What Radio Does Best

It’s always gratifying to hear about the enormously intimate personal impact that radio (and records) can have on the lives of regular people. This particular story was related to us by our pal Terry O’Donnell, PD of iHeartMedia’s Wild Country 99.9 (WRVE HD2)/Albany, NY. As O’Donnell explained, “Last week local Hudson Elks Lodge reached out to us about Julie Williams, a 21-year-old diehard Miranda Lambert fan who is battling a disease that requires a liver transplant. Julie got to see Miranda in concert earlier this year and was hoping to meet her, but it didn’t happen.”

In an effort to bring some joy to this very special fan, O’Donnell made a phone call… “I reached out to Dennis Reese at RCA Nashville and he hooked us up with Miranda’s latest album, The Weight of These Wings — on vinyl, PLUS an autographed pink record player!”

O’Donnell continued, “The Elks invited Julie to their lodge and she had no idea what was coming. When she unwrapped the record player she was in tears.” Wild Country 99.9 Promotions Director Jillian Shuhart was also there and observed, “Besides witnessing the sheer joy that came across Julie’s face as she opened the gift, one of the highlights was teaching her how to use a record player. We forget that today’s generation has never experienced it… shoot… I’m too young to have ever experienced it firsthand myself!” That’s an elated Julie Williams (center), lovingly bookended by Jillian Shuhart and Terry O’Donnell, who added, “Special thanks to RCA Nashville!”