Saturday, February 9, 2008

Grammy Awards Pt. 2

Interviewing celebrities is one of the mainstays of The Scott & Erica Show. And it never gets old.

The first celebrity I ever interviewed was at my first radio job in Newark, Ohio. It was the one and only Boxcar Willie. In case you haven't had the pleasure of knowing him, Boxcar was an old-school country music singer with a trademarked hobo hat and a train whistle that he would work into most every song he did. He pulled up to the station in a less-than-new camper that he toured the country with. Both he and his vehicle had seen some miles. But, back when we only had three TV channels, everybody my age watched Hee Haw on Saturday nights, and Boxcar was a regular guest on that show. So when he started answering my questions on the radio, I was in total disbelief that he was actually sharing a converstation with me.

Fast forward 20-something years to this weekend. I'm in Los Angeles at the 50th annual Grammy Awards. For the past two days, I've been in a room filled with superstars from Janet Jackson, to Kanye West, to Carrie Underwood. It's about as cool as it gets, but now for a different reason.

The bulk of the thrill I feel is delayed until I get to talk to my wife and daughter back in Orlando. I don't feel like it makes me more special to be around famous people, I just happened to pick a job that regularly includes that opportunity. But when I hear the elation in my family's voices, that's when the real excitement races through me.

This is very rare air I'm in this weekend. I feel extremely fortunate to get this chance. But it doesn't completely hit home, until I phone home.

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