Catrina Guttery is obsessed with Memphis music. When she’s not at one of the many venues that feature local bands, she’s hosting two different shows on Rock 103: Catrina’s Hair Salon and Memphis Made. With Memphis Made, Guttery showcases everything from heavy metal to classic rock, all created in Memphis by (mostly) unsigned artists. There’s no guarantee that getting played on her program will make you famous, get your band a show, or even get you a free beer, but chances are it will bring your music to a new audience, and as a local band, what more can you ask for? We sat down with Guttery to talk about the Memphis Made radio show, why she’s driven by local music, and what she plans to do with the extra hour of programming her show just received.
Flyer: Can you tell me a little bit about your background in Memphis music and when you started the show at Rock 103?
Guttery: I got my degree from the University of Memphis in Entertainment Management. I gained some experience working with local bands at the University of Memphis, and I had been doing that a little bit before college. That progressively led to me working with the Memphis Music Foundation, where I served as the Business Manager and the Artist Relations Manager for almost four years. Rock 103 started the [Memphis Made] show four years ago, and I started going on the program and announcing local music news. From there I was able to take over as a producer and a host.
What’s made you want to stick to doing a local music show instead of something else?
Personally, I am a huge Memphis music fan, and I have been for a long time, so for me to have a job where I promote local music is awesome. There has been a local [music] presence needed on the radio for quite a long time, and I’m happy to make that happen.
What would you say the goal of the show is, other than getting local bands their first chance to be played on the air?
There are a lot of people who can’t go out every weekend to see live music, so one of the greatest things about Memphis Made is that we are able to put Memphis bands in front of our audience and maybe motivate them enough to get off the couch and go to a show. For a long time we have had a great, heavier music scene here in Memphis, and the show gives a chance for all of those great bands to be heard by a wider audience.
A lot of times these local bands aren’t being played anywhere else. Is it fair to say that other than a live show, Memphis Made is the only place to hear them?
Exactly. Bands like Crowlord, Dawn Patrol, and Chaos Order are specialty bands that don’t get played anywhere else, but some of our listeners love those bands. People will email me and ask, “Who was that 4th band you played on Sunday night?” If that happens while I’m playing underground bands, then I feel like I’ve done my job.
How many bands have you had on the show at this point?
Wow, I would say hundreds. We almost always have an in-studio guest each week. One of the things that I think is great is that there are so many Memphis bands releasing music that I’m never really desperate for a band to come and promote a new release. It’s not just new releases that we promote either. One thing I’ve learned about the Memphis music community is that they are the first group of people to throw a release for a musician whose gear was stolen or has fallen on hard times. That makes me feel good about the Memphis music community, and our show has helped promote local charitable events as well.
How can local bands get their music to you?
You can visit the Rock 103 website and upload it there, or you can email me. I also want bands to know that we do everything on the show from hard rock to classic rock. We play Memphis mainstays, and it’s not just heavy music. We do anything that’s rock and its sub-genres. We try to cover the whole spectrum.
How important do you think the Memphis Made show is to the overall music scene in Memphis?
We are trying to make a difference with the community, and not just the music community. We want to keep Memphis music at the forefront of the music industry, and by playing it on the radio it lets people know what a vibrant and diverse music scene Memphis has.
For the last couple of years our show has only run for one hour on Sunday nights, but because there is so much great music coming out of Memphis right now, we have bumped up our time to go from 8-10 p.m. on Sunday nights. We also want to start something new called “Memphis Made on the Scene,” where we interview bands on the spot at their shows. One band we discovered that way is Dawn Patrol, who have been doing big things, and they are just one example of bands we’ve discovered that way.
Will you be doing anything new now that you have an extra hour on the show?
I would really like to start having members of prominent local bands come on the show and co-host with me. I think it would be awesome for local musicians to tell me about some of their favorite bands and play them on the air. I also would like to open up the show to not only musicians but anyone in the industry. It would be cool to have local sound guys or promoters and people like that [come on the show] and give local musicians some do’s and don’ts. For me, the biggest objective at Rock 103 is to continue to push Memphis music down people’s throats, and those are some of the things we have planned to do just that.
