Bios

Rick Emerson

Rick Emerson was born March 7, 1973 in Kennewick, Washington. Kennewick is, according to the EPA, the single most radioactive city in America, and, perhaps not coincidentally, is a big shithole.

Rick attended an oppressively-hellish Catholic school for nine years, during which time he grew to be somewhat unhealthily aroused by several of the nuns. Best not to dwell on that.

At age 14, he lucked into a slave-boy gig for one of the local stations in Kennewick. For precisely zero dollars an hour, he fetched coffee and changed records for the morning guys---egregiously overpaid men who are, today, peeling shrimp in a Red Lobster somewhere. Throughout his high school years, he worked at one station after another, using ever-more ridiculous "radio" voices, and generally shaming himself at every turn. The only bright spot during this period was the station "prize closets", which were usually unlocked, or easily jimmied. Um, best to forget that part, too.

After graduating fourth-to-last in his high school class, he struck out for the thriving metropolis of Spokane, Washington, where he eventually landed his first talk-show gig, Broadcasting from (I kid you not) a bomb shelter in the basement, he blew out the speakers for two hours every night, and managed to earn a small, but loyal following.

When the company promoted him to Afternoon Drive in Salt Lake City, he was introduced to the vast amounts of horny Mormon housewives whom he would pine for the rest of his life. Seriously now, if you can't get laid in Utah , give it up; you're just not meant to be having sex.

Anyway, after becoming Program Director of KCNR in Salt Lake, he helped create one of the most popular radio stations ever to grace the state's airwaves. In the process, he was arrested twice, banned from the State Capitol for life, and married another man. (It's a long story.)

Eventually, the powers that be (read: Disney) changed the formet to "music for Ritalin-dosed children", and he was left at loose ends. With his adoring, and, it must be said, unusually tolerant girlfriend, Lara, he spent a long, happy year staring at the California Ocean, wondering what he was going to do with his life.

The answer came in Fall of 1998, when he accepted a job at Hot Talk 1080 KOTK in Portland, OR. Taking the midday slot, he formed a uniquely strong bond with the Portland audience, and was only occasionally pelted with rocks upon leaving the building.

The following year, national syndication of his show was offered, and he accepted, instantly beaming his show into 40 cities - most of which generally hated him and everything he stood for.

In early 2001, the oft-cited "creative differences" had become very apparent in the show, and, without falling into a whole Behind-the-Music-type-of-thing... the show left the air. Rick, quite content to do fucking nothing at that point, did so for many months - visiting friends, tending to his hedgehog, and watching many, many episodes of Fantasy Island. Mmmm... Tattoo.

In mid-2001, he was lured back Hot Talk 1080 KOTK in Portland, Oregon, where he continued to terrorizes the masses with his unique combination of brains, good looks, and charm.

Two years later, KOTK was purchased by Entercom Communications, who, in their finite wisdom, decided that The Rick Emerson Show would function better as a late-morning product. Insisting that they were "big believers in the Emerson brand", they demonstrated said belief by firing the show and changing the format in early 2005.

Shortly thereafter, fans of the show launched what would become known as The Coffee Cup Crusade, an unprecedented show of devotion which attracted the attention of CBS Radio and resulted in the wholesale return of the Emerson Show to the Portland airwaves, via 970-AM, KCMD.

Along the way, Emerson found time for numerous outside projects, including multiple, sold-out runs of his one-man stage show, Bigger than Jesus: The Diary of a Rock and Roll Fan. Along with creative partner Joni DeRouchie, Emerson turned Bigger than Jesus into something of a local sensation, climaxing in a standing-room only performance at Portland State University, which was filmed for release as a motion picture. DeRouchie and Emerson also collaborated on another short film, Remote Control, as well as a two-part television event, entitled Rock Roundtable.

In his spare time, Emerson enjoys reading, Xbox, and lurid fantasies about Peggy Hill.

Sarah X. Dylan

Coming soon...

Tim Riley

Tim Riley began his radio career at the age of 12 by building a pirate radio station in the bedroom of his Nashua, New Hampshire home. He quickly graduated to reading the news in English on Helen's Polka Party on WOTW Radio in Nashua after hanging around the station and refusing to go home. His first year of college (the only year) brought an internship at Boston's WRKO, writing and producing news for the legendary anchor Bill Rossi. What followed was a strIng of miserable, forgettable disc jockey jobs on both coasts at stations no one listened to including WKBR, WBBX, WNBP,KMDY, KNJO, KVEN, KHAY. A SAG card for acting following a move to California which continued a relentless struggle of extreme poverty, battered cars barely fit to drive, and a laundry list of roach-filled apartments in crime-ridden neighborhoods. After being robbed while working as an all night motel desk clerk after being fired from one of those forgettable disc jockey jobs in Southern California in 1998, Riley's luck changed for the better after moving to Portland, where KOTK's Program Director God Bruce Agler eventually teamed him with Rick Emerson and the rest is history.