COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — To appreciate what you've achieved, sometimes it takes a visit to where it all began. A woman is proud to share an especially unique journey.
"When I go on the mic, I picture my listeners as they're driving in their cars, and they're like, 'oh, I love this song! I haven't heard this in forever!'" smiled Emily Paton. "That's what I picture when I do my programs."
WTTU at Tennessee Tech University just feels like home for 2020 alum Emily.
"It's just the sound and the feel of it and the music playing to my left here," she said.
There's the Oingo Boingo album above the room and the rules posted on the walls. 'No dead air.' 'Be groovy or leave, man.'
"I think it's really cool that they have CDs," Emily said about the wall of CDs in the room.
For Emily, this station is key to her story.
"I'm completely blind, and honestly, my blindness is just who I am," she said. "I don't see myself as being any different than everybody else."
Emily arrived to Tennessee Tech with a passion for alternative music, songs often neglected by mainstream radio. Emily had a want to get on the mic and share that music with others.
"It wasn't easy when we first started out," she said. "There were definite technical glitches."
In this space, people believed in Emily and got her the practice time. In the years since her graduation, Emily's work has grown into something else.
"What I'm planning to do is make an episode of The Emily Paton Show," she said, furiously working on her iPhone.
Using the Backpack Studio app through her iPhone, Emily creates playlists and broadcasts a show completely on her own, usually from her home.
"We'll be going on air soon!" she said, putting on her headphones.
Among the platforms that feature her is the streaming station NewHD Media.
"NewHD Radio, creating jobs for people with autism, disabilities, and veterans," Emily said in her broadcast. "That was Violent Femmes from 1983. Blister in the Sun. Hey, how you doin? It is your girl Emily Paton with you hoping you are having a great day, a great week. Here's The Killers now with Bright Lights. It's new music now on HD."
"I just want people to be inspired by the content I create, not because I do it with a disability," Emily said. "There's nothing really amazing about it. It's just me being me!"
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
For people of my generation, in our younger days we spent part of our weekends watching music shows like American Bandstand and Soul Train. That was before the age of music videos. Several years before Soul Train was syndicated out of Chicago, another syndicated R&B show was taped in Nashville at NewsChannel 5. Night Train aired in the 60s and included what may have been the first TV appearance for legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Forrest Sanders has another great look back at station history.
-Lelan Statom
