About... |
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Cara Carriveau's passion for music is strong. Her familiar voice has been heard on Chicago radio stations since 1989. Her love of the industry and appreciation of the artists' stories make her a perfect contributor to the Chicago Music Guide. |
Cara has been a fan of music since she was a very small child. She had a particularly interesting rock & roll music experience when she was just six years old. While at summer camp her counselor started singing "Purple Haze, all through my brain" and Cara immediately chimed in, "lately things, they don't seem the same" and proceeded to finish the entire song. Her counselor was quite impressed and asked how such a small child knew Jimi Hendrix lyrics. A confused Cara said she had no idea who Jimi Hendrix was and didn't know why she knew that song. After returning home she relayed the experience to her older brother who smiled and informed her that when she was an infant he used to play Hendrix albums all the time and she must have soaked it all in. That same brother then gave her much of his record collection: The Beatles, The Monkees, Elvis, Paul Revere & The Raiders and much more...and so her musical journey in life began. Cara became obsessed with albums and radio. She would religiously listen to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 Countdown and have fun predicting the top 5 songs each week (usually guessing correctly) and imitating the DJ's she heard on the radio. One of her first gigs spinning music was when she was in 5th grade, playing 45's for roller skating parties at her elementary school. In high school she took her first radio class and was able to get "on the air" for the first time. She made some critical mistakes (such as pronouncing INXS as "inks") but learned from them, so when she got to college she already had some valuable DJ experience under her belt. While attending Central Michigan University Cara was active at all three campus radio stations plus concert coordinator for Program Board. She accepted her first fulltime position at a "real" radio station (WCFX in Clare, MI) while a junior at CMU. She quickly moved up from hosting overnights to evenings and then middays and Production Director. In 1989 Cara moved to Illinois accepting a position hosting overnights at WABT in suburban Chicago. Again, she quickly moved up the ladder from hosting overnights to evenings, then to middays and became Program Director. Cara left WABT in 1995 to accept a position as Program Director at Shadow Broadcast Services. While there she was the news anchor/sidekick on the syndicated Kevin Matthews Morning Show originating from WLUP in Chicago. She eventually worked on air at several Chicago area rock stations including WIIL in Kenosha and WRCX in Chicago, then returned to WLUP in 1998. Cara spent close to 8 years at WLUP, most of the time hosting middays earning spectacular ratings. Her all-request "Rock & Roll Diner" feature was particularly memorable. Cara currently works part time at WTMX in Chicago while raising her two children and helping her husband's business, Fitness From The Inside Out (www.FitnessFromTheInsideOut.com), Cara also hosts a popular podcast, Cara's Basement (www.CarasBasement.com) spotlighting entertainment artists. Cara has always been fascinated with the stories behind the songs and is thrilled to have the opportunity to speak with artists on a personal level. Cara has the unique ability to make her guests feel comfortable and her listeners feel as if they are listening to an intimate conversation. She was honored to be asked to volunteer her interviewing skills for The Chicago Music Guide. Her CMG interviews are remarkably candid and cover a variety of genres. You can find out more about Cara Carriveau at www.MySpace.com/CaraCarriveau |
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