Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackson Heaton.
Jackson, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Wow, how can I condense what would take up a whole book? Here’s it goes:
I was obsessed with sports from a young age. I followed everything and watched every game. During my first year of college at Young Harris (and a quite displeasing GPA after my first semester haha), I decided to pursue that passion. I walked into a small town radio station (95.1 WACF) and said that I wanted to be a sports broadcaster. The college I was attending and the radio station were right next to my hometown in North Georgia, so it was pretty convenient.
After four weeks of miscellaneous office tasks, the program director approached me about doing play-by-play for the college baseball team. I was beyond excited and felt like I was on the path to following my dream. I walked into the booth for the first game with all my notes and research in hand about both teams. I had been listening to play-by-play my whole life, so I got this, right? It went horribly. Incorrectly called plays, random conversation, and I’m pretty sure I spent ten minutes talking about where I was taking my then girlfriend to dinner that night… all on the air.
Then there was the banned FCC word I said while I thought my microphone was off. I quickly realized that making my dream come true was going to be harder than I thought. I continued the rest of the season, getting a little better with each game and felt pretty good where I was at the end of the season. My then girlfriend was transferring to UGA and like any young dude in love, I decided to follow her.
I was leaving that job to be with her in Athens, with no idea where I was going to work while attending college at Gainesville State. I thought my dream of sports broadcasting had ended before it really began. I applied at fast food restaurants, grocery stores, cell phone companies, etc. You name it, I applied. Luckily, none of them called me back, because my dream was about to take a huge leap. Enter Jim Hutto and 88.9 WMSL.
On a whim, I called the GM from my old station and asked if he knew anyone in Athens. He gave me a number and I immediately called. I went into the interview and got the job in the first ten minutes. He told me I was going to be doing high school football play-by-play and UGA football/basketball reporting/call-ins. I was ecstatic. I immediately called my family and told them my journey to the dream was continuing. I went to that first UGA football press conference and must’ve asked Coach Richt twelve questions. I was exactly where I wanted to be.
We’ll skip several embarrassing details about my three years working there but can easily say it was one of the best experiences of my life. WMSL was where I truly learned radio.
The highlight of that time was when my best friend, Jace, moved to Athens and ended up working at the station with me and we were calling games together and also lived together. Some crazy, ultimate legendary nights during that year. I used to smoke cigars at a fancy place in Athens and all the older, rich dudes would always invite me to just drink scotch (when I turned 21), smoke cigars and talk sports with them.
Pretty exciting life for a college student. I’ll never forget what sitting in the UGA press box at Sanford Stadium felt like for the first time. My Saturday’s were tailgating with friends before the game, going up to the press box, reporting on the game, the post-game press conference and then rage downtown afterwards. I wasn’t sure how life could get any better. When my time at Gainesville State was coming to an end, I made a decision that changed the course of my life and what I thought was my path.
I didn’t have the GPA to get into UGA (I focused more on my job than I did on my studies, sorry Dad.) I then applied to Georgia State here in Atlanta. Somehow, I got in and had to leave my amazing job in Athens. I decided to take a break from the radio and focus on school. I had two years left until I got my bachelor’s degree (transferring twice really put me behind), so it was time to buckle down. I moved to Atlanta and started at State. It was tough having left that job that I was making such amazing progress at, basically putting my dream on hold.
I made the dean’s list every semester at Georgia State, so myself and more importantly my dad who was paying for all this was pretty happy. During my last semester, I took the internship class and thought that this would be my opportunity to get back into radio and continue the dream. I got an internship at 680 the fan and I immediately was back in business. I interned in the promotions department and made sure to constantly tell them about my past experience. For Atlanta, my past experience wasn’t going to get me on-air anytime soon. I ended up getting hired by KICKS 101.5 and I was now a remote tech.
I was the guy on the streets promoting the station, giving out tickets at bars, games, concerts, etc. What happened? How did I derail sports so quickly? This wasn’t what I wanted to do, or so I thought. I thought I should make the best of it, and started making demos to become a music DJ. I figured that if I was working for a music station, I should at least try it out and see if I could do it. I made countless demos, I think around 145 over the course of a year and a half and became obsessed. I had always loved music, so why not go for it? I heard countless times that I would never be able to start off my music DJ career in a market as big as Atlanta. That didn’t stop me.
I was determined to be on the air in Atlanta. It was the biggest challenge I have ever faced, hands down, but so worth it. The DJ’s at stations like KICKS 101.5 and ROCK 100.5 gave me countless advice, gave feedback and pointers on my demos and became great friends. While working in the production department, the afternoon jock at ROCK 100.5 came into the studio I was working in and said there was an opening for a weekend DJ on ROCK. This was my chance.
I made two demos and Greg Ausham, my current Program Director, gave me my shot. I had done it. I was on the air in Atlanta. I will always be beyond grateful to Greg for believing in me and getting me back on the air. After a few months of doing weekends, he gave me the overnight shift. I am currently the overnight personality on ROCK 100.5 and Public Affairs Director for six radio stations. Little did I know that the hard part would be when I actually got on-air, not the road to get there haha. It’s the greatest time in my life, always filled with lots of fun and craziness. I am fortunate to be on-air with the best in the business, learning from them everyday.
Now that I was back on-air with my own show, I knew I needed to stand out. How was I going to make my mark? I saw the growing rock scene in Atlanta and immediately wanted to get involved. I started a podcast as a side project about Atlanta entertainment with a heavy focus on the rock scene, called The Scoped Podcast. I grew up with two members of local band The Ides of June and had them on as my first guests. Just like with that first game I called for YHC baseball, I had no idea what I was doing with this podcast. It certainly went a lot better than that first game haha. I kept meeting bands, making relationships and eventually started emceeing concerts for local bands.
Talk about some serious fun and debauchery. Starting that podcast is definitely one of the best decisions I have ever made. The podcast is sponsored by Scofflaw Brewing Co. and it has proven to be an amazing relationship. I’m humbled and honored by the bands that continue to step into my crazy world and allow me to help tell their story.
My story is still writing itself and I’m stoked to see how it unfolds! None of this would’ve been possible without my amazing, selfless and supportive family. They are my everything. Wow, I condensed that down better than I thought I would. ROCK on!
Has it been a smooth road?
There were definitely a lot of bumps in the road. I heard a lot of no’s, plenty of “you’re getting there, just keep doing what you’re doing” and so on. Not sounding awkward when talking over the intro of a song and sounding conversational were definitely challenges.
It was a much different beast than play-by-play. Trying to get on the air in Atlanta as your first music DJ gig is not often done. One of my original mentors at KICKS 101.5 told me, “If you want to be on-air here, you will be.” I now say that to college students, radio beginners, etc when they ask me for advice.
That seems like such a simple saying but carries so much weight. If you have the drive and passion to do something, don’t let anything get in your way and don’t listen to the naysayers. My drive and work ethic comes from how I was raised. I have very determined, strong-willed parents and a brother that is my best friend and always pushes me to be better. Sure, I had nights where I wanted to give up because I thought the dream would never happen. I would call my family countless times and they “rarely” ever got annoyed haha.
Every time I sent them one of my demos, they would immediately listen and tell me how great it was. But of course, they’re my family, so they have to say that. The entertainment industry, like anything else, will have challenges. If you want to be great, be willing to struggle and expect that there will always be challenges. You never perfect anything, you just keep practicing. Have the patience to deal with hearing no, the passion to turn that no into a yes and the work ethic to be great after it happens.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am the overnight personality for ROCK 100.5 FM “Atlanta’s Rock Station” and the Public Affairs Director for Cumulus-Atlanta. I am most proud of and thankful for the all the listeners that rock out with me every night. My favorite thing is hearing from them and getting to interact with them. Doing radio in Atlanta is a dream come true. I think I’m best known for being one of the goofiest, weirdest people in the business. As I always say, cause trouble and have lots of fun doing it!
Starting “The Scoped Podcast” helped set me apart from others and helped me make my mark. These bands in Atlanta are some of the coolest people you could ever meet. It’s really cool to not only be able to hear their stories but emcee their shows, hang out with them backstage and cause lots of trouble with people I’m lucky enough to call my friends.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Atlanta is an amazing place to do radio. There is always something going on, whether it be concerts, sporting events, nightlife, etc. This city gives plenty of content. Atlanta is a great place to start out learning about radio, but starting your radio career here as an on-air DJ would be tough.
I was lucky enough to have had a few years under my belt before I got here, and still had to start from the bottom. There’s nothing wrong with that though. Atlanta is a top 10 radio market, so the tough road is to be expected.
One of the best things you can do to learn radio starts out as a promotions street team member or board operator. That’s where you begin to learn the in’s and out’s of radio.
Atlanta has been very good to me and I’m just trying to do it justice.
Contact Info:
- Website: atlantasrockstation.com
- Facebook: @TheScopedPodcast
- Instagram: Instragram – @redeyerocker
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