Communiqué
WOUB Employee Spotlight: FM Music Director/Producer Bryan Gibson
< < Back to ?p=278300Gibson started working at WOUB in 1997
ATHENS, OH – Even though Music Director Bryan Gibson didn’t technically grow up in Athens, he considers himself an Athenian.
“My parents moved around Ohio during my elementary school years before returning to Athens when I was 13,” said Gibson. “My extended family are all from Athens County, going back to the 1800s, as I recently discovered via a genealogy report.”
Gibson has loved music his entire life and got involved with the local music scene at a pretty young age.
“I’ve been playing drums with various groups since I was a teenager. I spent years gigging around Ohio on weekends, playing everywhere from festivals and ballrooms to a laundromat, go-kart rental place and a high school prom where no one danced. Lots of good stories, that’s for sure.”
But when Gibson started college at Ohio University in 1988, he wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do. That all changed when he started working at WOUB.”
“I got involved with WOUB midway through my college years. Up to then, I hadn’t put much thought into a career,” said Gibson. “But at WOUB, something seemed to click. I worked every radio shift available, filled in for radio staff and volunteers as needed, worked in the Traffic department, helped with pledge drives, assisted with audio production and was a student music director. Those experiences helped me get a job at WAIS/WSEO in Nelsonville, where I was program/production director and morning host for a few years.”
In 1997, Gibson was hired as the producer for Family Health, a nationally syndicated radio series co-produced by the College of Osteopathic Medicine and WOUB, and he has worked at WOUB in various roles ever since.
“I succeeded Connie Stevens as WOUB-AM program manager. For 10 years, I trained students and community volunteers, produced talk shows, aired Ohio University sports, and programmed music. You name it, I did it,” said Gibson. “In 2011, I became the content manager of the Culture page at woub.org. It was a great opportunity to meet artists from around the region and develop my writing and editing skills. When former Crossing Boundaries host Mark Hellenberg retired in 2015, I volunteered to fill-in, which I continued to do until 2017 when I became the FM music director and permanent host.”
And the WOUB music director position has been the perfect fit for Gibson, combining all his talents and passions.
“I listen to music pretty much all day, every day. Most of my job duties involve checking out new CDs we receive in the mail, working on our music database and selecting songs for each night’s show. I also co-produce/host Audiosyncrasies with Rusty Smith, (heard on Sunday evenings), so I’m usually prepping that show during the week.”
Gibson says he’s proud to work at WOUB and enjoys bringing the region’s cultural music to the people WOUB serves.
“I’ve always loved public broadcasting and feel privileged that I get to play some part in what we do,” said Gibson. “Whenever I run into people, they tell me about something they enjoyed on NPR or PBS. That never gets old.”