Baldrica’s Career Makes A Bat-Turn
• Sending our best wishes to Tom Baldrica, longtime Nashville record label executive and current Corporate Country Brand Strategist at Midwest Communications, who announced his final day on the air at WUSZ (99.9 Radio USA)/Duluth, MN — and at Midwest Communications — will be next Friday, Dec. 13.
“I am retiring from a full-time job,” Baldrica said, “but I am not finished creating. I’ve got a few things up my sleeve and I’m always willing to talk about an interesting project. So, if any of my longtime radio and records friends have any ideas where I could be of assistance, just send up the Bat Signal!”
Baldrica started his radio career with Junior Achievement radio in high school at WHLB AM 1400 in Virginia, MN, working there part-time through high school and college.
After graduating from the University of Minnesota, Baldrica returned to northern Minnesota as the first PD and afternoon host of WHLB-FM, launching “Alive and Kickin’ Country K100” in 1988. In the early ’90s, after a frequency addition in Duluth MN, the station changes calls to WUSZ and rebranded to its current moniker, Radio USA.
In 1993, Baldrica transitioned to the label side, joining BNA Records as Southeast Regional Promotion Manager based in Atlanta. In 1997, he was promoted to VP o National Promotion for BNA and relocated to Nashville. In 2006 he was elevated to VP of Marketing for SONY Music Nashville, and in 2010 he joined Average Joe’s Entertainment as President. In 2012, Baldrica returned home to northern Minnesota and ran the Show Dog Universal Promotion team until 2014. The following year he returned to his radio roots, when Midwest Communications created the Corporate Country Brand Strategist position for him.
“A small-town kid from Northern Minnesota could’ve never imagined a career as rewarding and fulfilling as this one,” Baldrica said. “I am so grateful for the people I’ve met, the opportunities I’ve been given, and the countless memories made by the music. What a ‘BAT-tastic’ ride it has been!” You can reach out and say hey to Tom at bnabatman@gmail.com.
