A podcast gave them a voice. Now just try telling them to shut up

Stoughton "Sto" Bailie's broadcasting dream began more than three decades ago and 2,500 miles away in Pittsburgh. "My (brother) and I would take a tape recorder," recalled Bailie, 44, of Tacoma, "and we'd put the microphone up next to the speaker of a record player. And we'd play 45s and talk, and we'd pretend we had our own radio station. "A guy walkin' his dog, we'd interview him. 'What kind of dog you got?' That was when I was 10, 11 years old."

Bailie didn't exactly grow up to be the next Casey Kasem. As an adult, he spent several years in the Army and currently works as a telecommunications consultant. But in recent years, he's finally been able to realize his radio dream - sort of - thanks to the accessible and increasingly popular world of podcasting.
"A microphone and an idea is all you need," said Bailie, who co-hosts the podcast Puckertime with his son, Sto Jr.

In general, podcasting refers to creating audio or video content that others download to their computers or portable mp3 players. With video it's also called "vidcasting" or "vodcasting."

The tipping point - when podcasting went from obscure, geeky subculture to mainstream movement - was about three years ago. And by now corporate media outlets have exploited the trend to death. From celebrity radio talk show hosts to popular rock jocks, with few exceptions, the pros have podcasts.
the beginning - But Bailie represents the hordes of average Joes and Janes that have taken advantage of a relatively cheap DIY way to reach an audience. Anyone with a computer, a microphone or a digital recorder, and free recording software is halfway there.

Bailie's interest can be traced to the iPod shuffle that came with a computer he bought for his wife in 2005. It led him to subscribe to a few programs and research podcasting on the Internet. "I started listening to a show that's done out of Portland called The FrankWit Show," he said. "I thought that was a clever name, and I listened to 'em. And it's just two guys (messin' around). I thought, well, this is pretty neat."

Bailie converted his home office into a makeshift studio, equipped with an inexpensive mixer, some microphones and Adobe Audition sound editing software. And he recruited his teenager to create what might be best described as father-and-son shock talk "radio." "The dynamic of the show is built around myself and my now 19-year-old son," Bailie said. "We had fun doin' it, and it really brought us closer together, just hangin' out, spendin' an hour, hour and a half a week just talkin' to each other with no holds barred. The FCC has no regulation on it. You can say whatever you want." Imagine Howard Stern with a teen sidekick instead of Robin Quivers. Father and son talk about the latest in pop culture, weird happenings or whatever's going on in their lives. And in lieu of celebrity guests, Bailie's childhood friend, Mike Conroy, might drop by with a six-pack and his bottomless well of stories - many of them about the characters they grew up with in Shady Side, their old neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Conroy and the elder Bailie retreated to the basement studio to record Puckertime episode 72, "Rehab and a Free Prayer Rug."

Stoughton "Sto" Bailie of Tacoma rasises a toast with buddy Mike Conroy during a recording session for Bailie's podcast "The Puckertime Show"

The two men's voices were stark contrasts, Conroy speaking in a laid-back baritone drawl while Bailie's sound was smokier and more excitable.
Dad dialed up Sto Jr., who was in California for Coast Guard training. And the show was under way as he launched the intro on his computer - a campy YouTube.com recording of a crazed hillbilly ranting about the cat eating his leftovers followed by a slick pastiche of macho radio voices and thrash metal riffs that distinctly recalled "The Tom Leykis Show."
"It's the Puckertime Show, featuring Sto Sr. and Mike."

Sto Sr. had spent a few hours that evening researching and recording audio for the topic du jour: actress Jaimee Foxworth on the new reality show "Celebrity Rehab." He explained to the other two that she was the little sister from "Family Matters" before playing a clip of the former child actor describing the copious amount of weed she smokes daily.

Sto Sr.: Um, do you think she lives on Dana Plato's street or what?
Sto Jr.: (Laughs) Wow.
Sto Sr.: I figure it's only a matter of time before this chick is ripping off liquor stores.

The first segment is typical shock jock fare, and frankly sounds as polished as a segment of KUBE-FM's "The T-Man Show." But it becomes uniquely their thing after Junior hangs up and Conroy starts telling his stories.

Conroy's super power is the ability to recall a story, on the spot, based on any word you throw at him. The conversation veers into familiar territory: the two men's weird experiences growing up in Shady Side. There are rumored trysts with promiscuous moms; running; cops chasing kids from graveyard keggers; local TV personality Chilly Billy Cardille being chased through said graveyard by monsters - a bizarre sight Conroy would later learn was a scene from "Night of the Living Dead."

You have to know some of the characters involved to appreciate some of the stories, which severely limits Puckertime's mainstream appeal. Bailie says the show gets around 150 downloads for a slow episode, and maybe 400 for a popular one, figures he gets from his podcast distributor, Liberated Syndication.
But he can technically say he has a worldwide audience, with listeners in England, China and Iraq.

a family record - Not that they're in it for fame and fortune. "My entire reason for doin' this is just fun," said Bailie.
And all raunchiness aside, he describes the show as a family record of sorts. When it started, Bailie's son was having trouble in school and with figuring out a direction in life. Now he's in the Coast Guard and has landed a promising internship.
"He's a different person, and I've got that documented," Bailie said. "So in 50 years he's got, as of this point, 80 hours of audio of he and I having really frank, open discussions. Wouldn't that be cool to have with your dad?"
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Credit: The Tacoma News Tribune 02/01/2008 SoundLife

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