Raised on radio: Framingham's Vinci brothers have weekday show on Kiss 108

FRAMINGHAM — Mikey and Frankie Vinci grew up in Framingham listening to Kiss 108 on the ride home from school. Now, they have a show on the channel — "Mikey V & Frankie V, The VBros," airing weekdays.

“This is the type of show that I’ve wanted to host since I first started working in radio,” Mikey Vinci said. “It’s fun, it’s exciting, and it’s unpredictable.”

Mikey — a Kiss 108 (WXKS) on-air host and assistant program and music director — joins forces with his older brother Frankie — also a Kiss 108 host — every weekday from 2-7 p.m.

The duo also brought on Gianna Gravalese to add a woman’s perspective to the show.

Gravalese, of Revere, met the brothers over social media. She acts as a producer, picking show topics, helping with the logs and mediating "the bro aspects of the show,” she said.

Off the air, her relationship has grown with them.

“They’re essentially the big brothers I never had,” she said.

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The Vincis have been working in radio for more than 10 years and have acted as mentors to Gravalese.

“They’ve taught me so much so fast," she said. "I wouldn’t want to learn from anybody else.”

The trio cover everything from childhood stories to what’s going on in their lives today, taking calls from listeners during the show. "Mikey V & Frankie V, The VBros" is an expansion of a solo show that Mikey hosted.

“This team has found the perfect combination of entertaining conversation and great music that resonates with the Kiss 108 listeners,” said Dylan Sprague, Kiss 108's senior vice president of programming, in a release. “We’re excited to hear what lies ahead for this show.”

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The show can also be streamed on iHeartRadio’s website, app and anywhere podcasts are available.

Kiss 108, which is owned by iHeartMedia, broadcasts throughout Greater Boston with about 1 million listeners a week. The station's headquarters are in Medford.

The station broadcasts two other talk shows: "Billy & Lisa in the Morning," from 5-10 a.m. and "On-Air with Ryan Seacrest," from 7 p.m. to midnight.

'You're ready to go at each other'

Of course, brotherly competition happens on and off air.

“If Mikey tells you this was his idea, don’t believe him,” Frankie said. “This was my idea from the start. He’s been stealing my game since he was born.”

Working with family can be challenging, but the brothers don’t focus on those obstacles.

“Jobs on a radio or TV show or making any kind of content, you always have those moments when you’re ready to go at each other or get frustrated,” Mikey said. “But since we are brothers, it’s easy to bounce back the next day or get through those tough times.”

Mikey and Frankie have pitched this show to iHeartMedia for years.

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“It wasn’t like we got the call and started taping," Mikey said. "We’ve gone through numerous steps over the past year and a half to get to this point."

One of those steps was the success of their podcast, "VBros Worldwide," which they started during the pandemic and hosted with their mother, Carol.

“That’s when I feel like our bosses started to hear and realize we did have something,” Mikey said.

Frankie thanks Sprague for “taking the chance and believing in us to… hopefully bring those ratings up high for years and years to come.”

Getting a career in radio

Initially, Frankie wanted to work in sports on television. But while he was in college, radio was “something that found me.”

For Mikey, he said Frankie “paved the way” for him to get involved in radio.

Radio took the Vinci brothers across the country.

“Our dream was always to do a radio show together; however, in radio, it’s hard enough to even get back to your hometown,” Mikey said.

The brothers made several career moves to make this dream a reality: Mikey worked in Ithaca, New York; Indianapolis and Detroit and Frankie went west to San Diego, Los Angeles and Sacramento, California.

The Vinci brothers are graduates of Framingham High School — Mikey played quarterback and Frankie was a wide receiver on the Flyers football team. Both are elated to return home to host their own show.

“How cool is it to do a show on our hometown station? That’s my favorite part, getting to create something for our friends and family to hear,” Frankie said.

Meet 'Mommy V'

Mom Carol, also known as "Mommy V," can still remember listening to Kiss 108 while driving the brothers to and from school.

“It was always a main station… they’ve always wanted this and I marvel at both of their work ethics, I’m so proud,” she said.

Carol also noted that she wished their father Frank, who died in 2015, could be here to listen to their success.

“He was in intensive care, in a coma, and we brought a radio so… perhaps he could hear the boys while he was in a coma,” she said.

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She hopes her sons’ show will bring people laughter and joy.

Listeners can hear Mommy V sharing fun facts every Monday on The VBros Show.

Outside of radio, Carol is a special education teacher at Blocks Preschool in Framingham and works at a couple synagogues in MetroWest.

In addition to "Mikey V & Frankie V, The VBros," Frankie is co-hosting a show on Channel 93.3 in San Diego and Mikey will also be hosting on other iHeartMedia stations throug the country.

“It’s 100% a dream come true," Mikey said. "There isn’t another job in radio or in the world that I would do."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham Vinci brothers have radio show on WXKS-Kiss 108