Whether it’s the long drive up the 400 from your job in Toronto or commuting from across town, your favourite radio station is usually what keeps you sane in the busy rush hour traffic. While the voices on the radio are familiar, you may not know much about the people behind them. Neil Anthony is opening the curtain a little and reminding folks he’s a proud Simcoe County guy.
KICX 106 is the areas go-to country music radio station and has been for about eight years. While there are 24 hours to the station’s on-air day, it’s the 3 pm-8 pm Monday to Friday set that has Afternoons With Neil Anthony. Having Barrie and the surrounding area listening to his every word suits the local Anthony just fine.
“My family moved to Barrie in 1992 and I’ve grown up here all that time,” said the 37-year-old Anthony. “It is sometimes amazing to me that I’m able to work at what I love in my hometown, that’s a rarity for radio announcers but something I don’t take for granted.”
Having been born in Peterborough to an OPP father and a mother who was a nurse, Anthony’s family eventually settled in Barrie and a then 13-year-old Anthony was blending in to his new city and all that came with it. Attending Barrie North for high school, football was big part of Anthony’s younger years as was being a teenager and hanging out in a town that continues to change.
“This is such a football city where all the high schools and communities are so rabid about it,” said Anthony. “When we weren’t on the field, we were just doing what kids did in Barrie at the time, hanging out. There used to be an arcade downtown and we’d spend many hours and quarters there. I’ve always been a huge fan of music and would spend so much time down at the old Sam The Record Man (located where Made In Mexico now stands) looking for new music and classic rock. It was a growing town that became a bigger city, but it’s always been home for me.”
While Barrie was always home, Anthony did a lot of traveling for his chosen profession and first love. Seeing his son’s appreciation for music, Anthony’s dad took him to a Peterborough radio station which only solidified his need to be in the business. Taking broadcast journalism at Seneca York, Anthony had his own radio show and eventually took jobs from everywhere he could to get more experience. A floor director at MTV Canada for a year and even working in town at other radio companies as a promotions director, it was his first gig in the industry that he remembers most.
"I was up in New Liskeard which is about four hours north and was a real small town at the time,” said Anthony. “I worked on-air at a station at a place I called the Mutt Station because they played everything. Usher to Elvis to Kenny Chesney, literally everything was played there and there was no real format. Most announcers, or DJ’s as we were called, have to travel to get work but I was very fortunate to eventually come home about seven years ago for what was then a part-time gig. I know the area very well so it’s not like I’m trying too hard to identify with people listening; it’s very relaxed.”
Anthony plays country music for his many listeners and is a fan of the genre despite not always having been that way. His first album was Michael Jackson’s Thriller and he was a huge fan of MoTown and classic rock.
“I love it all, I just really love music,” said Anthony. “The 90’s were great with the pure sound of grunge and also adding that my love of the classic rock before me. My first concert though was in Hamilton and was Brad Paisley, Terri Clark and Johnny Reid; I’ve become such a big fan of country music as well likely due to its purity too.”
Anthony is now a father as he and his girlfriend have an eight month old daughter. Being a dad has helped him see the community differently too as he now loves his hometown for reasons much the opposite of when he was growing up.
“Barrie is so safe when compared to major cities,” said Anthony. “I lived in Toronto too when I was in my twenties and loved the nightlife and live music, but the places in Simcoe County are so peaceful and still seem like small town Canada. You know your neighbours and folks try to help one another out.”
Helping each other out is another major part of what Anthony does as Larche Communications, the parent company of KICX 106 and 104.1 The Dock (KICX’s rock sister station), has donated over one and half million dollars to charities in their area. Radio 4 Cardiology and Feeding Families are two local campaigns that Anthony has been a part of and says that it definitely changes you to see the effect that giving has on those who need help.
“It feels so good to be able to help people in our area and it doesn’t matter if you’ve never done it or have been doing it for years, it gets to you when you see it working,” said Anthony. “A few years ago during what was then Radio 4 Radiology, we had someone come down and donate $20,000; I couldn’t even hold it together on air. I was so overwhelmed that someone would give so much to any cause, let alone the one we were trying to get the word out about.”
KICX 106 is on the dial at 105.9 and you can follow Neil Anthony on twitter @NeilAnthonyLive
