Music is a many splendid thing. Fortunately there is more than one way to serve up music, with a variety of styles and genres appealing to everyone. The Appetizer is a syndicated hour-long radio program heard on public radio across Texas and accessible around the world. Each week, chef and host D Grant Smith serves up a fresh selection of music from artists you know and some you don’t.

Our blog is an additional aspect of the show, highlighting themes, discussions, subjects, artists, and people featured on the radio program. It’s also another great way The Appetizer connects with you as a music lover. Smith, the show’s main voice is one of the authors. We also have a Sous-Chef and a few additional contributors who provide us with some great insight into new music and places to hear these artists.

If you’d like to submit music for our blog or for our radio program, or if you’d like to contact us for any reason, send an email to info@appetizerradio.com

Authors

D Grant Smith

Smith is the founder, host and producer of the radio show and the main author of the blog. The Appetizer is one of the ways he is involved in the local, state, and national music community. Regularly he interacts and connects with artists and music lovers to present new things to new people. Aside from music, he enjoys great stories and storytellers, movies, comic books, fishing, and dinner parties with his wife (whose humorous and witty blog is Tales Of A Clyde Woman). Smith is also a musician and writer who works in management at a Texas public radio station.

Martha Chace
Currently, she is studying English at McMurry University, expected to graduate in May 2013, and then off to law school in the fall of 2014. When not busy studying, she reads avidly, plays and writes music, runs, bakes, and volunteers at the local animal shelter.  She is also the founder of McMurry’s Singer Songwriter Competition, which she started with me and crew of amazing people in 2012. She’s involved in many clubs on campus of McM, which keep her very busy. She’s also active in the Abilene community with her membership with the American Legion Auxillary and work with Habitat for Humanity.

Meagan Freeman

Meagan is the Sous-Chef for the radio program, meaning that she works and trains with Smith in the aspects of radio interviews and podcasting. She podcasts our Appetizer Morsels insights which can be heard here on this blog. A graduate of ACU with a degree in journalism/mass communication, Meagan is a freelance writer with the Abilene Reporter News. She also continues to be a big part of our online presence with blog articles, photos, and video. In her free time she enjoys cooking, traveling, and spending time with her friends and family.

The Mission Of The Appetizer

To provide a buffet of sound from artists known and unknown, to be an open door for unknown or non-Pop groups for recognition and audiences, and to be a connection between listeners and the music of noncommercial radio bands, as well as provide a more comprehensive sampling of mainstream artists’ deeper songbook.

Our Values

Discovery: If music sounds good, has a quality production value, and the music connects with us, we want to showcase it to the world, regardless of how known or popular the artist may be. Mainstream popularity or commercial success is not a prerequisite or factor in being featured on The Appetizer radio show. On the contrary, we look to find and feature artists and music that is more unknown to the world and introduce these unknown and emerging artists to new fans and audiences. We believe that many people want to be a part of something new and something unique. Being one of the first to start listening to an emerging artist is what people in the music community cherish. But at the same time, it’s hard to know where to find new and emerging artists without going on an endless search. We provide the opportunity to discover new talent, new music, and songs not commercially exposed by known and unknown artists for a unique music listening experience.

Connection: Anyone can listen to music. But listening is just a part of the experience. Having a passion for the artist, their stories, and who they are is what we bring to the table. We are the connectors of art to people hungry for original, beautiful, and undiscovered music to the world. We connect the audience to the artist and the artist to an audience they might not have had otherwise. We don’t just present music. What makes us unique is that we present the craft of the artist as well as their story through mealtime conversations that the audience gets to be a part of.

Excellence:  Our desire in everything we do is to do the right thing and do it to the best of our ability.  We seek to produce the highest quality program, product, and service to truly serve the audience as well as the artist and station.  No shortcuts are taken and none are allowed.  If the product is not the highest quality then it doesn’t go on air.  Excellence is the standard.

If you have a question about any of the music talked about here or posted, send an email to music@appetizerradio.com. If you would like to advertise with us, please contact us at marketing@appetizerradio.com.