Hank Jr. rang loudly—how could they not? But I mostly recognized them from movies, variety shows, and “Monday Night Football”. (One friend from Dayton, however, was a huge Bocephus fan; another, a devoted listener of the aforementioned Kiss Country, bore some resemblance to Clint Black.)
Show me a picture of Mel Tillis and I’m more likely to recall his time as a Whataburger spokesman from my early ’80s Texas days than his hit song “Coca-Cola Cowboy”. In recent years, I’m more likely to connect Reba McEntire to situation comedy shows (“Happy’s Place”, her eponymous sitcom “Reba”) than her legendary recording career.
Back to Plan Alpha. Long story short, the plan worked—but not for much more than a year and a half at my old station.
Later, a ten-year-old B95 got a new neighbor in 1995—Rock 104. And in 1996, the company got a new team member—me.
Great things were happening. For one, I was thrilled to bring my act to a rock station that had already made waves. Further, it was great seeing the country station that started it all—even if I didn’t know their world well.
The difference between my old station and B95/Rock 104 was night and day. While I was parting company with a great team, I was fleeing a certain leader and his deputy with myopic beliefs who wanted the place to be just “a Hattiesburg station”—never mind that it was physically near Laurel, and many listeners still remembered its Laurel and Jones County origins. (Oh, did I mention my paternal grandfather knew my old station’s first leader, Granville Walters? Perhaps a story for another time.)
Meanwhile, B95 and Rock 104 aimed to be Pine Belt stations. And oh, did they succeed. They still do.
The first time I visited B95’s studio, I saw something I can only describe as an algebraic liner for the airstaff to read. It incorporated as many cities, towns, and communities from the listening area as possible, rotating names almost hourly. Something like this…
“From Ellisville to Baxterville, from Heidelberg to Hattiesburg — the Pine Belt spells ’country’ B95.”
…my internal reaction: How clever. I’ve heard the B95 team read lines like this for years. To see the variables to make this happen was quite a site.
And it only got better from there. The station’s commitment to public service announcements was evident. I sensed from the outside looking in this was a company that really cared about the overall market. After Day 1 on the job, just seeing PSA after PSA made me realize this IS a company that really cares about the overall market. Later, the company developed its own online platforms. As the commitment extended to digital spaces, airstaff guided listeners to our websites for event details and community updates.
If you haven’t yet, check out @b95country’s official social media pages on Facebook and Instagram. Lately, they’ve felt like a living scrapbook—reliving contests, public appearances, and unforgettable moments. Spoiler alert: You’ll see some of the Rock 104 team, myself included, in these throwback posts. In events such as the Food, Home, and Health Show as well as the Pine Belt Expo, the stations had a unified presence.
I’ll close with this. Bill O’Reilly once called The Doors the best rock band ever. Hard to disagree. I won’t try to match him, but I’ll say this.
If you’ve ever wanted to give country music a try, start with Alabama. Cindy, my late wife, and I attended an Alabama concert—and I walked away realizing I knew half their set. The band was the artist of the ’80s for a reason. And this December, when “Christmas in Dixie” turns 40, it should tug at your heartstrings just as it did the first time it was released.
Happy anniversary, B95. Here’s to the next 40 years—and beyond.