Say YES! Remember, It’s Always A Great Day OutWest! Part 2
Happy May and Mother’s Day!
It’s a great month to honor women and the west.
Welcome back Bobbie Jean Bell for part two of Say YES! Remember, It’s Always A Great Day OutWest! and Women Honoring the West interview.
If you missed or need a refresher on Part 1, click on the link below.
Let’s go ahead and get started!
Is there one highlight from OutWest’s history you’d like to share?
As new business owners, we enthusiastically embraced being part of the community of businesses in Old Town Newhall. Quickly we discovered that we needed to create foot traffic.
The best way to do that was to host live events – book signings, live music, and visual artist appearances. We had a robust schedule of events – “There’s always something fun happenin’ OutWest” – the most widely attended were our music events. These started informally – I’d call a local musician or someone I knew was traveling through – and invite them to perform.
With the help of a good friend, Gency Brown, we’d reorganize the store making room for 50 chairs. Donations gathered at the door went directly to the performer. Our first live musical evening featured Eli Barsi, Joni Harms, and Doris Daley. An amazing night. It set the standard for all the events that followed.
Within just a few months, these events caught the attention of the local news station, SCVTV, and its director Leon Worden.
One day I answered the phone to hear Leon on the other end. Could SCVTV film these concerts?
YES!
We were clueless about how to do it but Leon knew. He brought sound, cameras, and a crew. That first filmed concert featured Juni Fisher. Another amazing night. Leon and the SCVTV film crew captured 73 “SCVTV Presents The OutWest Concert Series” live events. You can find them all at: https://scvtv.com/category/arts-entertainment/music/outwest/.
This concert series developed a life all its own. Other volunteers, like John and Diane Bergstrom and David Veal helped. The International Western Music Association California Chapter became a supporter.
Eventually, the series was relocated to the nearby Repertory Playhouse East. Other local media – like the “Santa Clarita Magazine” – promoted these concerts. Musicians sought the opportunity to play and each received a high-quality DVD of their performance.
Born to provide much-needed foot traffic, the concert series actually provided a platform for professional Western entertainment embraced by our community, and it still airs on SCVTV.
Always say “YES!”
Today you are involved with three radio stations. What’s the beginning of that story?
If anyone predicted I’d be chatting with musicians, authors, and poets on the radio I’d have said, “Not possible!” Yet…when the opportunity came around, I simply said, “YES!”
As a new business in town our local radio station – KHTS – came calling. Appearing on the radio was new to us, but we said “YES!”
We were interviewed on John Boston’s radio show highlighting local history and businesses. After the interview, we were guests on Nancy Pitchford’s Saturday program, “Around The Barn.” It was a good fit – she ran a non-profit equine therapy program for youth and was a delightful host. We were invited back a couple of times and suggested we bring a guest with us.
So…we brought an author. And the next time…a musician.
And before I knew it, she invited me to be her co-host! I loved it.
Part of my responsibility was scheduling the guests and planning the music. Later, Julie Fox joined us as a co-host. The granddaughter of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Julie brought her passion for the West, horses, and the arts with her.
Our team – engineer Mike Dowler, host Nancy, and co-hosts Julie and me had great fun, and it was one of the station’s most popular shows. “Around the Barn” ended its successful run toward the end of 2013. I was off the air until another radio opportunity was presented to me in December 2014. Don’t touch that dial…there’s more to the radio story!
What’s the next chapter of your radio story?
Throughout 2014, I noticed weekly Facebook posts promoting musicians’ appearances on an online radio show, “Campfire Cafe” on Equestrian Legacy Radio. I listened to several and was impressed with the host, Gary Holt, and the show’s format. Most of his guests were musicians I knew – many had been part of our concert series or had been guests on “Around The Barn.”
Checking out the show’s website, I discovered that, for a small fee, I could post OutWest’s logo and link to our website. We thought it was the ideal way to support Western music and our business. I called for details. Gary returned the call and we spoke for over an hour!
By the end of our conversation, I agreed to join him beginning in January 2015 as his co-host on “Campfire Cafe.” The IWMA named the program the 2018 and 2019 DJ/Radio Program of The Year – much to our surprise! January 2024 begins our 10th year together.
“Campfire Cafe” is heard around the world, live, and available on all the streaming platforms immediately after the broadcast. Our guests are Western music singers, songwriters, and poets. Along with engaging conversation, we feature their music or poetry throughout the show. We are blessed with terrific guests and over a million listeners weekly.
This amazing opportunity became available simply because I said “YES!”
Please share the story behind the broadcasts “The Writer’s Block” and “Rendezvous With Writer Radio” Shows.
Western author, Jim Christina, was a frequent guest on “Around the Barn” and a participant of the Buckaroo Book Shop. Each time he published a new title, he came on the broadcast. Over time, Jim got the dream of hosting his own radio show. In 2015, he invited me, along with Russ Avison, to join him as co-hosts of “The Writer’s Block” airing online on LA Talk Radio. We interviewed writers and chatted about their current titles and their writing process.
Although he was a Western fiction writer, our guests wrote across all genres. Over 350 weekly broadcasts we interviewed authors of fiction, science fiction, historical fiction, memoir, horror, fantasy, romance, mystery, thriller, and suspense. The only requirement of The Writer’s Block Team was to commit to reading the book cover-to-cover.
What an experience it was!
We lost Jim in June 2022. The program was so popular, I didn’t want it to end. But without Jim’s charismatic voice, contagious laugh, and writer’s insight, I knew we couldn’t continue it with the same name. On August 4, 2022, my husband Jim and I launched “Rendezvous With A Writer” in the same time slot on LA Talk Radio, Thursdays at 6 pm (PST).
We’ve stayed true to Jim’s requirement – we read the book. And like Jim did, we pre-interview our guests to prepare us for a great interview. The broadcast airs live on LA Talk Radio’s website, Facebook, and YouTube pages. Audio and visual podcasts are available immediately after the broadcast.
As co-hosts, Jim and I enjoy reading the featured book and interviewing our guests. The 2024 program schedule includes authors, songwriters, and poets with a focus on the American West.
Interested in being a guest? Contact me at [email protected].
Just what is the “OutWest Hour?”
As you can see, my love for Western music and poetry, and the creators writing and performing it, is all-consuming! We relocated from Santa Clarita to Albuquerque, New Mexico in late 2017. I continued with “The Writer’s Block” and “CampfireCafe.” In 2018, an opportunity to join the volunteer DJ team of nearby Placitas, NM community low-power radio station, www.KUPR.org came my way.
Once again, I said “YES!” The “OutWest Hour” premiered December 1, 2018.
Unlike my other shows, this broadcast is pre-recorded and features an hour of Western Music and Poetry. The curated playlist, featuring music and poetry, tells a story.
Airing every Saturday at 4 pm (MT), the “OutWest Hour” can be heard on Placitas radio, channel 99.9 FM. The show streams around the world at www.KUPR.org, and the playlist is posted on the station’s archive. KUPR is a volunteer-powered, listener-supported community radio program. Donations keep us on the air. To hear ALL the “OutWest Hour” broadcasts and be notified of new ones, follow me on Mixcloud –https://www.mixcloud.com/DJBobbiJeanBell/
A question asked of every radio guest is… What inspires you?
YOU inspire me!
I don’t recite, sing, or yodel. I don’t dance or play an instrument. I don’t write poetry, short stories, articles, or novels. I wasn’t raised on a ranch or around cattle or horses.
If I have a gift, it is to find and offer platforms to promote all of you who create – who write, sing, recite, and entertain. Finding ways to promote others inspires me. That question, “What can I do to assist you?” gets me going every day!
Any closing thoughts?
Through our OutWest business, Jim and I are blessed with productive and fond relationships with media, musicians, artists, designers, authors, poets, and many community representatives. We seek collaborative opportunities. We believe that the cowboy ethics of service, work, loyalty, and friendship are the key to a thriving business and community.
Want to enrich your life? When an opportunity appears, just say “YES!” And “Remember, It’s Always A Great Day OutWest!”
Connect with Bobbi Jean Bell
Facebook Personal – https://www.facebook.com/bobbi.j.bell/
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbi-jean-bell-a2391a4/
OutWest Shop
Website – https://www.outwestshop.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OutWestShop
Bookshop.org Affiliate Page – https://bookshop.org/shop/outwestshop
Rendezvous With A Writer
OutWest Shop Website – https://www.outwestshop.com/pages/rendezvous-with-a-writer
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/WritersOutWest
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/rendezvouswithawriteroutwest/
LA Talk Radio – https://www.latalkradio.com/content/rendezvous-writer
What a gal! Thanks for taking the time to learn about Bobbie Jean and her story. Remember, drop a question or comment in the comment section to enter a chance to win a digital copy of Renewed Hope.
