Sunday Driving with CMR's Tony and Kris

Meet Tony Randall & Kris Rochester of the Tony and Kris Show. They have been in the radio business since they were teens. Both began in 1986, Tony at 18, Kris at 16. The guys worked at several different small stations in the Gadsden-Anniston area of Alabama before meeting in 1991.

They immediately hit it off & decided to put together a morning show. Shortly thereafter, they got a job at WHMA-FM where the two completely inexperienced morning men had great success. Ten months later they were offered the morning job at country monster KSON-FM in San Diego, CA. Tony & Kris spent a fantastic 10 years there, where they won the ACM award for Major Market Broadcast Personalities of the Year & were nominated for a CMA for the same. They spent 5 more years at a cross-town station.
All the while, their dream was to one day bring their show to a nationwide audience & as owners of Tony & Kris Productions, LLC, initially partnering with Cumulus Broadcasting & under the watchful eyes of Jan Jeffries, they are doing just that!

Also you can join Tony and Kris tonight when they a host a LIVE Tweetcasting/Facebook party in honor of the ACM Awards. To participate just use the hashtag #TKACM on Twitter or you can go to Facebook.com/TonyandKrisShow.  For more details visit http://bit.ly/TKacmTweetFBparty

Favorite thing about your job?
TONY: Allows me to be creative & funny & I don't have to sit behind a desk all day.
KRIS:  Working with best friend/fun
Where are you answering these questions from?
TONY: Our beautiful Music Row studios.
KRIS: Music Row
What are you wearing?
TONY: Jeans, a t-shirt & Chuck Taylors.
KRIS: Jeans and Sweatshirt
How did you get started in Broadcasting? 
TONY: I was a theatre/music major in college. Thought it would be fun to be on the college radio station so I changed major to theatre/communications & the rest is history.
KRIS: Decided when I was 12 that I could/wanted to do what Mark and Brian were doing.  Started hanging out at WQEN and went from there
What are 3 items you CAN NOT live without?TONY: 1. iPod 2. Television 3. Computer
KRIS: iPhone, iPhone, iPhone
Favorite item of clothing/jewelry/accessory?
TONY: I'm 42. I don't wear jewelry or accessorize. Fav item is probably any number of t-shirts I own.
KRIS: ear Buds, cause you can keep people from talking to you at the gym when wearing them.. LOL
Have you ever been in a fight?
TONY: Punches thrown? No. I always talk my way out of it.
KRIS: Yes, I'm a redneck
What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?
TONY: How tired I still am. Every weekday. How hungover I am. Every weekend day.
KRIS: Check twitter to see what happened while I was asleep
Is there anything that you regret?TONY: I have a lot. I had a really great childhood. Fishing with my dad. Playing games with my mom. TONS of great high
school memories as well.
KRIS: Oh yeah, everybody has those
What are your fondest childhood memories?
TONY: Maybe I should, but no. Life is too short. Learn the lesson & move forward.
KRIS: Too many to mention
What current event has your eyes and ears?TONY: ACM Awards. Lots of show content & we'll be Live Tweeting during the show Sunday night. Also, the Libya situation. What am I doing about that? Not going to Libya.
KRIS: CMA Music Festival, planning shows to bring tourist to Nashville and push country even more to the forefront
How do you use Social Media in your industry for productivity?
TONY: Two biggest uses are as a sounding board for show topics & for promotion of the show itself.
KRIS: Another way to communicate what's happening on the show
What is your favorite website?
TONY: Huffingtonpost.com
KRIS: www.tonyandkris.com :)
If you had a Super Power what would it be?
TONY: Teleportation. I hate being stuck in traffic.
KRIS: Invisible
Which famous people do you admire?
TONY: A general admiration for any leader in the free world. Immense power, immense responsibility, immense scrutiny. An impossible situation for anyone.
KRIS:  Paul Shaffer, he has played with every great artist ever.  I mean name someone he has not played with
What is your favorite movie?
TONY: I'm a HUGE movie buff. I can't pick one "favorite." Godfather I & II would rank in the top group though.
KRIS: Jaws, here is a guy that can't swim, nobody is supporting and he's on a sinking boat being circled by a shark.  Pretty intense
Favorite snack?
TONY: Ice Cream. Beacuse it's delicious!
KRIS: I love a Hershey bar.  Love chocolate
How do you balance your work with other obligations - mate, children, hobbies?
TONY: I'm lucky in that I have a career that allows me to stir in healthy doses of my real life to my job. It makes it a little easier. I'm able to spend more time at home than a lot of men. Still, years of missed mornings with the family are challenging. Balance is required but I don't always succeed. I just do the best I can.
KRIS: Did not do a good job and that's why I'm divorced.  Now I just have a schedule and surround myself with people that understand that sometimes I have obligations
Do you get nervous about anything?
TONY: As a theatre major & working actor for many years, I've never been bothered when singing in a show. However, if I'm singing as "me", like at a wedding or bar or other performance, it's a little nerve-racking.
KRIS: Not really.
If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be, and what would say to them?
TONY: I honestly can't think of anyone. Meeting "famous" or "infamous" people holds no interest for me. Kris & I have skipped more chances to meet people than most folks will ever have. I don't say that to sound snotty, it's just the way we are. I believe that's why we get along so well with artists, etc. We treat & talk to them as normal people, as opposed to "famous" ones.
KRIS: John Lennon or Johnny Cash.  Love to hear the storys they could tell
What is your hobby or do you collect anything?TONY: Music, reading, cooking & movies are my top interests. They're all a different escape that allow me to turn off my brain for a while & just enjoy something for the simple pleasure of it.
KRIS: Watch Alabama Football, cause I'm a Bama Boy and that's what we do.
What chore to you hate?
TONY: Folding laundry. Slow, tedious work. Ugh.
KRIS: Laundry
Do you have an animal/s?
TONY: We have 2 dogs. Mia (Yorkie) & Bentley (Maltipoo). I'm a huge dog lover. When the kids were younger, we had a zoo. Dogs, cats, lizards, snake, chinchilla, rabbit, hamster. It was ridiculous!
KRIS: Nope
Mac or PC?
TONY: Mac!
KRIS: Mac
Ginger or Mary Ann?
TONY: Mary Ann. Not sure who I'm more like, but she seems less high-maintenance.
KRIS: Mary Ann
Craziest thing you have ever done?
TONY: I exercise my 5th Amendment rights on this one. Not sure about the statute of limitations on it.
KRIS: Can't print