Charlie Hodge talks podcasting, life after KLBJ, Cap City show

By Brian Gaar | Monday, February 27, 2012, 03:09 PM

Since his KLBJ-FM radio show was cancelled last year, Charlie Hodge has gone podcasting.

And thanks to the help of new media, his revamped broadcast has turned into a modest hit, with tens of thousands of downloads a day.

Hodge credits the success to Twitter and Facebook, which allowed him to retain much of his audience from the “Charlie Hodge Rock ‘n’ Roll Halftime Show” and point them to his daily podcast at charliehodgeshow.com.

Next Monday, he and co-host Matt Sadler are performing a live version of their show at Cap City Comedy Club. We chatted via email about his new endeavors (I edited the responses for length and clarity).

Tell me about the new show, is it going to be a regular thing?

I do one of these shows about every quarter and they give me an outlet to delve deeper into and explore material that was once discussed on my radio show and that I now discuss on my podcast.

The show flow is “Tonight Show”-ish in that I start with a monologue with about 20 to 30 minutes of new material, followed by a desk segment where my co-host Matt Sadler and a celebrity guest join me for a discussion and then the guest tries to teach Matt their respective talents (i.e. MC Overlord tries to teach him to rap) and that segment is followed with three to four skits revolving around some of my more popular impressions/voices (G.W. Bush, Whataburger Guy, Nerd Guy, Lockhart Sausage, etc.) in costume. And who could forget my very own house funk band “Sweat & Lotion,” who provide rhythm and pentameter to the show.

Your radio show got canceled rather abruptly on KLBJ, what’s life been like since?

Leaving KLBJ was abrupt, but as my old man says, “Feeling sorry for yourself ain’t gonna do you any good,” not to mention my wife was nine months pregnant with our first child, Vivian, when my show got canceled. That will really light a fire under your rear.

I focused on staying in communication with my audience that I built up over 12 years, and thank god for technology because it allowed me to do so via podcast. I changed my attitude towards Twitter and Facebook and jumped all the way in, built a website and made a few key purchases at Guitar Center. Now my site charliehodgeshow.com has 4 million or so hits since Sept. 19 and my podcast gets 25,000 to 35,000 downloads per day.

How has the podcast been going? Is that a good creative outlet? I’d think you’d have a lot more freedom, compared to radio.

The podcast, or Hodgecast, has been a life saver, not only for staying in touch but staying sane. I do a new podcast every weekday and that is the reason I have not turned into a bum yet — that and the incredible support from my wife, Becca; she has been taking care of me and Vivian. I have tried not to burn any bridges over the years, so having good friends has helped a lot, too.

The freedom the World Wide Web provides without the constraints of the FCC (for now) has been incredible. I always tried to keep things conversational on the radio, but podcasting is like an old plow mule getting to run again. Or a sexier version, like a naked plow mule getting to run again.

I’ve noticed other radio folks like Adam Carolla have moved to podcasting, would you ever do radio again or is online broadcasting the future?

It is definitely possible that I could do radio again, but working for one’s self is like a grizzly bear tasting human blood — it’s hard to go back. Entertainment from an internet-based provider is the future and I want my website to be a destination for entertainment from podcasts to videos to animation to trivia to everything because consumers of digital media are hungry! I am blessed to have such awesome and loyal fans; it is staggering to me how proficient and savvy people in the podcast world are and I hope to bring as many more along as I can.

Guys like Adam Carolla create their own brand and maintain it through being diverse (writing, acting, podcasting, roasting…) and I model my own career as a showman that way — lots of irons in the fire.

Charlie Hodge Show Live

When: 8 p.m. Monday, March 5
Where: Cap City Comedy Club, 8120 Research Blvd.
Cost: $10
Information: By tickets capcitycomedy.com or call 512-467-2333