Patrick Thomas hosts PickleJar’s nationally syndicated “Up All Night,” a live overnight Country music program. When you talk to Thomas about the show, the first thing you notice and cannot possibly miss is his unbridled enthusiasm and the fun he is having doing it.
The show launched in May 2023 and was conceived by former Cumulus VP of Country Radio Charlie Cook. At the time, Thomas was a producer and on-air personality on the nationally syndicated “Big D & Bubba Show,” a morning show that he had been with for 24 years since its start in Baton Rouge.
Thomas had been feeding Cook and PickleJar executives ideas about content and potential hosts. Cook and PickleJar’s Kristian Barowsky saw his enthusiasm, heard his ideas, and said, “Are you sure you won’t think about doing it?”
“The reason for the hesitation was because I really had a great job. I was on what I think is the best morning show, the most consequential morning show in the history of the format, and I’ve been with them for 24 years,” Thomas said.
Thomas’ passion for live radio, the chance to create a community for people “Up All Night,” and the chance to expose new Country artists excited him to take the job.
“We’re having a shared experience. And they know they’re not alone because most people work alone or in their cars at night; they drive alone,” said Thomas. “But when you’re listening to something, it’s nice to know there are other people listening to the same thing you are.”
Taking calls is also a huge factor in the show’s success, and Thomas uses “Why u up all night” as his catchphrase and how he opens listener calls. “I want them to say their name and where they’re calling from. This is Steve in Cincinnati. And then it was my idea to immediately say, Steve, why u up all night?”
Thomas’s background as a stand-up comedian allows him to interact with other voices on the show and react to what they say.
“Sometimes, some of them have become little radio stars on their own. A guy in Dallas named “Big Bird” is basically my sidekick at this point. He calls me almost every day. The man is hysterical. He’s a roofing contractor in Dallas, Texas, but he calls my show every night. It’s hysterical, especially when his Cowboys suck, and I can make fun of them. I’ve had several regulars, but even the regulars are like, okay, why are you up all night?”
Thomas loves the unexpected calls from overnight workers: “This lady calls me from the M&M’s factory and tells me that she makes M&M’s for a living. Oh my God, I could be talking to the President of the United States, and I wouldn’t be more excited than I am to talk to the lady who makes M&M’s. And to her, it’s just a boring job that she does herself in the middle of the night.”
“And other people around the country, I know they love hearing that conversation. And you cannot do that without giving people a reason to call and shining a light on those people.”
Exposing and giving a platform to young and up-and-coming artists is another point of passion for Thomas.
“I’ve had about 50 of those artists come on. It’s been one a week for almost the entire run. They all drop whatever they’re doing from wherever they’re from and move to Nashville because it’s a magic place where they might become the next Carrie Underwood or Jason Aldean. And don’t you want to talk to those people?”
“I understand that if you’re a morning show or if you’re an afternoon show, you probably can’t interview the girl who’s got her first single out, and she’s still playing in the bars downtown. But I can.”
Thomas’ comedy and interview skills blend with PickleJar’s vision of connecting artists and audiences. “They wanted to shine a light on new artists, and I wanted to do live radio. I very quickly embraced their vision when I realized how much fun it was, how much fun you could have with new artists, and the freedom of being on in the middle of the night where no one’s going to say, why did you interview Ashlie Amber? Because I wanted to. She’s super interesting. She lives on a cruise ship.”
Thomas calls Live the other L-word. “I wanted to do a panel at CRS called “The Other L Word. I think radio talks so much about why it needs to be local; we forget that the thing that we have that everyone else doesn’t is that we can be live if we just do it. Just go and sit in the studio while your show is on the air and talk to people and talk about what’s going on right now and talk to people when they call in and get their reaction to what you just said and make it mean more.”
“Outside the major market, most middays and afternoon people aren’t live. Okay, I know there are some, but outside of Sports and Talk, and hey, what are the most successful formats in a lot of markets? Sports and Talk.”
Thomas sees his show as a community for overnight workers and enjoys giving them a platform. “Shine a light on the people who are working in the middle of the night, the people who are up because they have to be up. 7% of the workforce works the third shift. That’s a lot of people. And so, everybody’s interesting to me, and you find out what they do.”
“Oh, you’re a security guard? Where? Oh, the mall? They still have a mall? Whatever it is, I can make it entertaining. I’m a comedian. So, it’s very similar to what they call crowd work, where you just talk to people in the audience and then find something funny to say based on what they said.”
“PickleJar’s Up All Night” is on in 50 cities across the country, and Thomas sees his show as the opportunity to bring that diverse community together.
“I just get excited and find joy in the most ridiculous things. It’s my superpower and trying to make other people care about what I care about, but with callers, the real moments and the real highlights come when someone calls me and their job has something to do with food.”
Thomas believes that the show quickly evolved, confirming PickleJar’s selection of his vision and execution of the show. “It was much better than they thought it was going to be. But it was better than I thought it was going to be. I didn’t know for sure I could go in there and do this this way.”
“But I love it. I love live radio. I love being there. You don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
Listen to PickleJar’s “Up All Night” here.
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Jeff Lynn serves as Editor of Barrett Media’s Music Radio coverage. Prior to joining Barrett Media, Jeff spent time programming in Milwaukee, Omaha, Cleveland, Des Moines, and Madison for multiple radio groups, including iHeartMedia, Townsquare Media, NRG Media, and Entercom (now Audacy). He also worked as a Country Format Editor for All Access until the outlet shut down in August 2023.
To get in touch with Jeff by email, reach him at Jeff@BarrettMedia.com.
