Rowdy Yates is a nationally syndicated Country radio host. Syndicated through SuiteRadio, he hosts “Ridin’ With Rowdy, “Rowdy Ride Home,” and the brand new ‘Rowdy On The Rise.” He is a 2025 inductee into the Country Radio Hall of Fame.
It’s safe to say that Yates was born with a radio gene.
“I guess I am what they call a radio baby, or as the Hollywood types would have called me, a Nepo baby. I’m a second-generation radio guy who grew up in Texas. My father was Joe Holstead. He was known as the Dean of Texas Radio News, primarily a top 40 news guy,” said Yates.
This led to Yates getting his start at a young age, like many of us did then.
“I started like so many of the rest of us did. I was a teenager and got my start north of Fort Worth, where we lived, in a town called Denton, which had a handful of radio stations. My mother would drive me there on Sunday mornings to run the church tapes.”
“I would run the church tapes, and that would also give my mother an opportunity to visit my sister, Tiffany, who was attending school at the University of North Texas. Mom would drive me, and she’d visit my sister, and at noon, she’d come pick me up, and we’d go home. Shortly after, I got my driver’s license and could drive up there myself. I got to do the weather every half an hour, and there was a 30-minute block in which I could spin the big Country hits of the day.”
Yates saw the power of syndication when his father got the opportunity to fill in for Paul Harvey.
“He knew Paul Harvey. My dad got the opportunity in 1985 to become Paul Harvey’s fill-in. So, I got to see firsthand what type of recognition, accolades, and response one man could get when he was on that national stage.’
“Plus, just being a kid who listened to Casey Kasem and Bob Kingsley every weekend, those shows were big. I knew I always wanted to be on the national stage as a radio personality. I just didn’t know how to get there.”
Then Yates got a call from none other than the late Bob Kingsley.
“I was working for KILT (100.3 The Bull Houston), and Bob Kingsley called me and asked me if I would fill in for him one weekend, and I did.”
“Shortly after that, I began to do some one-offs for Westwood One. And I really liked working with Westwood One. A gifted group of people there. They liked me, I liked them. And after doing, I would say, half a dozen little one-hour specials and some stuff behind the scenes, an opportunity came along where they said, we’ve got a weekend show, and frankly, we’re thinking about junking it. The audience is eroded; the affiliates aren’t as stout as they used to be.”
“But if we keep it, would you like to host it?” I said yes, I would. I sent them some ideas and a tape, and they said, okay, if you can get KILT to run it, we’ll keep it. That was the Westwood One Country Gold show.
“I took over for that in 2004 when it had 58 affiliates. And in the span of a few years, we managed to not only turn that show around, but by the time I left or was fired by Dial Global, we were up to like 158 affiliates.”
A chance encounter with Westwood One senior managers left a lasting impression on Yates.
“We were in Hollywood when the Academy of Country Music Awards were still going on at the Universal Amphitheater. Our table was set up right across from the Westwood One table. One of their 24/7 formats was based in California. They sent one of their jocks out there to do artist interviews.”
“These two unbelievably well-dressed men walked in. I recognized them and I knew who they were. It was Ed Salamon and Charlie Cook. And they are the two guys that are setting up the gear for this jock.”
“Ed is standing on a chair, and Charlie is holding his leg so Ed doesn’t fall out of the chair, so that they can hang this banner. And I remember thinking these guys are wearing $2,000 suits, yet they are not so big that they think they’re too good to hang banners or string wires. I remember thinking to myself, I’m going to work for these two guys one of these days if it kills me. That is how impressed I was with them.”
Yates was excited when we discussed his latest offering, “Rowdy On The Rise,” a one-hour program designed as a lead-in to morning drive for affiliates.
“The reason that we created this was because now you have morning personalities that have taken on so much more responsibility beyond their morning show. Yes, they’re the lead morning guy, but they’re also the music director, and you have their partner.
“She’s also the promotions director, and then you have someone else who’s running music logs. They have other responsibilities within the radio station and do not have the time they used to have to invest in the morning show.”
What advice would Yates give someone looking to start and syndicate a show?
“I think that a number of us would be more than happy to reach out to all for advice and give a little bit of guidance. I know that I got it. I know that B-Dub (Bryan B-Dub Washington) certainly got it. Over the years, I’ve established relationships with people who do exactly what I do.”
“It all started with a simple email or a Facebook message, or if somebody passed along a telephone number. So that’s the thing, ask now if you’re convinced that you are ready to do this, what I do, and get out there.”
“The one thing I would say is go ahead and spend the money on the demo because if you don’t grab them with your first impression, you will not have a second. I can’t tell you so many times people have approached us and said, well, once we get on the air and start making money, we’re going to buy that jingle package.”
“Plenty of people in those spaces are willing to help you as well. You might be surprised that an A-list voice guy might do you a couple of freebie drops for your demo.”
“Because he knows he’s going to get some business out of it, if you get picked up. The community is small, but they’re still very giving. I think it is in our best interests to help everyone. Even if it is ushering in somebody who is a direct competitor, because competition can only make you better.”
Checkout Rowdy Yates’ demos 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.
