I asked Chris if he wanted to "guest blog" about this milestone, but he diverted to me. This is actually much better because he would be way too humble about this entire experience.
Three years ago (almost exactly), Chris made a decision that it was time to transition out of radio and into voice acting. It's something he's always been interested in, but starting from scratch is a scary and uneasy step to take. So, he worked on a plan to dip his toes in the water, take some coaching lessons, and just figure out how to navigate the voice acting industry. All I did was jump up and down with pom poms from the side lines.
For those of you who don't know, Chris started in radio at the ripe ol' age of 19. He was working at Dairy Queen in Gilmer and a gentleman working in Mount Pleasant told him he should come work at his radio station. That's how it all began. Plain and simple. If you have every heard Chris say as much as "hello" you'll know what that man heard.
Chris worked his way from Mount Pleasant to Tyler and eventually moved to Dallas in 1993 to be a production director at The Edge, then started overnights at The Eagle in 1994. Chris really became the voice of rock radio in Dallas. He created the Local Show and met/introduced dozens (hundreds?) of bands. Here's a fun montage of throwback pics.
The Eagle took a brief hiatus to explore other formats (easy listening and latino), but returned in 2007 as THE Classic Rock station. Chris was back on board. As radio continued to evolve (satellite radio, Internet radio, digital music), Chris began to think about his (our?) future. So, quietly in 2012 he began building Chris Ryan Voice.
For three years he's been honing his craft, but it became apparent about six months ago that things were hitting a new trajectory. We knew it was time to focus on one or the other. Chris has infinite gratitude for his radio experience. He got to work a job that many people dream of and, for him, it was all about the music. You can hear his humility and gratitude in his very last break at The Eagle.
To say we are proud of him is a huge understatement. We are so excited to see where this next chapter takes us! Congrats, Chris!
