- Radio and Television's Shannon McCombs - Photo Courtesy of Shannon McComb's official website, used with permission.
On Friday, October 28, 2011, Suite101 had the distinct pleasure to speak with an esteemed and gifted radio and television personality, Ms. Shannon McCombs.
A beloved thirty-year music industry veteran, McCombs is seen and heard regularly on such channels and stations as CMT,GAC, ABC, NBC, CBS,TNN, XM Radio, Access Hollywood , among other outlets.
Shannon McCombs Talks About the Music and Media Industry
“I got into this business, honestly, for the love of music. I’m a music-holic, and I wanted to find a way to build a career around something that I love. I started out in radio, and that did that for many years before turning it into a television career,” McCombs says.
Shannon McCombs: Nashville's #1 Female Air Personality
Particularly impressive about McCombs is that she had conducted over six thousand interviews in her career, an astonishing feature, and is consistently voted as Nashville’s #1 female air personality. “That was awesome!” McCombs exclaims. “It was a great honor to receive that award. I love the city, and when I got that award I was actually working in rock and roll, and I was trying to work my way into the country format.”
Shannon McCombs Talks About “America’s Opry Weekend”
Ms. McCombs conducts the interviews for the Opry's syndicated radio show, “America’s Opry Weekend,” from backstage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
“The Opry is on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights. It’s a live radio show on WSM locally. They take bits and pieces of each show, and they put it together as a syndicated radio show. It’s a two hour weekly show that airs all over the country. I work on the syndicated radio show, and I handle all the interviews for that. I average about three or four interviews a night. It varies from night to night,” she says.
Shannon McCombs Talks About her Voice Over Work
“I do a lot of voice over work. It comes along with radio," McCombs says. “It is something that I enjoy doing. Recently, I voiced a video segment on the Rascal Flatts’ Grand Ole Opry induction that aired on GAC.”
Shannon McCombs Talks About Martina McBride’s Amtrak Train Tour
In October of 2011, McCombs was interviewing country queen Martina McBride on a train, as part of her Amtrak Tour to help promote her latest studio album Eleven.
“We left Los Angeles (LA) on Monday morning and by the time we arrived in New York's Empire State Building, it had been eleven stops in 77 hours. When you count that up there is not enough sleep in there. I was absolutely amazed how hard everybody on that train worked, especially Martina. Some of those stops were concerts and all of them were meet and greets. If you add it up, there is not a good night’s sleep in between any of those stops. It was a great time!” McCombs exclaims.
“I interviewed Martina each day and took pieces of that interview, edited it, and then wrote stories around it, and I sent it out to syndicated radio. We wrote four stories each day, so that everybody’s radio stations could keep up with Martina and her train stops,” the media vet adds.
McCombs Reveals her Proudest Career Interviews
“I’ve been so excited to work with so many great people over the years,” McCombs acknowledges. “Instantly, someone who comes to mind is Eddy Arnold. I interviewed him a few times at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Arnold popped in the studio one day and asked me how to tie a tie. I told him that ‘I will definitely try and learn here.’ That’s how I met Eddy Arnold and he would stop by the studio occasionally and do interviews. He was a really sweet fellow.”
“I had the great fortune of working with Loretta Lynn several times a year, and usually it’s through the Grand Ole Opry. Loretta is an Opry member, and she plays there several times a year. When Loretta is in the building, there is always a story. Everybody wants to be near her. She is a sweet lady and she always says the funniest things,” McCombs admits.
In addition, a non-country act that McCombs had the pleasure to interview was Jay Leno. “He was a lot of fun. He called back to the radio station and left me two front row tickets to his show. I thought that was really very nice of him.”
McCombs Shares her Dream Interview Choices
“My dream interview would have to happen in heaven, since that would be John Denver,” McCombs says. “I really regret having never met him. I am a huge fan of his from my childhood and was always inspired by his music. A lot of my love for music was born from his songwriting and singing.”
Yet another country musician she would like to interview someday is Lyle Lovett. “He doesn’t live in Nashville, so you don’t see him in this city very often. What an intelligent man! I love his songwriting and would love to talk to him.”
McComb’s Alternate Career Choice
If McCombs were not in the music and entertainment industry, she notes that she would have liked to have been in healthcare. “I always had an interest in working with the elderly. Last year, when my father passed away from Alzheimer’s, it really came to mind even more that I would have wanted to go into healthcare.”
McComb Talks Future Plans
McCombs shows no signs of slowing down any time soon!
“My plans are to really keep doing what I am doing. I try to surround myself with music and things that I love. I am such a music lover, that I am fortunate to be able to do things for a living that I would be doing even if I weren’t in the music industry. If I wasn’t working in music, I would still be going to concerts and going to the Opry and keeping up with country music. I am very blessed to be doing that for a living! My social life is my work life too,” she reveals.
Presently, McCombs produces daily artist hosted shows for 650AM WSM radio, where she is responsible for booking the artist, creating shows for them, as well as coaching them on how to host a radio show. Several of these country acts that McCombs has worked with include Dierks Bentley, Pam Tillis, Jimmy Wayne, Ronnie Milsap, Jewel, Steve Wariner, Steel Magnolia, Diamond Rio's Dana Williams, among others.
Advice for Hopefuls in the Media Industry
For aspiring hopefuls that wish to go into journalism, radio, and broadcasting professionally, McCombs states, “don’t have a Plan B. If that’s what you truly love to do, get in that direction!”
McCombs Talks About her Cats and Sports
McCombs enjoys spending her spare time with her three cats, Elizabeth “Milk” Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and Kitty-Kitty Wells.
“I am a big cat lover. They were all homeless at one point in their lives, and now they run my house and let me live here. My youngest, ‘Kitty-Kitty Wells,’ came from Kentucky and moved herself into my father’s barn and when he passed away, I moved her to Nashville. She wouldn’t answer to anything but ‘kitty,’ so I called her Kitty-Kitty Wells. She is the newest addition to the family,” she shares.
In addition, McCombs is a fan of basketball and baseball. “I played basketball in college, and I love it. I follow baseball even more. I am a huge San Francisco Giants fan, so last year was my year!”
McCombs Defines Success
For McCombs, the word success means “being happy and sharing it with others.” “I work with a lot of people that I really love, a lot of great friends, and I am able to enjoy my work. That’s a blessing to me! I am so glad that I chose this career path and that I’ve been able to stick with it.”
According to Scott Vollweiler, the owner of Broken Records Magazine and Photography, he remarks, “In an industry with fake people, Shannon McCombs proves to be one of the most professional and down-to-earth people! Period.”
For more information on Shannon McCombs, and to hear her backstage stories and interviews with the biggest stars in country music, visit her official website.
Many thanks to Shannon McCombs for granting this interview!
Source
- Telephone Communication with Shannon McCombs. October 28, 2011.
Markos Papadatos - Markos Papadatos holds over six years journalism experience, authoring over 700 articles, many of which are feature profile interviews.
