Hometown Girl Amber Taylor A Longtime Favorite at Ada, OK’s KYKC

By Phil Sweetland

 Amber Taylor didn’t have to go far from home to find her dream job.

She grew up in Ada, Oklahoma, and she’s now one of the booming market’s most popular air personalities, working the noon-6 p.m. shift weekdays at KYKC-FM, Continuous Hit Country.

As country fans know, Ada is also the proud hometown of Blake Shelton, an occasional visitor to the station.

“Oh yeah, we’ve got some huge Blake fans here,” Amber says in a phone conversation from the station in late May, moments before beginning her air shift on the Hit Kicker Café show. “They’ll request songs that they’ve heard in his shows, long before they’re released to radio.”

Even though Blake constantly travels, he still has family in Ada. Amber is very close with several of those folks.

“That whole family is ridiculously talented,” Taylor says. “I’m real good friends with his cousin Clarissa, and we stay in contact with the President of Blake’s Fan Club.”

For a format with a huge majority of female listeners, country has nowhere near enough female air personalities. Amber has a wonderful rapport with her listeners, especially the women.

“I like to talk,” she says, smiling. “We make it personable on my show, we try to talk about what our listeners can relate to. In Ada, we have maybe 20,000 people. Once they like you, they interact daily.”

That’s even recently taken a high-tech turn, as Amber now has a Facebook Fan Page. She’s lived in Ada continuously, except for a two-year spell when she worked for Tyler Broadcasting in Oklahoma City, owners of KKNG King Country.

Taylor loved the big-city life in OK City, but knew she was a small-town girl at heart. She came home, and when the midday shift at KYKC opened up she knew she’d found the perfect fit.

Part of the reason is that the station is owned by the Chickasaw Nation, whose thriving Native American properties include several casinos in Oklahoma.

“They also own a theater here in town plus a chocolate factory,” Amber says. “And in the world of radio today with no job security, it’s comforting to know that the Chickasaw Nation isn’t going anywhere.

“We have amazing benefits,” she continues. “They really take care of their employees.”

She also loves working for station general manager Roger Harris, who runs several stations in different formats and admits that country is not his favorite format – though he loves the money it makes the company.

“Roger is absolutely amazing,” Amber says. “He’s been in radio longer than I am old. When it comes to knowing how the business works, Roger knows. I’ve never worked for a company with a more understanding boss.”

Taylor grew up loving both country and light rock, which she constantly heard in the car with her Mom, Susan Gail. Susan got sick when Amber was just 17, and was in a coma for the next eight years. Amber lovingly cared for her Mom during that extremely stressful time, and she Taylor naturally gained a few pounds.

“I gave up my whole life, and food became my friend,” Amber says. “Mom passed away in 2005, and right then I told myself I had to change everything away how I ate.”

The result has been a loss of more than 120 pounds, a success story which Amber has proudly shared and documented with her listeners. Many of them barely recognize her from the way she looked before.

“Somebody came in to the station the other day, a listener who had gone through some hard times herself,” Amber recalls. “She said, `I was here to see Miss Taylor.’ And I said, `that’s me.’ And she was like, `oh, my God!’ ”

One unique thing Amber does is play one Red Dirt song per hour, from a Texas or Oklahoma artist in that popular movement. Cross Canadian Ragweed, the Oklahoma band, is among the most popular on the show, as is the Texan Wade Bowen.

And how about new singles she expects to spin quite a bit this summer on her show?

“I really like Lady Antebellum’s `Just A Kiss,’ “ Amber said. “And of course Blake Shelton’s `Honey Bee.’ ”

For both Blake Shelton and Amber Taylor, it’s clear there’s no place like home.

1 Comment

  1. Amber is the absolute best! Artists enjoy interviewing with her and I am proud to call her my pal. Go, AMBER!!!

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