Curt Cartier

Growing up in Yakima I was a total disco child, I even had a poster of "John Travolta as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever" on my wall. Frankly, I was scared for a moment when KATS-FM first signed on to rock the Yakima Valley in 1979. I was 14 years old and dang near everything changed for me. I decided then I wanted to make radio my career because It sounded like the on-air jocks were having a blast, and I thought, 'I'd really like to do that'. I prayed it would get me girls. "Listen to me, just don't look at me!" Anonymity was really a driving factor pointing toward getting into the radio biz. I would have loved to have had a high school Tri-Tech Skills Center show like we have here in the Tri-Cities, but I spent my childhood in Yakivegas. My first radio gig wasn't until college at WSU, KUGR Pullman -- Wazzu's Wired Rock from 1983-1986. I've been a paid talent starting in Spokane, where I first cut my chops, working there from 1986 until 1993. Then I made the move to the Tri-Cities to fire up KXRX-FM in 1994, and was co-host of a local sports talk show on KFLD-AM into the early 2000s. I was the public address announcer for the Tri-City Americans Hockey Club for 13 seasons and also for the Tri-Cities Fever Indoor Football Team for 8 seasons. By 2015 I was given the privilege and daily thrill to ride my hometown rock stick, KATS-FM in Yakima. We all rock out weekdays 3:00-7:00 p.m. Born and raised in Yak, I graduated from Carroll High School in 1983 and attended Washington State University. I have a special place in my heart for Pearl Jam and am a proud member of the 12th Man, supporting the Seattle Seahawks. I am a father of a daughter who turns 18 in July, she graduated in 2021 from both Richland High School and Columbia Basin College. She will be attending Pepperdine University in the Fall. My son, Cannon, died from a fentanyl overdose on April 27, 2021. He was 21. I'm very grateful for my partner in life and love for the past fifteen years, Cathy. Exercising and man cave (I call it Curt's Cove) chilling are my main ways to stay balanced. I have emceed and participated in Junior Achievement, Polar Plunge, Walk to End Alzheimer's, Mid-Columbia Duck Race, Christmas for Children, Heart for the Arts, Seattle Children's Hospital, COVID relief projects and numerous charitable golf tournaments. I am passionate about my community, the arts, sports and travel -- both in the USA and abroad. My passports have stamps from Turkey, France, Costa Rica, Canada, Italy, Belize, Guadeloupe, Sicily, Germany, the Bahamas, Great Britain, Greece, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Panama, Spain and South Africa. I've been to exactly half of the 50 United States. It is my honor to help carry and pass the rock torch through the radio generations. It's a responsibility I do not take lightly. Thank you for rocking. Thank you for listening.