Hey Amarillo

A conversation with Ben Parks, the founder and "sound wrangler" of American Cowboy Radio and a former locomotive engineer for BNSF Railway. American Cowboy Radio streams worldwide from West Texas, with the goal of preserving and promoting what Parks calls "the authentic American cowboy way of life." Prior to this career and his locomotive career, Parks spent part of two decades managing the legend...

A conversation with Lora Brown, a long-time Amarillo stylist and the owner/operator of  The Salon by Lora Brown . Brown grew up in Amarillo, started her career at 17, and opened her first salon in 1996. With nearly four decades in the industry, she has built a reputation as one of the city's best luxury salons. In this conversation with host Jason Boyett, Brown shares about her early entrepreneuri...

A conversation with Jeff Jarnagin, a veteran performer at Amarillo Little Theatre and the social media manager for Brick & Elm Magazine . Jarnagin grew up in Wildorado and spent 17 years on staff at ALT before moving to Los Angeles at the age of 40 to pursue an acting career. After two years in Hollywood, he began feeling "off," and returned to Amarillo to a cancer diagnosis. Since then, Jeff has...

A conversation with Abby Moldenhauer, a former circus performer and the founder of Flying Fitness in Amarillo, a fitness studio which teaches aerial arts. Moldenhauer grew up in Canyon before leaving to join the circus—literally—after having trained to become a performer specializing in aerial silks. She traveled for years with Ringling Bros. and other shows until injuries sustained in a carjackin...

A conversation with Ruthie Landelius, a local chef, culinary educator, and the proprietor of Black Fig Food . She's also a food contributor to Brick & Elm Magazine and the Flavorillo email newsletter. A self-taught chef, Ruthie is known for her visual and artistic approach to food, for using food to build community, and for the elevated menus she creates for local events—from intimate weddings to...

A conversation with Andy Justus , a long-time broadcast journalist and the co-anchor of Studio 4 and KAMR Local 4 News at 5, 6, and 10. A graduate of West Texas A&M, Andy has been in local news since he first joined KAMR in 1997. In this episode, he tells host Jason Boyett about growing up in poverty, moving constantly during childhood due to evictions, and how he convinced his single mother that...

A conversation with Naomi Vang, the owner/operator of S.E.A. Market Oriental Food in Amarillo. A refugee from Myanmar (Burma), Vang arrived in the area as a child after her family faced displacement due to political instability and oppression from the military regime that gained control over their country. Her family is part of the Chin ethnic group from the mountainous part of western Myanmar. Sh...

A conversation with Jason Mays , Fire Chief of the Amarillo Fire Department. An Amarillo native, Mays grew up in the River Road community and has been with AFD since 1999. He is the 10th fire chief in the history of the fire department, which dates back to 1897. He succeeded Fire Chief Jeff Greenlee in April 2020, and prior to this position had served as Deputy Chief of Operations. Mays shares wit...

A conversation with Maile Srader, the proprietor of Purposeful Play Busy Bags , an educational supply store near 34th & Georgia in Westhaven Village. This storefront offers sensory bins, learning binders and fidgets for families, teachers, therapists and more, based on materials Srader developed and used during her teaching career and then as a homeschooling parent. In this episode, she tells host...

A conversation with Tom Martin, the CEO of Milo Insulation of Texas . His company manufactures an innovative home insulation product called MILEX, made from grain sorghum grown in the Panhandle and produced at a facility in Tulia. In this episode, Martin explains to host Jason Boyett his journey from south Texas to Iowa to Amarillo, his shift from a career in education to one in farm exports, how...

A conversation with Tia Marie Hunt , a donor relations coordinator at West Texas A&M University and a singer-songwriter who'll be performing at this weekend's Hoodoo Mural Festival . Tia Marie shares with host Jason Boyett about her journey to the area after having grown up in Jasper, Texas, her transition from singing at church to performing for secular audiences, and what role Amarillo might pla...

A conversation with Will Krause, the festival director for HOODOO Mural Festival (Sept. 28, 2024) and a long-time promoter and producer. Will was a partner in Austin's Euphoria Music Festival for several years and continues to work as a production manager for SXSW. As a promoter, he recently brought Hayden Pedigo, Kristen Key and Charley Crockett to Amarillo for shows at the Globe News Center. Kra...

A conversation with Jim Wilson , the legendary piano technician, award-winning recording artist and author of Tuned In: Memoirs of a Piano Man . Wilson grew up in 1970s Amarillo before heading to Southern California to pursue a music career. He ended up becoming a "piano tuner for the stars" before helping develop the highly influential MIDI-adapter for the acoustic piano, and then composing and r...

A conversation with Whitney Dowd, DNP, founder of Blumologie Health, Beauty & Wellness . A long-time nurse and now a nurse practitioner, this Amarillo native has worked in a variety of local healthcare settings, including a decade at the Northwest J.O. Wyatt Clinic. Now at Blumologie, Dowd combines direct primary care with women's health and hormone services—as well as aesthetics. She tells host J...

A conversation with J. Pat Hickman, the founder of Happy State Bank . In 1990, Hickman led a group of investors to purchase a very small bank in Happy, Texas, that had just $10 million in deposits. He then served for 32 years as the Chairman, President and CEO of Happy State Bank. When it sold in 2022, Happy had become one of the largest banks in the state. Hickman shares that origin story with ho...

A conversation with Chris Jackson, neighborhood planner for the City of Amarillo. An Amarillo native who grew up in the foster care system, Jackson now works within the city's  Neighborhood Planning Initiative to help older and underserved parts of town "catch up" in terms of infrastructure and services. These neighborhoods include the North Heights, the Barrio, San Jacinto and Eastridge. Jackson...

A conversation with Dr. Amy Von Lintel, a professor of art history at West Texas A&M University and the director of WT's Gender Studies Program. Von Lintel also co-owns Old Tascosa Brewing Company with her husband, Matt Welch. She is the preeminent local expert on the legendary artist Georgia O'Keeffe's time in Amarillo and Canyon and has written multiple books—including next year's  Art at the Cr...

A conversation with Laura Street, a nonprofit consultant who has spent the past 25 years intimately involved in local leadership. She is the past executive director of the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Amarillo, and served as the founding executive director of the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts —where she led a campaign to raise m...

A conversation with Angie Duncan, who describes herself as "The Amarillo Narcan Lady." She's the founder of the nonprofit Texas Panhandle Overdose Awareness . She has made it her mission to give out, as often as possible, the over-the-counter nasal spray Narcan®/naloxone, which can be used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose. In fact, she says several local people have been rapidly rescued f...

A conversation with Tim Reid, the executive director of the Texas Panhandle War Memorial . The museum and memorial represent what he calls his "third career," following a stint in education at Ascension Academy and 30-plus years as an FBI agent. Reid shares with host Jason Boyett about growing up in the foster care system, his unsuccessful 2022 political campaign for Texas Senate 31, why he chose...

A conversation with Brittani Sullivan, the owner/operator of Sips & Giggles Mobile Bar . Sullivan was born in Amarillo but moved to Colorado when she was 10, and lived there until returning to Amarillo in 2021. A former teacher, she used the move to become an entrepreneur, launching her mobile bartending service in Amarillo. She shares with host Jason Boyett about the reasons for her return, how s...

A conversation with Jeff Whelchel, M.D., of the Healthy Hormones clinic in Amarillo and a financial advisor at Wood Financial . He's also the author of The New Thyroid Handbook . A native of Claude, Whelchel served as a family doctor in Amarillo for more than 23 years before pivoting to financial services, a transition triggered by a personal health crisis. Whelchel tells host Jason Boyett about t...

A conversation with Sharla Valdez, president of the Crown of Texas Hospice Foundation. As a young hospice nurse and entrepreneur, she became one of the founders of Crown of Texas Hospice, which operated in Amarillo from 1991 to 2004. Then in 2000, she launched Valmed Home Health & Pharmacy and served as its CEO and founder before exiting that business last year. Valdez shares with host Jason Boyet...

A conversation with Toby Giddens, the president and co-founder of Run Business Solutions (RunBiz) , which provides technology services for local companies. He tells host Jason Boyett how RunBiz grew from a small team in a local accounting firm into a firm that offers IT support for small to mid-size business across the High Plains. Giddens grew up in Canyon as the son of the Canyon football coach...

A conversation with Kristin Key , a nationally headlining musical comedian who performs in sold-out shows across North America, appeared in Last Comic Standing and Bring the Funny , and got her start in Amarillo. She's bringing her Lesbian Army Tour back home to Amarillo on June 27 at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts. In this episode, Kristin tells host Jason Boyett about her upbringi...