About Butch
A Bit About Butch
Butch began DJ'ing after graduating from high school in 1976 to make some money for college and have some fun along the way. Little did he know then that he'd still be at it today and be as involved in the music industry as he is. (And he wanted to be a teacher)
He has served as MC and/or DJ for numerous events, including the 1994 "Original Georgia Prophets Reunion" with Billy Scott, Barbara Scott Goudy & Janet Helm, North Tower Band's 30th & 40th Reunions, Lost in Paradise Beach Blast 1 & 2, Boogie on Broad / Dunn Chamber of Commerce Concert Series, Arbor Day Festival in Norwood, NC, NC Cotton Festival in Dunn, NC, The Tams' Bahama Cruise commemorating Little Redd's 40 years in Beach, Charleston Beach Music & Shag Festival, Link Wray Festival and other various beach music concerts, fundraisers, CD Release Parties and numerous CBMA events. He was also tapped to be the MC and opening act for the Americana Tour featuring Gospel Music's award winners, The Dove Brothers along with The Carolina Soul Band. He also opened up for the Dove Brothers for a concert of Southern Gospel Music. From time to time Butch can be heard singing for various senior citizens groups and nursing facilities. Butch believes that whatever talent someone has is a gift from God. How that talent is used is a gift to glorify Him.
In 1989 after working with or for others in the DJ business, he struck out on his own with a loan from the bank to buy out his business partner. The two-year note was paid off in 18 months! That was the creation of Carolina Sounds Entertainment and two months later, on August 6, 1989, The Carolina Sounds Beach Show debuted on WLLN-AM in Lillington, NC. WLLN changed formats and the show wound up on WBZB-AM in Selma, NC where it aired for several years on Saturday afternoons. After leaving WBZB, Butch was off the air for a couple of years but stayed busy in the mobile and club DJ business.
With the budding popularity of Internet Radio, Butch and his show could be heard on Live365 for several years, then at the invitation of long-time friend, and Band of Oz founder, Keith Houston, took the show to the newly created Southern Soul dot com, until they merged with another Internet radio company. During this same time period, September 2008 to be exact, The Carolina Sounds Beach Show also went back to the radio airwaves on WODR-FM, COOL 105.3 in Whiteville, NC. Sadly, COOL was sold and the format changed on December 15, 2015. At that time, Butch was the last original member of The COOL CREW. The show is currently in syndication on several radio & Internet stations in NC, SC, VA, NV & MI and has received several CBMA nominations for "Syndicated Radio Show of the Year". In 2018 he permanently withdrew the show from nomination consideration.
Butch has been nominated many times for the CBMA's "Club & Mobile DJ of the Year" and won in 2001. In 2014 he permanently withdrew his name from this category for consideration.
Butch has played music and sung all over North Carolina, South Carolina and southern Virginia for various types of events, from weddings to birthdays to grand openings to open houses to holiday parties to pool parties, to...well, you name it....even a divorce party!
In 2012 Butch was inducted into the Beach Music Radio Hall of Fame.
In 2013 he was inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall of Fame.
In 2013 he was inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall of Fame.
Not only does Butch spin the tunes, he sings as well in his DJ shows, paying tribute to artists like Buddy Holly, The Showmen, Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs, The Clovers, Big Joe Turner, Oak Ridge Boys, George Strait, Conway Twitty, and of course, Elvis Presley. In 1995 he produced and sang back-up vocals on Billy Scott's 1995 Cammy Award Winning "Don't Let Go". In the Spring of 2000, he was a member of the Shama Lama Choir on the Bill Lyerly-Griff collaboration "Banging In The Dunes". He has also had the pleasure of "sitting in" with some of the biggest names in Beach Music such as The Blackwater Band, Sea-Cruz, Bill Lyerly Band, Holiday Band, Embers , Part Time Party Time Band, The Attractions, Fantastic Shakers, Sand Band and others. For six months, Butch was a member of The Blackwater Band, filling in with them in 2014.
He has also opened up for national and regional artists like Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs, Bill Pinkney & The Original Drifters, Catalinas, Tams, Chairmen of the Board, Clifford Curry, North Tower Band, Band of Oz, Too Much Sylvia, Castaways, Nantucket, Band of Oz, Rivermist, Bounce! The Party Band, Magnificents Band, The Tonez, Ronnie McDowell, Tuesday's Gone (Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Band), Liverpool (Beatles Tribute Band) and many others.
On The Personal Side
Favorite Foods: Italian (especially tiramisu); Chicken - Wings, BBQ'ed, Fried;
A good filet mignon every now and then
Favorite Drink: Sweet Tea but....only every now and then.
Favorite Colors: Blue, Orange and Purple
Favorite Getaway Place: Anywhere near the water
First Song Played on Radio: Summertime's Calling Me by the Catalinas
(This is also my all-time favorite Beach Music song.
Every time I changed radio or Internet stations in my career, this is the song I always started with on the new station)
Every time I changed radio or Internet stations in my career, this is the song I always started with on the new station)
Personal Influences: My Daddy & Jesus
Musical Influences: There are way too many too mention, but to start with all the groups in Beach Music and Southern Gospel I've seen and/or worked with over the years. I honestly feel I have learned something from all of them. Also, I have to mention Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin, William Sellers aka "Willie B" of The Blackwater Band, Eddie Miles and last but definitely not least William Lee Golden of The Oak Ridge Boys.
Favorite Singers & Groups: Elvis Presley, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Johnnie Taylor, Temptations, Four Tops, Angel Rissoff, Tams, Tower of Power, Johnny Maestro, Oak Ridge Boys, Conway Twitty, George Strait, Patsy Cline (distant cousin), Josh Turner, Charley Pride, Glen Campbell, Candi Staton, Ronnie McDowell, Mel Carter, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughan, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Safe Haven, The Harvesters, The Dove Brothers, Jessy Dixon, Teddy Huffam & The Gems, JD Sumner & The Stamps, The Imperials, Cathedrals, Hovie Lister and The Statesmen
and the list goes on and on........
and the list goes on and on........
A fact that you may not know is that I am a long-time fan of Doo Wop and Southern Gospel Music.
In fact, the first time I ever sang in public was in church. I sang a song called "The Third Man".
Both genres have some of the best harmonies ever!!
In fact, the first time I ever sang in public was in church. I sang a song called "The Third Man".
Both genres have some of the best harmonies ever!!
Below are a few pictures from the road over the years. You can click on them to see full descriptions.
