Information
about the owner, John Williford
John R.Williford, Jr is the owner of Carolina Productions
& Entertainment. John's background in Music and
Radio broadcasting is rich with experience in the
industry. John was raised on his family farm in Person
County about 10 miles from Roxboro, NC. He grew up
working on the farm and in the Tobacco fields but loved to
listen to music.
2013 marks the 35th anniversary as a Disc
Jockey for John Williford . In 1978, at the age of only
13, John started providing the music for friends parties with
his home stereo system while still in Middle School in his
home town of Roxboro, NC. This continued until one
weekend, John just happened to be in the right place at the
right time. The new Disco in town needed a DJ at the
last minute to fill in since the regular DJ did not show
up. John just happened to stop by to visit a friend who
was working the bar for Teen Night and took over the DJ booth.
John spent a lot of time hanging out with
older neighbors who played in a band. John was invited
to come and sit in on a few practices with the band and check
out the sound system and bring along his trumpet to add some
spice to some of the Beach Music songs they played. He
learned the sound system inside and out and was hired as the
sound man for the band and played Trumpet and sang on stage as
well.
It was not long that the band had an offer
to play a Christmas Party but was not able to except
due to the work schedule of some of the band members.
They asked John if he could take the band sound system and DJ
the party. It turned out to be one of the best parties
ever and John continued to play this annual event for the next
12 years until it they stopped having the party. He
continued to DJ when the band was not playing and even would
be asked to DJ in between the band sets at most events the
band played. During this time John purchased
his first professional sound system of his own. The band
broke up just before John Graduated High School but he
continued to DJ for weddings, private parties, school
functions and in night clubs through out the rest of high
school and in college under the name Williford's Music
Service. John became one of the first Mobile DJ's in the
area and quickly became known for his great music, loud sound
system, lots of flashing lights and keeping a dance floor full
all night long.
When MTV hit the air in 1981, John had the
idea of playing the music videos while DJing at his
functions. A few years later he added Music Videos to
his DJ show with twin 9' video screens to each side of this
system.
Some of the associations that John made
through working with the band, lead him to many
different opportunities. John was hired on a regular
basis to provide his lighting system for special concert shows
at a night club called the Flaming Star. John got to
work lights for such professional country artist in the 1980's
such as Merle Haggard, Gene Watson, Ronnie McDowell, Johnny
Paycheck, Vern Gosdin, Mel McDaniel, John Anderson and many
others.
Right before High School Graduation, John
went to work part time at a small AM Radio station in
Yanceyville, NC. WYNC was where he did the Sunday
afternoon shift playing lots of Beach Music and Top 40.
It was specially fun after a long night of DJing a big party
and he would receive lots of phone request from the guest of
the party the night before. John majored in Radio/TV
Broadcasting in college and after graduation went on to a 12
year full time radio broadcast career. All along he
continued to DJ for all types of events every weekend to help
make ends meet.
John worked for several radio stations in
North Carolina and Virginia including WKML 95.7 in
Fayetteville, NC and his last station was WPCM 101.1 out of
Burlington, NC. John was known as Jack Daniels on the
air and worked the mid- day air shift daily. He was also
Production Manager where he wrote and produced the commercials
on the air. John was the morning show talent for several
stations and also hosted al Beach Music show on the weekends.
John's broadcasting Career took him in many
directions. He worked with some of the biggest names in
the music industry in many ways during his broadcast
days. He was emcee for many concerts including shows at
The Walnut Creek Amphitheatre in Raleigh for such artist as
Travis Tritt, Clint Black, Wynonna Judd, Reba McEntire and
Faith Hill. He once emceed a concert at a
local small town county fair where a new and upcoming artist
was set to perform. John hit the stage and introduced
this new artist as Garth Brooks. John also emceed shows
at the North Carolina State Fair for Allison Krauss, Rickey Van
Shelton and others. One of his biggest moments was when
he was invited to sit in on a live national radio broadcast in
Nashville, TN one night with the Great Wolf Man Jack.
In broadcasting John recorded sit down
interviews many different celebrities and artist.
Some of his biggest included the most wonderful interview with
Minnie Pearl in Nashville, TN. Others included Randy
Owen and Jeff Cook with Alabama, Hank Williams, Jr., Garth
Brooks, Reba McEntire, Oprah Winfrey, Kenny Rogers, Alan
Jackson, Marie Osmond, Chubby Checker, Delbert McClinton,
Larry Gatlin, Trisha Yearwood, and the list goes on.
One of his live on air interviews was an in studio visit by
the group Shenandoah. John allowed lead singer Marty
Raybon to come in and take over the studio and play all of his
favorite songs and tell why he liked them. On of the
best was when Mr. T dropped by.
In the Mid 1980's, John's college education
included TV broadcasting. John purchased a video camera
and started shooting video as an add on to the DJ services for
the weddings. This became a popular addition with every
wedding. He also is a volunteer studio camera
operator and Floor Manger for UNC-TV and supports Public
Broadcasting.
In 1995 John left WPCM and started
running the DJ business full time. In 2002 Williford's
Music Service changed it's name to Carolina Productions and
Entertainment. This name change was a better fit for the
business and the quality services that are offered.
Today Carolina Productions not only offers the finest
experienced DJ's but also Professional Videography. John Continues to do voice over work for Radio
and TV commercials and other projects and is the voice on the
Promotional announcements for the Dorton Arena Entertainment
played at the NC State Fair for the NC Mountain State Fair
held each Year in Ashville, NC. He also continues to
work freelance as on air talent or on commercials for several
area radio stations and also produces and host a Syndicated
weekly radio show called "Classic Soul Saturday
Night" playing classic soul hits from the 60's, 70's and
80's as well as Beach and Shag Music. John is a music
reporter for Beachmusic45.com where his monthly Beach and Shag
Music Top 40 Chart is used to compile the Monthly Hot 100
chart. This chart is also published nationally in Cash
Box Magazine.
In 2010 John produced a weekly TV show for USAR Pro Cup
Racing that aired on 18 different national sports networks
across the country. His video crew filmed all of the races
across the country and he edited and produced the TV show.
John has also produced video content for the Montel Williams
Show, CBS Sunday Morning show and in 2012 started production on
a new TV show for UNC TV called Painting with George Buchanan.
John is married to wife Tammy and has three
children, Jonathan, Brittany and Sarah and they make their
home on Hyco Lake in Roxboro, NC. His son Jonathan is now helping with the DJ business and has played several
events on his own. When not working John still looks
after the farm and live stock they still raise.
The Carolina Productions and Entertainment office and Studios
are
located on Hyco Lake in Roxboro, NC.
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