Country brought him here, but love takes him to Philly

Tom Morgan's country song includes a girl named Heather.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

When Tom Morgan packs up his up Chevy Cavalier February 27 and heads north with Led Zeppelin blasting, he's leaving behind his morning drive time gig with 99.7 WCYK "Your Country." He doesn't have a job waiting for him in Philadelphia, but he does have a woman, and leaving a payin' DJ job in a tough economy for love sounds a lot like the country tunes Morgan has been playing since 2006 at "Your Country."

"I'm moving for love," declares Morgan, 27.

The Roanoke native grew up with a father who "lived and breathed radio" and worked in the business for 30 years in Norfolk.

Morgan cut his country teeth in Knoxville, and that experience got him back to Virginia, where he started doing afternoons at Charlottesville's only country station.

He says "Your Wake-Up Call with Tom and Pam" is the number one or two morning show in the area.

Monticello Media general manager Dennis Mockler can't confirm that–- as the station no longer subscribes to the Arbitron ratings service–- but he says, "The country morning show does very, very well."

Mockler has a "ton of applicants" looking to slide into Morgan's chair, and Morgan, well, he still has to firm up a job in a larger market.

He doesn't seem too worried about that or the fact that his next gig may not be in country. "I came from a rock station like The Corner," says Morgan. "The best radio people can work any format."

And the best country tells a story.

"My country song hasn't ended," says Morgan. "It's still at the chorus."