Joey Hudson would have made a great Realtor. He made Upstate South Carolina sound so pleasant, historic, and homey. I’m calling Century 21 (If they’re still a thing.)
Hudson lives in Greenville, about an hour and a half from Columbia, South Carolina, and has for his entire life. On the phone, he has that ‘southern gentleman’ thing working, although he admits he’s not certain if that is still a thing.
“I’m not sure the days of ‘southern gentlemen’ are as prevalent as they once were,” Hudson said. “But there certainly was at one point. There are a lot of what I would call ‘Old South Families.’”
He and a friend would journey to Fripp Island where they’d occasionally run into legendary southern author Pat Conroy. “I think Pat captured the flavor of southern life very well,” Hudson explained.
You can listen to this southern gent on 94-5 WGTK The Answer, 6 am-9 am Monday through Friday.
The Greenville area seems to be growing quickly. The North American BMW headquarters in Spartanburg, Michelin North America is in Greenville, and folks are migrating to the area.
“A lot of people from around the world have moved here in the last couple of decades, essentially changing the entire place,” Hudson said. “It’s still sort of like a small town that has an international flavor.”
Hudson is fine with the influx of people as he’s seen what it has done for the area.
“We used to be an exclusively textile area and that eventually died,” Hudson said. “My elementary school was associated with a textile mill. Seeing people we knew lose their jobs as the textiles were leaving was difficult. Fifteen or 20 years ago, there was no reason to visit downtown Greenville. There was nothing there. It’s all changed now.”
Hudson attended Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, a smaller school where he studied political science. “I always loved history and politics,” he said.
While in graduate school at the University of South Carolina, and working part-time for a state senator conducting research, Hudson still had one eye on becoming a lawyer. That’s when he met a lobbyist for Nationwide Insurance who suggested he look into the trade.
“I ended up working with Nationwide for 35 years,” Hudson said. “It was the right choice for me. It gave me a lot of freedom. I worked extremely hard for a lot of years, but I was able to dedicate time to other interests as my career progressed.”
His office was in Travelers Rest, at the foot of the mountains. Hudson said the town got its name as it was a regular resting spot for folks going to and from Charleston.
A self-confessed political junky, Hudson said his first paying political job was working for Senator Strom Thurmond.
“I worked with Lee Atwater, who was the Senator’s campaign manager and strategist for the Republican Party,” Hudson said. Atwater was an adviser to US presidents, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and chairman of the Republican National Committee. He worked for Atwater during Thurmond’s last contested campaign.
“He was already pretty old by that point,” Hudson said. “I think there was a concerted effort to appeal to younger people. The whole idea was to get young people involved in the campaign. It solidified my conservatism and strengthened my interest in politics. From there forward, I served on local Republican campaigns.”
Hudson said he got to know Senator Thurmond pretty well. “As well as any 18-year-old could, I imagine,” Hudson said. Thurmond was running in 1978 against Charles D. Ravenel. This was the first threat Senator Thurmond had in years. Ravenel was trying to make Thurmond’s age an issue, and he was in his late 70s. But he also had a young wife and three young children.
“My job was to drive the Strom RV around the state to family-type events,” Hudson said. “It was a great gig and that’s where I got to know Lee Atwater pretty well.”
It was a wild ride.
Through the 70s, Hudson listened to some talk radio, but Rush was just getting started, and it too wasn’t really a thing. Hudson was involved in student government at school. But radio had much more to offer Hudson. He met Peg, his wife, while she was a sales rep at WFBC.
“I had never done radio before. They knew I was interested in politics. The station also hired Mike Gallagher,” Hudson said. “We all became good friends. Then Mike moved on to New York and became nationally syndicated. He hired Peg to sell his show nationally.”
Hudson helped start and is executive director of Gallagher’s Heroes Fallen Officer and First Responder Fund, based in New York. The foundation was founded by Mike Gallagher and inspired by the giving spirit of his late wife, Denise Gallagher, to meet the immediate needs of U.S. police officer families when an officer has been killed in the line of duty.
The fund provides financial assistance to officer families when they need it most, as soon as a tragedy happens, without having to wait for weeks or months for other more formal assistance to become available, and without the interference of bureaucracy and red tape that often exists.
“Mike is a good guy, a talented broadcaster,” Hudson said. “He brings a lot of life to radio, and I learned a great deal from him. I’ve been on remote broadcasts with Mike around the world. Helped him with thousands of broadcasts before I did my own solo show.”
Hudson said he strives to connect with his audience. He also realizes he’s been extremely fortunate.
“As someone who didn’t start out in broadcasting, I think I’m living a dream at a 100,000-watt station in my hometown. Our signal is huge. You can hear us in about half of South Carolina down to Columbia. Then across state lines to Asheville, North Carolina. It feels great to have that kind of reach. I’m lucky to know I can touch so many lives. It feels like an extended family.”
Hudson said he gets up every morning and is never quite sure where everything will lead.
“I’m prepping for my show all the time. I get alerts on my phone. I think I have a general idea as to what I’ll talk about. Then a caller can change that direction in an instant. A certain response can take the show somewhere else. I know some talk show hosts like to believe the audience is there to listen to them, that they just want to hear the host. I think listeners like to hear other viewpoints. When my phone lines light up, when my text line gets busy, that’s what I love to see.”
Hudson receives a lot of texts every day from people he said wouldn’t consider calling in. He thinks he gets a different perspective on a topic from emails and texts than he does on calls.
“A lot of people want to think talk radio is just an older audience,” he said. “I’m getting a good bit of feedback from younger listeners, particularly on the text lines.”
His spirituality is as much a part of who he is as anything else. According to Hudson, he’s exactly where God has always wanted him to be. From the first moment he met the insurance lobbyist, it was God putting him in the right place.
“If I’d gone on to law school, I think I would have been miserable,” Hudson said. “ As it turned out I was a small business owner and able to be a part of a charitable organization. If I was a lawyer I think I’d just be busy billing hours.
I’d like to be remembered as someone who cared about the community and the people who live here.”
He will fill in for Mike Gallagher when needed, either from home or the station.
“I learned a lot of the mechanics from Mike. He’s been a great mentor. Phil Boyce with Salem has been a great mentor as well. I end my show every day saying, ‘God is in control,’” Hudson said. “At the end of every third hour. God prepares us and gives us the skills to help one another. That’s what I love about my work with Mike’s foundation. We publish and distribute Bibles to first responders.”
In the back of the Bibles are a series of Bible studies compiled by chaplains from around the country who speak to the emotions and rigors first responders face.
“People may not understand the stress they’re constantly under,” Hudson said. “Police officers never know if this will be their last day on earth. They could pull someone over for running a red light and be shot and killed.”
With South Carolina in the thick of political discussions this week, Hudson said he’s had some nice dealings with Herschel Walker.
“He’s a nice man, and wants to serve the people of Georgia,” Hudson said. “I’ve had him on a few times. I think he’s been thrust into a position and maybe politics is a bit harder than he thought it would be. When he decided to run I didn’t know a lot about him except he was a good football player. At South Carolina, we faced Georgia a lot of times.”
Next week Hudson is traveling to Toccoa, Georgia to help get out the vote.
“I’m not sure which way the election is going to go. I know we’ll be going to Toccoa, Georgia reminding people to vote.”
Another South Carolina politician, Lindsay Graham, is someone Hudson sees the best in the man’s numerous sides.
“He can be unpredictable at times, but I think he really does what he thinks is in the best interest of South Carolina,” Hudson said. He told me Graham is from a small place called Central, South Carolina.
“Graham had an unlikely path to the senate,” Hudson said. “He grew up in the back of his parents’ pool hall. His mom and dad owned a small bar and grill, the Sanitary Cafe, in Central. It isn’t all that much today, even less so then.”
When he gets a few spare minutes, he likes to read James Patterson.
“It allows me to slow down my mind,” Hudson said. “In this business I’m always talking, constantly watching news, reading news, listening to news. I have to do that to be able to talk intelligently. I’m constantly researching.”
Jim Cryns writes features for Barrett News Media. He has spent time in radio as a reporter for WTMJ, and has served as an author and former writer for the Milwaukee Brewers. To touch base or pick up a copy of his new book: Talk To Me – Profiles on News Talkers and Media Leaders From Top 50 Markets, log on to Amazon or shoot Jim an email at jimcryns3_zhd@indeedemail.com.
