We recently had the chance to connect with Jeremiah Higgins and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Jeremiah, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
I am proud to be part of creating a community of talented, hardworking music artists who are building the “sound” of Radio Evolve in Santa Barbara, California. I have a sound in mind I want to create for our Radio Evolve listeners: music from indie artists whose work isn’t fully polished or overproduced. Music like what I used to hear on college radio stations in the 90’s. I am proud to say that 80% of the music we play on the radio comes from Santa Barbara or Southern California artists. The remaining 20% comes from independent artists from all over the world. If you tune into www.radio-evolve.rocks, you will hear a distinct “sound.” That sound has been carefully curated by ear, selecting and featuring talented artists with musical harmony. I’m proud to be a part of our community of sound.
Every week, music artists send me dozens of songs for consideration for airplay on the radio station. Most people agree with the phrase “I hate Mondays,” but I love Mondays, because that’s when I listen to every piece of music that I’m sent. I listen to every single submission. I determine which genre it fits into within our station programming. Jazz, instrumental, indie rock, hip hop or rap, college indie, EDM, or lounge, and then I program the songs to play in those genre-specific time slots. I send a personal note to every artist who submits their music, letting them know I’ll be playing it on the station. For the artist and me, this is an immensely rewarding moment. One of my favorite comments is when they tell me that they tuned in and heard their song on air for the first time.
Radio Evolve has a sound, and I hope listeners like it as much as I do. There is a lot of careful, loving work involved in our programming.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a radio host, executive producer, and director of programming at Radio Evolve Santa Barbara, where I curate original shows celebrating music, culinary gods, and pop culture.
I am the creator and host of The Jeremiah Show, an internationally syndicated talk show that invites audiences into meaningful conversations. I talk with artists, innovators, and creative people shaping our world.
Since launching on June 10, 2015, on AM 1290 KZSB in Santa Barbara — then affiliated with the Santa Barbara News-Press and The New York Times — The Jeremiah Show has grown into one of the most distinctive lifestyle and entertainment broadcasts and airing on twelve stations worldwide.
Now in its 21st season, the show has surpassed 1,400 interviews, with over 1.5 million streams per year, and reaches 120,000 weekly radio listeners across more than 100 countries. It airs weekly from Radio Evolve Studios in Santa Barbara and is syndicated in Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, London, Ontario, Paris, and Somerset (UK).
Notary guests have included actors John Cleese, Dennis Miller, Mariel Hemingway, Steve Guttenberg, Danny Trejo, and music icons Chris Hillman (The Byrds), Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers), and Miles and Stewart Copeland (The Police), alongside culinary and celebrity chef icons like Brooke Williamson, (Top Chef Winner,) Erin French,(The Lost Kitchen,) and Robert Irvine (Restaurant Impossible).
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
What can break bonds between people is not listening. What I find beautiful about music is that it is a shared language, a human connection, and we all listen.
Do you remember a time someone truly listened to you?
Listening is so important. I’m really focused on the “work of listening”. Being a good listener is a skill. It is a discipline, one of the most worthy of the disciplines. Through my radio show, I learned how much it is appreciated. Truly listening is one of the greatest gifts that you can give to someone. We all want to be heard.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
In my mid-twenties, I found myself extremely successful in business, but unsatisfied. Privately, I wondered, “Is this all there is?” I dreamed of what would make me happier. Although I thought that I was too late, I wished I had gone into the music or radio business when I was younger.
Within the next decade, without realizing what was happening, I became the accidental host of my own radio show. Shortly after that, I began developing a dozen new radio shows with other great hosts. My own show grew into an internationally syndicated talk radio show. Less than a decade later, along with Marc Platt and Jenny Klein (Radio Candy Media), I launched a radio station in Santa Barbara. Now I meet hundreds of music artists each month, playing a small part in helping them get their music heard by radio audiences. I am in the music business.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I have thought about this question a lot recently. As you get older, I think you start looking ahead and forecasting how much time you have left to accomplish the life you dreamed of. It took me so many years to learn this lesson: Be selective about how you share your time. I used to accept everything; I wanted to please everyone, and it left me depleted. I had nothing left for myself or my own needs. When everything is important, nothing is. So I stopped letting everything in, and I stopped taking on projects that didn’t advance my personal goals. For instance, jumping in to help when I wasn’t really needed on projects that didn’t matter, taking on other people’s problems as my own, worrying about things that weren’t important in the big picture, and basically distracting myself.
Now I look at everything through a filter and ask myself: Does this move me forward, both financially and personally? If the answer is no, I stop doing it immediately.
If you have music or a story to share with me, please email me at [email protected] or [email protected]. You can also find all of my socials here: https://linktr.ee/jeremiahdhiggins
I would love to hear from you. I’m listening.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://radio-evolve.rocks
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealjeremiahshow/
- Twitter: https://x.com/ShowJeremiah
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@therealjeremiahshow
- Other: https://linktr.ee/jeremiahdhiggins
Image Credits
Jeremiah D. Higgins – Radio-Evolve.Rocks Santa Barbara, California
