THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 22, 1994 TAG: 9412210172
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
If you don't know her voice, you haven't been tuned in: Mare Carmody has been heard on FM99, K-94, Z-104 and 97-STAR, which became EAGLE-97 in 1990.
If you happened to miss her disc jockey bantering, perhaps you've heard her sing.
For 10 years Carmody, who lives on Linden Avenue, played guitar and chirped with a bluegrass-country group, Handpicked, and now does the same with the ILL-EAGLES.
Except for her present job, she was a pop and rock jock - but she was a closet country listener.
``Country,'' the 35-year-old Carmody said, ``is the kind of music I'd come home and listen to.''
The radio transition from one genre to the other took just a day. One day she signed off her rock show on 97-STAR, the next day came to work - same locale - playing country on EAGLE-97.
``I'm the only person who lasted through the switch,'' said Carmody, who is on the air from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. conducting a show-with-no-name.
Her daughter's name is Alexandra. Carmody comes from Alexandria but swears the naming is purely coincidental.
The little girl is a year old. Her son, Christopher, is 6. Carmody's husband, Sheldon, is a producer at Studio Center in Norfolk, creators of national radio commercials. She is one of their voices.
She uses her maiden name professionally and, for reasons of telephonic peace and quiet, prefers not to reveal her married name.
Carmody has a BA in English from Old Dominion University, a degree she originally intended using as a newspaper feature writer.
``I like to write. I'm an aspiring novelist. I have lots of ideas for short fiction pieces,'' said the deejay-singer who, these days, is as happy as a Republican. ``I love my job. It's great.''
Another part of her job is music director. This is a task, she said, that includes ``getting beat up regularly by record companies who always want to know: Why aren't we playing their records?''
The records Carmody most enjoys playing are those by Marty Stuart, and The Mavericks.
``Country music is so popular because we can play almost anything - ``The Tractors, The Mavericks and, on the other side, Reba. It's like night and day,'' she said. ``It's music that speaks for almost everybody. On the charts, there is always at least one song that any listener can identify with.''
According to Carmody's crystal ball, David Ball is a star-of-the-future.
``He's real country,'' she said. ``He has a distinctive voice and he writes well.''
Not everything in country music is sunshine and roses, according to Carmody.
``Our music is accepted more but the downside is that it is more mass-produced,'' Carmody said. ``Like anything that gets popular there is too much sameness.''
When she is not playing recorded music, she is performing with the ILL-EAGLES. Fellow band members include the morning radio team, Jimmy Ray and Jay.
``Jimmy Ray plays the guitar,'' Carmody said. ``Jay's there for comic effect. He does some singing - otherwise he gets up there and looks funny.''
The four other band members are friends of the radio folk.
The ILL-EAGLES have opened for Tim McGraw, Hal Ketchum, Ken Mellons, Ronnie Milsap, Restless Heart and Shenandoah.
Carmody and family attend St. Mary's Catholic Church. Her hobby is making wreaths. Her favorite place is the family's Linden Avenue neighborhood.
``We lived in Norfolk and wanted to buy a house. We love old houses. My husband drove by, saw this one and fell in love with the street,'' she said. ``I fell for it hook, line and sinker.''
It, and the studios of EAGLE-97, are her favorite country places. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Mare Carmody is a country music disc jockey for EAGLE 97.3.
by CNB