Famous Firsts with Forrest Griffen
Forrest Griffen
Producer/Host Xposure
KROX (101X)/Austin
WOXY (97X)/Oxford, OH
I was raised in the jungle by musicians, so I went to a lot of concerts, festivals, shows, jingles, etc throughout my childhood. To me, it was like if your parent was a dentist or something and they took you to work with them (with apologies to any DDS out there). I was jaded and lacked any appreciation of it whatsoever until I was like 20. My first concert as an "unaccompanied minor" where mommy and/or daddy weren't playing was Grateful Dead at Madison Square Garden 9/20/1988. I'd been to MSG probably close to twenty times at that point to cheer on the New York Rangers. To see it transformed into a Dead show was one of the most incredible things I'd seen up to that moment in my life (and remains an experience I'll never forget).
First LP was Business As Usual by Men At Work. First cassette was Thriller by Michael Jackson. First CD was Brotherhood by New Order.
Derek Trucks. Derek wasn't even 30 years old yet but already had a legendary career of course. That wealth of history and experience combined with his humble, good-natured genuineness made it probably the easiest and one of the most enjoyable on-air conversations of my career. It took a few interviews after that one for it to sink in that not every interview was going to be a Derek Trucks interview.
I remember in order to fill space I once told listeners I was born at Woodstock so I could avoid dead air. I made up details and even asked them to Google it. I got calls for two or three months after that from listeners describing how they searched in earnest but could find nothing corroborating my Woodstock origin story. I honestly don't remember my first or my last dead air experience, but I've had enough of them that I still have unpleasant dreams about it every now and then.
