By Rudolfo Carrillo
When I was told I had the opportunity to interview Albuquerque broadcast giant Jaimey B (given name Jaimey Gannon-Barreras), it felt like getting hit with a particularly potent local bolt of radio-spawned electricity. After all, I’ve been a huge Albuquerque radio listener since the late 1970s when me and my brother would stay up late to hear the newest in album-oriented rock on 92.3 KRST before getting a few hours of sleep so that we could catch up with Peter Benson on 920 KQEO-AM. Don’t even get me started on Bobby Box; Like Jaimey B, he’s always there in the background, defining our media landscape.
Of course things changed in Duke City radio as we all moved toward the millennium. The big news was that, despite a plethora of format changes and the evolution of public listening habits, sonorous, musically informed, and pop culture-infused voices like that of Jaimey B came to the fore and continued to demonstrate excellence and eloquence throughout the local iteration of the quickly changing medium.
Jaimey jumped into the New Mexico scene in 1988 when he began broadcasting from Santa Fe’s KVSF and KNYN. The list of radio stations that he contributed to in the following 12 years makes for a formidable list: KNLA, KRBL, KBAC, KJOY, KMGA, KPEK, KSYU, KIOT (Coyote 102.5) all served as vehicles to transmit Jaimey’s singular voice and musical expertise and curation to the people of this state and beyond.
The son of Patricia Anne and James Gannon (a legendary New York jazz bassist), Jaimey B made his way through the US military before he headed out West, not yet knowing he was destined to become a familiar voice, a fixture, and a symbol of the persistently excellent nature of New Mexico broadcasting.
Jaimey B is currently the host of ¡Viva New Mexico’s weekly vodcast; he is the vital voice of a new direction in local media activity. In keeping with that sense of fresh innovation found at ¡Viva New Mexico!, my conversation with Jaimey B was enthusiastic, enlightening, and entertaining. Here’s an essential excerpt from our meeting.
Rudolfo Carrillo: How would you characterize your history?
Jaimey B: I basically did all my radio broadcasting career here in New Mexico. I’ve been fortunate enough to do that. The year 1988 is when I started in the radio after getting out of the Army. Four years in the Army, honorable discharge there. Before that I was a member of the US Coast Guard. I was born in Elmira, New York and raised in Fort Lauderdale. I grew up in Albuquerque during my impressionable years here in New Mexico, went to St. Teresa, St. Mary’s, Montgomery Elementary, and Cleveland Middle School. I did about three months at Del Norte High School before moving to Hermosa Beach, California, and finishing off high school. I went to junior college for a little while, but dropped out.
Thanks for your service! What are the details regarding your work in the military?
In 1979, I joined the United States Coast Guard as an Operations Specialist and served on the Coast Guard Cutters Jarvis and Tamaroa from 1979 to 1983. I enlisted in the United States Army as a Chaplin Assistant from 1984-1988 and lived in New York, Georgia, California, Arizona, Hawaii, and South Korea.
And then you landed in New Mexico, que no?
My first station I worked for was the Voice of Santa Fe, KVSF. The station was focused on news and information, and they played pop music in between, pop music for back then, maybe contemporary folk, too. It was quite an experience. They had those old mixer boards where the knobs were like the size of big coins, just huge, it was a huge board. LPs and 45s are what we spun. The digital [production] scene wasn’t around yet; I come from the old school.
What influenced you as you moved through your career?
My dad was a jazz bassist, so I grew up on jazz and classical music. Also, I learned jazz guitar and classical music growing up. I also learned how to play the clarinet and alto saxophone in junior high. Jimi Hendrix came around in the late 1960s and spoiled me. I learned rock guitar after I heard his records. But now my most influence would be hard rock and metal.
What are you listening to now, lately, today?
Metallica and Pearl Jam. I still listen to [Led] Zeppelin. Foo Fighters are another one. But I still have a passion and love for jazz and classical music. Lately, I’ve been getting into EDM music, house music. It’s captivating.
In a way, those are sounds that are getting less and less airplay as the radio landscape in Albuquerque and America changes. How do you feel about that?
I retired four years ago. Rudy, it just wasn’t clicking for me anymore. The passion was gone. The spark was gone. I was just sitting in front of a microphone just doing what the program director said. There was no flavor or personal touch to the show anymore. Radio now is not what it used to be 30 years ago, when you could actually have your own show and be creative and not worry about a program director looking over you, unless you did something, you know, crazy. There used to be a lot of independent channels. I know the Rebel Rocker [98.5 FM KRBL] I worked for back in the early ’90s, they were independent and they let me pretty much do whatever the heck I wanted to. So I had some pretty crazy shows, doing nights at the Rebel Rocker.
How did you move past that to become the voice of ¡Viva New Mexico?
I was getting kind of bored and I was thinking about doing a podcast, and then all of a sudden, here comes Christa [Valdez]. We’ve known each other for 20, 25 years now. She asked if I would be interested, and I said, you know, I think I would like to be able to get back into it in some way and contribute somehow to our community and culture.
Your voice is instantly recognizable in these parts. Do you care to comment on that?
I think it’s great. I really, I’m honored and kind of shy about it. Sometimes, I’m at the grocery store for instance, and people hear me talk and then look at me strangely. I have to respond, “Yeah, I’m that dude”. I find it very honorable that people recognize my voice and I hope I was and am able to give them some joy and to educate them somehow, too.
What do you hope to have happen as the voice of ¡Viva New Mexico?
New Mexico has a ton of talent in the arts field, in the film industry, in the music scene, and the community is really a great group of people. Everybody bonds together. So, I want to bring that together, make those people visible and heard and let it be known that New Mexico is a damn good place to be.
Watch Jaimey B’s ¡Viva New Mexico! interview with Diné actor, screenwriter, independent producer and professor DezBaa’ below. Click here to subscribe to the Viva New Mexico YouTube channel.
