Hannah, host of "Candyland," which aired Mondays from 6-8 p.m. on WRUR-FM (Rochester) has been named the new music director of The Route. We sat down with Hannah to ask her about her background, her musical tastes, and what she sees for the future of the Route.
Q. What are your top three responsibilities as music director?
A. (1) Curating and hosting our daily afternoon shift from 2-6pm. (2) Consistently searching for new music and up-and-coming artists both locally and nationally. I want to make sure our station is staying ahead of the curve in emerging music trends and constantly discovering new artists. (3) Collaborate with local artists/musicians to ensure our station highlights homegrown talent and fosters a deeper connection with our community. I’m really excited to work more with local musicians because we have a ton of amazing music in Rochester, Ithaca, and the WNY/CNY region.
Q. How would you describe your relationship with music and specifically radio?
A. Music is pretty much my whole life, and radio surrounds that because when I am not playing or working, I have the radio on in the background.
Q. How would you describe your DJ style or the sound and styles you gravitate towards?
A. I definitely gravitate towards most things that fall under the “Rock” category, but I also love bluegrass, country, metal, pop, and all kinds of different stuff. I want to bring variety to my show. You’ll probably hear things like Roger Miller, George Harrison, Neutral Milk Hotel, Weezer, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Tame Impala, Sierra Ferrell, Radiohead, The Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, and so much more I can’t even begin to list.
Q. What are your top three favorite artists and why?
A. I hate this question (haha!). It’s so complicated. Ok, I will pick three that give some range to what I like. Dolly Parton, because I love old country music with female singers with attitude; DEVO, because they are weird and nerdy and have a good overall message as a band; and The Beatles because they created pop music and could arguably be called the greatest band of all time.
Q. As the music director, how will you engage with the local music scene and integrate it into the programming?
A. I am so excited to start engaging with the local musicians in a few different ways. First being, playing local music consistently on my show. Second, I’d love to have more local and touring musicians come in and play/talk in the studio with me, that is such a great way for them to get the word out about their music and about shows they might have coming up. I’d also like to get out in the community more and do more collaborative things as a representative of the Route. Maybe that’s a DJ night at a local venue! Maybe that’s me introducing local musicians at their shows! Whatever it may be, this is what I am truly looking forward to because throughout my time in Rochester, my primary focus has been on local music and highlighting the incredible talent our artists bring to the scene, and I am very excited to continue to do that on the air for WRUR/WITH.
Q. What are some of your passions outside of being a radio host?
A. I’m a singer and guitar player in a local country band, Candy. I love writing songs and performing on stage. I also curate and book shows, I love doing that. I am a visual artist; I love to paint. I play drums as well. And I love spending time with my family, gardening, and of course my dog Beasley, he’s the best boy.