16 March 7 - 13, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Had a couple of things gone a bit differ- ently, though, it’s likely these three guys would still be on The Hang Zone. McDowell said that at the local, station level, his and Kemp’s hopes for extracurricular activities to be allowed under a new contract were more or less agreed upon. It was only the corporate suits in the upper echelons of Cu- mulus Media that put a stop to that, not any- one at The Ticket specifically. Eight months removed from their last ra- dio show, and five months past the lawsuit, McDowell, Kemp and Jones aren’t shy about how they feel about their former employer. “I had made my whole identity out of be- ing at The Ticket. It was everything I knew, from high school listening to college intern- ing,” Kemp said before later adding that he still exchanges texts daily with someone from The Ticket. While agreeing with Kemp that his friends from the past are still his friends, Jones equated the situation to a breakup of sorts. He thinks The Ticket is “trying to erase anything that Dan and Jake did and pretend that they don’t exist. ... So it’s like watching your ex delete you from their life and ask for all their things back and you wished it had been handled a little better.” And speaking of their old friends at The Ticket, a few of them have received high- profile promotions in the wake of The Hang Zone turning into The Dumb Zone. David Mino and Sean Bass took over the 1–3 p.m. time slot that McDowell and Kemp once manned. Others at the station have assumed new roles as a result as well. “You don’t have to write this down, but I do sometimes think about it,” Kemp said with an impish grin growing more evident. “I sent these guys [former Ticket co-work- ers] an email the other day about how Dan and I leave, right? Blake leaves a couple months later. Blake’s doing better. Multiple people have now been promoted to host, multiple people are promoted to producer, multiple people are promoted from part- time to [Ticket] Ticker positions. I don’t want to say ‘hero’ but if you look around, there are a lot of people who are doing way better because we decided to say ‘Fuck off.’’ McDowell was a bit more diplomatic, adding quickly, “I feel like we politely told the company ‘I do not agree with what you are offering,” before Kemp interjected with, “Who are you trying to be, Aaron Burr?” Even though McDowell, Kemp and Jones, unlike Stella, have yet to get their groove back, none of the three seem worried about it. The answer isn’t relevant, because for them, The Dumb Zone has to succeed, and has to eventually find its groove. There is no Plan B. “From my perspective, that would allow me to chase my dream of being a girl’s high school basketball play-by-play man,” Jones said. “However, I just don’t see a scenario where Dan and Jake fail.” McDowell, on the other hand, has given a possible Plan B at least some thought. “Only Fans,” he said. “Jake is hot.” Culture from p14 The city of garland presents The city of garland presents VISITGARLANDTX.COM APRIL 5 IAN MOORE with ROBERT MILLER June 7 SONNY LANDRETH with JIMMY WALLACE AND THE STRATOBLASTERS MAY 3 La Alianza NorteÑa
