Monday through Friday from 3 PM to 7 PM
Born sometime in the last century in a small mill town in Georgia, Verdell (last name redacted…some outstanding warrants or something like that) has been involuntarily escorted out of several radio stations over the years, mostly for wanting to play deep Rush cuts. Like The Necromancer from Caress of Steel. One boss got really upset about that one.
So, he’s fled the scene up and down the east coast…Maryland, Virginia, both Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, you name it. But, it hasn’t stopped him, and now he finds himself at The Triangle’s Rock 92.9. A match made in heaven.
Verdell grew up with the entire landscape of music…Broadway show tunes, classical, a smattering of country, pop, etc., but, like most redneck kids in the 70’s, couldn’t get enough Rock. The bread-and-butter stuff, of course…Zep, Aerosmith, Sabbath, Skynyrd and the Allmans. The monkey wrench was thrown into the works in 1976. That, of course, was the year of 2112. And another Rush geek was, metaphorically, born.
More than that, one of those loathed and misunderstood Prog Rock geeks was born. Tull, early Genesis, Floyd, Yes. Anything with a 7/4 or 7/8 or odd time signature. Or weird, dense lyrics. Or glockenspiels.
Verdell knew he needed help when these so-called “gateway” artists and albums led to…gasp…things like Kraftwerk. The experimentation blossomed into a full-blown crisis. The bottom was reached one weekend when he sat and listened to King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King 400 times in a row. Friends and family intervened.
Fortunately, he dried out and found balance in his life, going back to a sensible diet that included not only Prog, but Van Halen and GNR and AC/DC and a healthier and happier intake of Rock. Another soul rescued.
A great evening for Verdell means a can of Sour Cream and Onion Pringles, several tall Jack Daniels and a couple of ice cream sandwiches while watching reruns of Andy and Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
If you don’t believe all of this, well, who cares. Find Verdell on the radio for now (until he sneaks in obscure cuts from Hemispheres or Farewell to Kings) Monday through Friday in the afternoon from 3 til 7 on The Triangle’s Rock 92.9.
