If you spend five minutes talking to Tanner, the morning host at 105.9 The Brew, KFBW in Portland, Oregon, two things become immediately clear. First, this is a guy who genuinely loves radio in a way that feels almost old-fashioned by today’s standards. Second, he is absolutely, positively not going to let you call him a star.
“I don’t think radio people can be stars,” he told me when I pushed him on it. “I feel like we’re more part of the community than we are above them.”
That’s a pretty grounded perspective for someone who has been one of the most consistent morning voices in a top-25 market for over a decade. But that’s Tanner. He’d rather talk about the grind than the glory.
The Long Way Home
Tanner’s path to Portland is the kind of radio career arc that used to be standard and is increasingly rare. He grew up in Portland after moving there as a kid, started in the business at sixteen, and quickly realized that if he wanted to do “real radio,” he’d need to leave…