Meeting Where They Are

The radio, as we know it today, has been around since the early 1900s. While radio has changed, freshman Colton Albers finds himself shaking hands, promoting concerts and hanging with Christian music’s largest celebrities, all because of the 1895 invention.

Photo courtesy of CROWDER

__________________________________________________

How did Missouri Baptist University freshman Colton Albers find himself shaking hands and strolling the back stage at one of Christian music’s largest tours, WinterJam.

“Well, it started when I got involved with WBGL radio and started traveling to different concerts in the St. Louis area,” said Albers, a marketing major from Centralia, Illinois, who has worked alongside bands such as Tenth Avenue North, Colton Dixon, Andy Mineo, Newsboys and, most recently, CROWDER.

The Christian radio world has given Albers a platform to explore the music industry right here in St. Louis, by working concerts and greeting fans of the Christian music station 91.7 WBGL.

“When we are at a concert, we are setting up a booth, but we focus more on engaging with our station listeners,” said Albers.

While the celebrity meetings and free tickets are a perk of the job, there is more than what appears at the surface.

“It is important, specifically in the Christian radio world, to connect because a Christian station is looking to be more than just a speaker in your car, we are looking to be the listener’s friend,” said Albers.

While Albers spends time connecting with others, he found out how important that was when he was named the winner of the MBU VIP giveaway.

This ticket allowed him early admission to the St. Louis stop on CROWDER’s American Prodigal tour as well as access to CROWDER’S “Kenny Rogers After Show Jamboree.”

“So, it was a typical meet-and-greet, except like an after party, food, lawn chairs, yard lights and nachos. Most meet-and-greets are just talking, but this was truly an experience and was just nice to relax at after the show,” said Albers.

While it was brief, Albers was happy with the interaction with David Crowder.

“It was cool, because he seemed really interested in me, I didn’t feel like he was just trying to get through people,” said Albers.

This experience, along with working with WBGL, has Albers thinking career.

“My hope is to continue working within Christian radio, either as a promoter or even being on air as a host. Really any capacity that I can be a part of the Christian radio world would be fantastic,” said Albers.

Aside from the CROWDER concert Colton’s time at MBU is already proving helpful.

“To me MBU represents Christ and community, which is exactly what we promote for the station. MBU has helped blend faith into every aspect of my life, rather than just a Sunday activity,” Albers said. “With that, MBU is so much a family, this has been a great place to meet people and live life with them, which is often the call of a Christian.”

At the end of the concert Albers teased on the university’s Instagram livestream of another big show coming in the spring semester.

Check out calendar.mobap.edu to see upcoming events at MBU.