If you ever visit our studio on Farmer’s Ln. in Santa Rosa, you’ll see this picture hanging right up front. It’s from a show we did on October 10, 2010.
At that time I was the newly anointed Froggy 92.9 afternoon guy, my first full-time gig in radio. This was the culmination of a long road which you can read about here.
Radio is a double-edged celebrity job. You meet celebrities, and to some people you are a celebrity. I liked that. A lot.
And when I found out we got Chris Young to sneak away from the Rascal Flatts tour to come up for a show at Kodiak Jack’s in Petaluma? I, was, BUZZIN. I could just see it now…Dano‘n CY, choppin’ it up backstage, takin’ shots and tradin’ stories. This night’s gonna rock my world!! I thought.
And it did.
The show was hitchless. Openers The JaneDear Girls and Walker Hayes had the sold out crowd totally hyped. Autographed guitars up for auction from Keith Urban, Brooks & Dunn and more all had high bids. And as Chris Young took the stage you could feel the energy cresting.
“He is FEELIN’ it tonight,” his tour manager told me at side of stage. “He’s playing songs I’ve never heard him play.” We watched Chris wear a big smile as Froggy listeners ate up every note.
The crowd suddenly shot to it’s feet in uproarious applause. At first I thought it was something Chris had done, but he too was on his feet clapping. Everyone’s attention was on a little alcove on stage right. The guest of honor had arrived.
Danny Cox.
In August 2010 he’d been a Petaluma High graduate looking to start classes at SRJC. By that night in October he was strapped in a wheelchair soaking in dull glow from KJ’s neon lights. A shallow dive in Lake Tahoe had paralyzed him. He was the reason we were all there that night.
The Sonoma County community had so embraced his story that he was late to our fundraiser because he was at another fundraiser with Bug Deakin at Heritage Salvage. His family needed all the support they could get as they tried to transition to a completely new world. Ramps, hand rails and advanced medical care doesn’t come cheap.
I was on such a high from the show that night I hadn’t eaten a thing. By the time Chris had tipped his cap and stepped off stage, I was woozy and about to keel over. I found myself backstage, desperately trying to flag down a waitress, but with a full house they were far too busy to notice me.
“You alright?” somebody asked me. “You look woozy.” I turned toward the sound and looked down- it was Danny.
“Ah, thanks for lookin’ out,” I replied. “Just trying to get some chicken wings or something. You having fun out there?”
“As much as I can, yes,” he said. “It’s kinda weird when someone wants to take a picture with you.”
A waitress noticed Danny and walked over. “Anything you need darling?”
“This guy needs some chicken wings, pronto,” he said motioning to me. We both chuckled a little bit and the waitress snapped to it. The wings arrived, and he and I talked Giants baseball as I ate. They’d won a playoff game that night, and improbably looked like they might move on. For everything that was going on with him, he was surprisingly chill. He seemed like a really good kid.
Weeks passed. So did months. I’d see Danny on Facebook and think: He was cool to you backstage. You should ask him how he’s doing. You’ve got extra concert tickets, you should send he and his Mom to a show. But I never did because….because…of reasons, I dunno.
He died less than a year later.
Rob, Joss, Splash and I went to his celebration of life at the Petaluma High School football field. I wasn’t a wreck sitting there in the bleachers. It was a tragedy for sure, but I barely knew him.
I wasn’t crying, but I was thinking…about Facebook. I’d seen him on Facebook. I’d felt compelled to act, but I didn’t. Even if it didn’t change the end, could I have put on a smile on one of his days?
A year passed, but this idea stayed fresh in my brain. Don’t be a passenger, do something if you feel you need to do something, I would tell myself. And when a Facebook Page called “Help Alexis Meet Taylor Swift” posted on the Froggy page, I knew what needed to be done:
Then, I was inspired to make this happen:
And this:
And on, and on.
I came to realize that part of my job is indeed celebrities and backstage passes and pop culture. But if that’s all it is, then I’m missing the point. The real reason I’m here is to try to make an impact on someone’s day, be it a special moment or even just giving someone a chuckle on the radio.
Am I curing kids with cancer? No, I’ll leave that to St. Jude ;-). But the things we do as a station help, and give our effort some meaning beyond just playing records on the radio. Whether he knew it or not, Danny Cox taught me that. And it has changed my life forever.
This week marks the 6th anniversary of Danny’s death in a car crash in the Novato Narrows. The Froggy family speaks of Danny often and still holds he and his family in their thoughts. Also, for the record Chris Young is fully awesome and he’s done lot of cool things for Froggy 92.9 over the years including this acoustic show.
