1975 - August
The weather was beginning to get cool at night. The days were still
warm and glorious. It was going to be perfect weather for the Harvest
Festival, and Amanda Griggs was very happy about that. KDEF was
sponsoring the event, in coordination with a number of other businesses.
She was responsible for the nightly concerts that would take place at
the State Fairgrounds.
It had been an obvious choice, for the group of businessmen who
gathered in a smoky room, to cuss and discuss the festival. Amanda ran
the best radio station in the area, and had the connections, so they
thought, to find and recruit some good talent.
Amanda felt the same way, until she started trying to contact agents
of big name musical talents. She found out that being the general
manager of a radio station in a town most big time agents had never
heard of didn’t get her much.
In fact, it had gotten her nothing, thus far.
She sighed and sat back. Belinda Snokes, who had hired on as a
college kid, to do odd jobs around the station, stuck her head in the
door of the office.
“I got all those tapes organized. Three of them were bad, so I re-recorded them.”
“Thanks, Belinda,” said Amanda.
“Why so glum?” asked the girl.
“The festival,” sighed Amanda. “I can’t get any agents to talk to me
in Nashville, or Hollywood either,” said Amanda. “Everybody’s already
booked up. I had no idea they scheduled these things so far in advance.
Where am I going to find somebody to put on concerts at the festival?”
“Who have you tried?” asked the girl.
Amanda reeled off a list ... a long list of names of well known
musical groups, in various genres, from rock and roll, to blues, to
country and western.
Belinda nodded. “Yeah, all of those are good, but they’re big names. They won’t come to Hutch unless the money’s really good.”
Amanda scowled. “This is Hutchinson. The money will never be really good.”
Belinda just grinned. “Then you have to go for somebody less well
known.” She thought for a moment. “Like that new girl, Misty Compton. We
just started playing some of her stuff on the country segment you
dreamed up.”
“Don’t make fun of me,” growled Amanda. “Country is getting more and
more lively. It’s beginning to allow cross-over from other genres. I
hear a lot of rock and roll influence in some of the new artists.”
Belinda held up both hands, palms outward.
“Hey, I’m just telling you. That Compton girl is going to go far. I
love her myself. But she’s only put out one album, and it hasn’t been
out long enough for people to make up their minds about her. I think
she’ll hit it big. Maybe you could sign her before that happens.”
Amanda sighed. “Find me a number. I’ll give it a whirl.”
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