The End of an Era: Farewell to 101QFL

Me, Mike "The SchloMan" Schlote and engineer Jon Burkholder, 2003

Almost two years ago...when I had been working at radio station 101QFL (WQFL) for 28 years...we got the word that the stations (including our sister station Radio 91) had been sold to a national company. (The stations had been owned by a local church for many years.)

I remember sitting in the meeting thinking, "So what does that mean to our jobs?" and then realizing, "Oh, duh. We will most likely be losing our jobs" and feeling, as the British say, gobsmacked.

A few months later, Radio 91 was no more. As they had indicated they would, the company left QFL a local station for the time being.

I was able to stay on, hosting a midday show, for another six months, then I too had to go. I now do mid-day news on News/Talk 1440 WROK.

With Joe Buchanan

In the little news studio that Mike Schlote dubbed "The Glass Bubble"

Charmel Jacobs, Ron Tietsort and me on the day we said good-bye to Radio 91

Another farewell

This past week I learned that 101QFL will be no more. Henceforward it will be Air One, a division of the company that bought the stations.

I am glad it will still be a Christian station. However, I can't deny that I am VERY sad that it will no longer be a local, community station.

My final co-host at 101QFL, Darren Marlar, wrote this on Facebook today: "

My best radio was hosting mornings with Cindy Garrett Swanson and hanging with Rick Hall at Positive Hits Wqfl in Rockford, IL. I don't know if God has a return to radio in my future or not - He has me pretty busy with stand-up comedy and TV right now, but regardless I will look back on QFL with fond memories. Rest in peace, 101QFL: 5/2/74 - 4/8/11."

Me and Darren Marlar--working with him on his morning show was sheer fun!

Susan Tyler, a long-time colleague at both 101QFL and Radio 91, wrote:

"... QFL will always hold a special place in my heart. It was station that sparked the desire in me at 13 to want to be in radio. It was the station that gave me my first job. Who would have thought, that 11 almost 12 years later, that I would be given the honor to be it's last & final Program Director? God knew. He knew that this place needed some one who cared and had a passion to see it go out in the highest form of dignity that it deserves. It will be greatly missed, but think of all the lives it touched and how many talented people passed through here. Each of us laid the brickwork for God's Kingdom and now it's going to be a mighty force, more than it could ever have been on it's own, as it joins the AIR1 Radio network..."

Susan Tyler and me--and Hammy the Hog!--at an event in 2010, not long before I was let go

Cue "Memories...pressed between the pages of my mind..."

On the occasion of my 25th anniversary at the station, I blogged about it, and included some thoughts and memories:

"*When I first came here, I typed my news stories on a manual (yes, MANUAL!) typewriter. I remember being thrilled when the newsroom got an electric! I now have a computer complete with AP news and SounDesk as well as the Internet.

*We recorded our interviews on reel-to-reel and transferred them to cartridges. My soundbites are now all recorded onto my computer (from mini-disc if necessary.)

*I sat through lengthy county board and city council meetings in order to garner a few minutes of soundbites. 101QFL is now a music-intensive station whose focus has shifted away from a heavy emphasis on news, so such coverage would no longer be a wise time investment.

*I used to truly enjoy covering murder trials and calling in reports to the station. One of the most exciting things that has happened to me as a reporter was when I was covering the trial of accused murderer Ray Lee Stewart. At one point, he escaped from a guard on his way to the courtroom and was shot by law enforcement authorities before being on the loose for a few hours. I and a TV reporter were the only people in the courtroom at the time, waiting for the trial to resume after a recess, and we got the story to our respective stations before anyone else.

*When I first came here, the station was in a residential neighborhood that wasn't close to any retail or food places. We had to travel a ways to even go to McDonald's, and what is now a major thoroughfare (Riverside Boulevard) was just a two-lane road. Now, the station is in prime real estate surrounded by every sort of business and eatery.

*Brian Wright and other staffers used to do their best to crack me up while I was on the air. I usually managed to make it through the newscast, but then I would completely lose it as soon as the mic was turned off!

*I started working on March 23rd, 1981, but I was scheduled to go on the air for the first time on Monday, March 30th. However, a certain event called a presidential assassination attempt pre-empted me! Yes, that was the day President Reagan was shot. We went with ABC Network News, and I never made it on the air that day.

There are a lot of great--and not-so-great--memories. General managers who were complete jerks, and a few who were wonderful. A long list of DJ's and support staff for whom I will always feel affection. Many colleagues--like Mike Marino, Mike Schlote, Joel Griffith, Randy Adams, Joe Buchanan and Chris Carmichael--who I still miss to this day. Others with whom I'm now working, like Darren Marlar, help make radio a continous joy for me."

So many other names I could have added: Ron Tietsort, Wes Bleed, Paul Youngblood, Rick Hall, Charmel Jacobs, Susan Tyler, Stan Brengle, Jon Burkholder... the list could go on and on...

Only eternity will tell...

I think we'll never know the true magnitude of the impact WQFL made for the kingdom of God until we get to Heaven. I know I've heard many testimonies from people on how it changed their lives, saved their marriages, stopped them from committing suicide, or even just got them going to church again, but I would imagine all the stories I've heard are just the tip of the iceberg.

One of the most special things about the whole experience? The listeners. Getting to know them. Seeing them at events and concerts. Telling them what was going on in their town, on their street, in their church...what the weather was going to be like in their neighborhood.

It IS the end of an era. And I want to echo Susan: THANK YOU. Thank you for a time that will live on in my heart forever.

So, just what is a voice-over artist and how did I become one?--Part 1

I've gotten several questions lately from my blog readers about my voice-over work. What exactly is being a voice-over artist? How did I get into the business? How can they get into V-O work?

So, although I don't claim any particular expertise--and in fact my voice-over career isn't yet where I would like it to be--I thought I'd answer these questions, from my perspective.


Quite simply, a voice-over artist provides a voice narration for a recording. Those voices you hear on radio and TV commercials? Those are voice-over artists. The dramatic guy you hear on the movie trailer? A voice-over artist. The voice on an instruction video? Yep, a voice-over artist.

When I first got into radio. Oh, how the years go by!

For me, it all started with radio

It all began when I was 19 years old, in Bible college in Springfield, Missouri, and wangled a part-time job at a Christian radio station.

I worked there for three years, then moved with my husband to his hometown, where I had my first child (Jonathan), and a year later, got a job at 101QFL.

If you're interested, this post will tell you more about that.

A few years into working at the station, I got a call from a man who owned a local video production company. He needed a female voice for a TV commercial, and he liked my voice on the radio.

That became my first voice-over job. I remember how excited it was as I entered the booth to record. I've never been nervous about doing voice-overs--it's something I feel I was, as cliche as it sounds, "born to do."

Right then and there, I knew that if I could quit my day job, voice-over is what I would do all the time.

Coasting along in a V-O career....

That V-O job led to several others with the same company, but still rather few and far between.

Then a guy who had been a DJ at the radio station and now owned his own recording studio called me and asked me to do some work for a local advertising agency. That led to several years of occasional V-O jobs at his studio.

All this time, I wasn't actively promoting my V-O career at all. The occasional jobs I got simply fell into my lap. They were nice extra money, and I loved doing them...but my life was really taken up with my radio station job, being a wife and raising three children.



Interviewing Peter Furler of the Newsboys, 2003

Getting in deeper...

I've been blessed to have a variety of V-O jobs come to me through various sources, so I really do have a wide array of experience is most aspects of the job: video narrations, commercials, phone surveys, phone prompts, voice acting, book trailers, and much more.

The two major, ongoing V-O jobs I have had also came without me seeking them. As a Christian, I believe they were both a "God thing," and they've been a source of real financial help to me and my family (although I'm definitely not getting rich!).

In early 2003, I got an e-mail from a company that records e-learning courses in Mumbai, India. They had somehow found me on the internet (I had a small voice-over page on my now-extinct website), and they asked for a demo.

(I now know that many V-O artists have had some terrible experiences with these types of companies--some are unreliable and downright fraudulent. I didn't know that then!)

This V-O job has been ongoing, off-and-on, since early 2003, and for the most part it has been a good experience. The company is quite legit, and although they tend to need things frantically and are sometimes slow in paying, they always do pay up.

A few years later, I got a call from a company that produces phone surveys for all kinds of businesses. Apparently their CEO had heard my demo on, of all things, this blog.

This has turned into my most beneficial V-O job, and one which I hope continues indefinitely. This company is a genuine pleasure to work for, and (something that is rare in the V-O world), they pay me regularly and PROMPTLY. This has been especially helpful--in fact, essential--since I lost my radio job this past March.


As co-host of "Marlar in the Morning" on 101QFL, 2008

Speaking of that...

I can't say my world wasn't rocked when I lost my job at 101QFL after 29 years of working there. However, I can see God's hand in the whole experience. (You can read more about that here.)

Losing my job has been very difficult, but it has forced me out of my comfort zone and made me realize what I really want to do--and that is voice-over work.

So, I'm now taking steps to expand my V-O career, and for the first time, really market myself as a voice-over artist. It's an ongoing thing at the moment, and I'm trying to learn all I can. (For example, do I try to get an agent?)

I also still have one foot in the door of radio, as I'm doing fill-in work at Cumulus Broadcasting here in Rockford, mainly News/Talk 1440 WROK.

If you'd like to hear some samples of my work, go to my Voice-Over Universe page or to my Voice 123 page. And if you need a female voice for a project, don't hesitate to contact me! :)

Tomorrow...

In Part 2 of this post, I'll share the advice I give for people who ask me how they can get into the voice-over business.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, fire away!

Stuff to Tell You!

--A new conservative blog that's sure to be unique has launched: The Mother of All Conservatives.

--During this bicentennial of President Lincoln's birthday, all Illinoisans are being encouraged to read a book about him.

--Here's a cool story: an atheist who donated a kidney ended up finding God.

--The radio station where I work, 101QFL, now has a Facebook page. Be our friend! Just search for Positive Hits Wqfl.

--As I've mentioned, I have a very definite favorite in American Idol this year: Danny Gokey. The best pro-Danny website I've found is I Heart Danny Gokey.com. It's a virtual plethora of all things Danny.

I haven't been posting AI updates, but there are several people who do a great job of it.

One21music is particularly following the Christian contestants on AI this year. There are several, including Danny. Chuck live blogs most of the shows, and posts re-caps.

Chuck also tells me that One21 will be covering the South By Southwest Festival in Austin, TX, this coming week. He posts: "At One21music we cover the full spectrum of Christian music, including the vibrant Underground Chrsitian music scene. We will be focusing on 20 Christian music artists performing at SXSW." South by Southwest is the largest music industry gathering in the world.

Back to American Idol--I was happy to find out that BooMama hosts a round-up of blogs who post AI re-caps. All of the blogs I looked at in this round-up were family-friendly and lacking in mean-spiritedness, but they were engaging, and some of them were truly hilarious. Check them out for yourself.

Quote o' The Day

Gotta hand it to my 101QFL morning show co-host, Darren Marlar.A little backstory here: I had Facebook-messaged Darren, along with my friends Mike Schlote and Joe Buchanan, about the Danny Gokey backlash.

Somehow we started talking about "Lost" in the middle of it all, and the conversation among Joe, Mike and me was going back and forth between American Idol and Lost.

When Darren finally popped up, this is what he said:

Okay, so I'm just now getting to this thread and trying to catch up. I just scanned through it all, but if I understand correctly, Danny Gokey is a real creep because he didn't show emotion when Jack was upset about Sarah, but it all works out in the end because Desmond and Tatiana end up together.
Is that about right?

Guess that about sums it up. :)