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#Current10 Memories: Bill DeVille

Bill DeVille introduces Booker T at Rock the Garden 2011.
Bill DeVille introduces Booker T at Rock the Garden 2011.MPR / Nate Ryan

by Bill DeVille

January 17, 2015

The Current's Bill DeVille shares some of his favorite recollections from the past 10 years at the station.

I still remember the day I got hired! I got a call from our first program director, Steve Nelson, at like 7:30 on a Monday night telling me I had the job. I was pretty excited, especially after having had this music-research job out of my house that I didn't particularly like, and I didn't think I would ever do live radio again. I recall that my wife and I celebrated that night at Bunkers, grooving to The Combo as I shared my news with members of The Jayhawks and Soul Asylum!

I attended the 2005 Austin City Limits Festival, and was asked if I wanted to broadcast live from backstage. Yes, please! I didn't quite realize what we got ourselves into. I didn't have a producer, so my wife acted as ad hoc band wrangler. Chatted with The Decemberists, The Walkmen and others as the temps hovered around 108°F. We also had to have an evacuation plan in place due to Hurricane Rita. Exciting times!

Several sessions come to mind, including two each of The Avett Brothers (in 2006 and in 2013) and St. Vincent (in 2007 and in 2011 . The second one with St. Vincent was pretty memorable because due to a scheduling snafu, I was forced to host the session live on the air on a moment's notice. I also remember Annie Clark was wearing sunglasses indoors — a pet peeve when I am interviewing someone!

Both of my chats with Neil Young and with Robert Plant also rank up there. Especially the one with Robert, which happened last fall. He was charming and fun to talk to, even though he was half a world away at the BBC in England. This chat also had a fun ending: I was having lunch in Nashville a couple weeks later, and I look behind me and there was Robert having lunch with Alison Krauss. I went over to chat, and he thought it was pretty cool that we talked a couple weeks earlier.

Meeting Booker T Jones. He is a gentleman's gentleman. My pal Scott and I created a long-form interview with music of a chat that Booker T and I had. It turned out great! Then Dave Campbell and I got to introduce him at Rock the Garden. That was a real thrill!

Another highlight is just doing a live radio every weekend. I never take it for granted.