Disc Jockey of the Year for Western music meets the power of the internet | Press Releases

Mike Gross cannot believe his good fortune. The disk jockey of a small 100-watt college radio station, WVOF at Fairfield University in Connecticut, he will be receiving the award for Disc Jockey of the Year from the Academy of Western Artists when they meet in Fort Worth, Texas next week.

Inspired by the music from the western movies he grew up on, Mike has been producing and hosting the hour-and-a-half show for 20 years - the last three at Fairfield University and before that on WSHU, another local university station.

At Fairfield, the show has been carried on the University's website, bringing Mike emails from around the world. Interestingly, many come from Europe where his 6:30 to 8 a.m. morning show can be heard at mid-day. He has his own website, http://swinginwest.4mg.com, which is listed under Western Swing Music on several search engines, including AOL and Yahoo. When callers to his program want to follow up on the music they have heard, they can go to his website and find links to most of the featured artists.

Mike's program has been popular with artists as well who send him CDs to play. He also writes reviews of western music for some magazines. The show is a mix of historical and contemporary music and Mike spends almost double the time he is on the air researching material for the program. The mix of background, history and music has been a hit with his audience and obviously has impressed the Academy of Western Artists which is honoring him next week.