Go with Me on This
Go with Me on This is the romping memoir of a Canadian farm boy who forged an extraordinary career in radio.
Troy Schaab’s adventurous memoir Go with Me on This is about how the once unlucky radio school graduate became the owner of his own radio company.
Growing up on a farm in rural Canada in the 1980s, Schaab was obsessed with hair bands and hockey. He fared poorly in school, though. After graduation, he attended a four-month radio school program, after which he jumped between stations before finding his home at Zed 99.
A few years of marriage and two children later, Schaab was bored at Zed 99. He approached his wife, Sonia, with a wild idea: he wanted to start his own radio station. The stakes were high: Schaab put everything on the line—his job, his home, his entire life savings—to apply for just a chance to launch his radio station startup. The ensuing adventure was a roller coaster of successes, failures, joys, and heartbreaks.
Schaab moved from town to town a few times, and his narration captures the atmosphere of each location, showing how they mirrored Schaab’s experiences and emotions while he was there. Red Deer, where his second station for popular new music was born, is rendered as chaotic and competitive, as there were seven other stations in the area to contend with; Lacombe, on the other hand, has a more intimate, comfortable mood, portrayed with more attentive, inviting language.
In the course of Schaab’s enthusiastic, amicable narration, he brandishes his energetic passion with ease. The singsong sentences employ casual language that bolsters the friendliness of the book’s tone and makes Schaab’s story easy to invest in. He evinces dedication and gumption, driving his story through its striking ups and downs. The many dramatic events that he covers make for compelling storytelling, alternating between the anxiety and excitement of starting a business, employing a dozen talented people, and becoming immersed in community engagement in a small yet active town.
In addition to Schaab’s own personable story, the book traces the development of his business plans. He recalls applying for a radio station license and chronicles the technical requirements of running a station. Such vocational minutiae are shared throughout the surrounding narrative; it also includes definitions of industry jargon as needed. Schaab discloses his opinions and first-time experiences with the business side of radio in an educational manner, too, as when he recounts phone conversations with the telecommunications commission. He both acknowledges his mistakes and basks in his achievements.
Go with Me on This is the captivating memoir of a Canadian farm boy who forged an extraordinary career in radio.
Reviewed by
Aimee Jodoin
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
