WUWF's 'Radio Live' host Pat Crawford steps down after more than 3 decades
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to include Tanya Gallagher's correct occupation.
When WUWF-FM 88.1's "RadioLive" hit the airwaves in September 1988 Pat Crawford was show host, Ronald Reagan was president, Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child o' Mine" was the top song in the country and Tanya Gallagher was not quite a year old.
On Dec. 7, Crawford hosted his last "RadioLive" performance.
On Jan. 4, Gallagher, a musician/scientist and University of West Florida graduate, will take over hosting duties of the long-running live radio program - hence its name, duh! Crawford, 71, isn't retiring. He'll remain as WUWF radio executive director. He'll just be in the audience or behind the scenes of the show.
Singer-songwriter John Common and his wife Jess Denicola were one of the three musical acts Crawford invited to perform for his final "Radio Live" show as host − a true honor, said Common, a former Pensacola musician and now longtime Colorado resident.
"First of all, when was the last time you heard of anyone doing anything for 35 years,'' Common said of Crawford's longevity. "Pensacola is lucky to have that dude. I think he is a real patron of the arts and, especially, music. He truly is."
"RadioLive" has built a reputation as a true live spotlight for singer-songwriters and musical acts that excel in songcraft. Crawford was known for his down-house, easy-going manner and humor, and a deep musical appreciation that translated through the airwaves. Yet Crawford said he had been pondering a change for a while.
"The whole concept is I want to grow our audience,'' he said. "I mean, we sell out every month, but I'd like to make a younger audience aware of what we're doing. I really started to book a lot of younger audiences and I'd like for more of the audience to look like them, not that we aren't grateful or want to do away with our longtime, loyal audience. I was looking for someone who was younger than me, more attractive me and more talented than me, so yeah, Tanya checks all those boxes."
Gallagher is a talented indie folk/country singer-songwriter whose music is available on numerous outlets, including iTunes and Spotify.
She is also a scientist with a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Forestry where she studied the impacts of landscape change on aquatic ecosystem services. She is an adjunct professor at the UWF GeoData Center and project manager at Jacobs Engineering.
Gallagher is a fourth-generation Pensacolian who attended Escambia High School, Bellview Middle School and Sherwood Elementary School.
"I grew up in a very musical family,'' she said. "I started playing in church shows as a teenager and then started playing in bars when I was 18 and right out of high school. I paid for grad school playing the different beach bars in Pensacola."
She released her first album, "Oh My Love" in 2013. Gallagher has performed on "RadioLive" numerous times, and will incorporate her own guitar and vocals in interludes and scattered portions of the performances.
"By no means will the show be about me, it is still definitely going to be about the artists,'' she said. "They're the focus."
"RadioLive" is the first Thursday of each month at the Museum of Commerce in downtown Pensacola. The show is broadcast live at 6 p.m. on WUWF-FM 88.1. Doors open at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 each.
"I am super honored to get to carry forward the traditional of 'Radio Live','' Gallagher said. "I'm truly grateful to Pat for the opportunity."
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pat Crawford ends as WUWF RadioLive host Tanya Gallagher replaces him
