Rob Ryan

Afternoons (1p-6p)

BIOGRAPHY

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I was born in North Central Minnesota into a family that brought me into a musical “crossroad”.  My dad was a big fan of the smooth voice of Eddy Arnold, the baritone of Charlie Pride, the restlessness of Johnny Cash, the bluesy sound of Marty Robbins, along with other country legends. My mom favored pop rock on the AM dial which was beginning to move to the FM side. My oldest brother is a huge fan of Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, the Beatles & other artists of the 50’s and 60’s – he has one of the largest vinyl collections that I’ve ever seen. My second oldest brother introduced me to the harder rock side of the spectrum: I was hooked.

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My first “radio” job was at KROB, a station that consisted of me taping songs off the radio onto my handheld cassette machine and playing them back, with ME being the guy behind the microphone.

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After high school, I went even farther north for broadcasting school. It wasn’t quite to Canada, which is probably good because I didn’t need to pick up the habit of saying “eh” or “oot”. Do you want to go oot tonight, eh?

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My first full-time radio job brought me to Willmar on a different frequency. From there, it was a stint at a rock station in Fargo and another in Grand Forks, ND. Then, it was back to Willmar and a mixture of country and rock oldies. And now, I’m back to my true musical love: classic rock. Even though I appreciate music in almost all genres, this is the music that makes me go.

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After all these years, I’ve finally found a radio station that truly respects their listeners, employees and community. I look forward to making your afternoons enjoyable.