It has been a crazy year.

If anybody had told me this time last year all the stuff that would happen to me in the next twelve months I’d have said, okay that’s interesting, but if you can really tell the future what can you tell me about lottery numbers? 

One year ago I was happily toiling away on radio plays, content in the knowledge that I’d probably be doing so the rest of my career.  Then Q came along, totally turned my career path on its ear, and this past week I started a job in management.  My head is still spinning.

Q finished nicely with a trip to Moosejaw and Regina, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Hey, I doubled my money at Blackjack in the Moosejaw casino (turned twenty into forty using a friend’s ”system”).  The folks at Q were far nicer to me than I deserved, what with me abandoning them and all.  Jian bought me a spiderman mug shortly before the end… lugged it all the way from London, England to give to me.  The Q gang bought me a cake and made nice speeches about me.  In return I told them what I thought of them… to wit, that they are an amazing team, all working at the top of their game, making terrific radio often under the most stressful conditions.

It’s no secret that I wasn’t too keen on moving out of drama… but in the end the Q experience was a positive one.  I recorded some amazing musical artists (my favourites were the indies like Kobotown, Basia Bulat, Patrick Watson, Jully Black and more).  The best shows for me were the Friday Lives… the Friday Live with Blue Rodeo topping them all. 

I want to make something perfectly clear… I have been asked a number of times why I left Q, if it was because (insert reason here).  So here’s a brief Why Joe Left Q FAQ:

Q.   Was it because you didn’t get along with Jian?

A. Absolutely not… several people have pumped me for info on Jian, trying to get some dirt on the man.  Well, I worked with him closely, often under highly stressful situations, and I have nothing but good to say about the man.  We got along great, the three of us in the studio (me, Matt Tunnacliffe and Jian) worked really well together.  Jian and I parted company as friends, and I think the reason why the show worked so well out of the gate was largely because Jian made it work.   Hey, the man got me a spider man mug.  ‘Nuff said.

So I’m one week into my gig as a manager.  And I’ll tell you the hardest part so far… having my soul sucked out of me.  Man that hurt.  But you get over it.

People say, so you joined the dark side.  The dark side just got a whole lot lighter, I tell them.

I’m enjoying it so far.  That’s not to say there weren’t a few anxious moments… after 19 years in the union it’s a helluva change.  There will be a few challenges ahead, I’m sure.

Bring’em on.