One of those chiefly responsible for WRLT’s continued success over the past 21 years, Hall, the station’s program manager and afternoon drive time voice, passed away over the weekend, presumably sometime Friday evening or Saturday the details of his demise having yet to be announced as of this writing. Lightning 100’s David Hall has left us – way before his time. All of us who have loved and have been loyal to RLT throughout the years awoke to the realization that we have lost a great friend. Unfortunately for all lovers of the extensive musical pedigree this great city boasts, Nashville was a little less cool on this appropriately overcast Monday morning. WRLT has proved to be a radio stalwart a true champion of the musical Darwinism that typically chews up radio stations and spits them out like the ‘chaw tabaccie’ refuse my Kentucky-bred Papaw used to deposit into an empty coffee can sitting on the floor beside his easy chair. Nevertheless, you’d have been hard-pressed to surmise that reality by sampling the local radio fare, were it not for Lightning 100. By the same token, I would discover after moving here several months later just how wonderfully diverse the Nashville music scene is, featuring numerous musical genres via live venues on any given night. If for no other reason, I knew I’d found a home right then and there.īut little did I realize at the time just how unique and special Lightning 100 was in comparison to Music City’s otherwise relatively bland and staid radio landscape, dominated by Country, Top 40 Pop, and same ol-same ol’ Classic Rock. That blend of fresh, alternative rock was so much different than what I was used to hearing in Los Angeles that I audibly said, “Whoa! What station is THAT?” They had Lightning 100 piped in, playing in the background. Nashville was the perfect choice on a number of fronts, but when I heard this radio station I was blown away from the get-go.Īt the time in question, we were in a real estate office in Franklin, TN, waiting to be helped. WRLT was the first Nashville radio station I heard back in the summer of 1991, when Michelle and I visited here to scope out Music City as a possible relocation site, to provide an environment in which to better raise our two elementary school-aged children as well as a place where I could continue my then-six-year-long career as a graphic designer and art director in the music industry. Seems I keep hearing a familiar voice during the commercial breaks, some of the song intros and station IDs and each time I do it takes a second or two before I realize that the wonderfully personable man behind that voice it is no longer there that he now lives only via Memorex and in our memories. However, today I’m having a really tough time keeping the lump in my throat down. If you’re a fan of arguably Nashville’s best radio station, 100.1 FM, WRLT Lightning 100, you’ve probably already heard the news and if you’re like me, you’re likely still in shock.Īs I write this, I’m listening to Lightning 100, as I so often do and have done since 1992 immersing myself in what I truly consider to be the best part of my experience living in Nashville as a west coast transplant. As was his mission in 18 years with the station, Hall was a tireless supporter of local Nashville artists.
Above, he is shown spending time in the WRLT studios with three members from the consortium of ten local artists known as Ten out Of Tenn (second left to right, Butterfly Boucher, Matthew Perryman Jones, and Tyler James). Yesterday (Sunday, Feb.5th) would have been Hall’s 58th birthday. David Hall (left), WRLT Lightning 100’s Program Director and afternoon drive-time DJ passed away over the weekend, leaving fans of Music City’s best radio station (including me), in utter disbelief. The voice of Nashville Rock Radio for 32 years has suddenly fallen silent. Rocked: DJ David Hall’s Untimely Death Shocks Nash.