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The House That Dave Built

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Written by Shannon Cournoyer

Sunday, 01 June 2008

The House that Dave Built WNOX's Dave Foulk rises at 3:15 in the morning Monday through Friday to come to the station. He then writes and broadcasts the news at the top and the bottom of the hour from 5 am-10 am on FM 100.3. Dave's the voice you hear on your way to work.

But, he's okay with the hours because he's working at his dream job. "The House that Dave Built," his new show on Saturday mornings, allows him to be lazy and lay in bed until 4:30 am. Tune in from 6 am-10 am to listen as he helps homeowners with questions about Do-it-Yourself projects.

This new show is for both people who love DIY and people who just want to listen and be entertained. Dave says, "We're going to have a good time." He wants to keep the show positive and lighthearted with the focus on the fun conversations he has with his callers.

Is he an expert on DIY? Not yet, but he knows who to ask and he knows his listeners will be willing to call in and talk about what they know. Dave's done his share of DIY over the years with most of it having good results. There was that time years ago, though, when he was painting his daughter's room pink. Bright pink. The paint can slipped, ruined the carpet and painted everything in its path pink, including his feet. It eventually wore off of his body but he says he still has furniture and other things with flecks of pink paint on them.

"The House that Dave Built's" focus in June will be on exterior projects such as siding, painting, irrigation systems and landscaping. He plans to provide one extra service for his listeners during his show - local weather updates. Put him on as you're getting ready to go out or on the road and get the weather you need for your day.

Though Dave spent some time in television early in his career, it wasn't the right fit for him. He says, "I've always wanted to do this. When I was a kid, I would pretend I was on the radio. This is what I love to do." Radio is a 24/7 habit with him. Just ask Dena, his wife of 31 years. Dave explains, "My wife fusses at me sometimes because I don't give it a rest. When I'm off work, I have a scanner in the car. If anything happens, I'll jump in and try to get the story."

Dave is a Knoxville native. His first job in radio was during high school. Then he went to UT and majored in political science which might seem unrelated to his work but he says, "For talk shows, it's great." After college, he took a position with WSB radio in Atlanta and worked there for 15 years as part of programs such as the award winning "Ask the Doctor" which had doctors on the air answering listener's questions.

When the oldest of his three children was in high school in 1992, he accepted a position as operations manager and news director for WNOX. He was happy to move back to his hometown, feeling that Knoxville was a great place to raise kids. Today, his kids are grown and he has two grandchildren and a step-grandchild.

A smaller family at home prompted him and Dena to build a new, smaller house in South Knoxville. This house offered the perfect opportunity to build in something special - a radio studio. When you hear Dave Foulk doing the traffic reports during Phil's show on weekday afternoons, it's coming from his house. He has two computers which continuously monitor the live interstate cameras, more than a half dozen radios and an ISD inline which Dave explains is a "high quality twoline that lets me hear the station, they can hear me and it's studio quality." It converts his voice into a digital signal for a high quality broadcast. The commute is great and the only catch comes in when his dog barks or a grandchild cries in the background.

This gives him more time for his hobbies which include reading and his collections of fountain pens, patches and toy fire trucks. That last collection began with the trucks he had as a kid and still has. He's had to switch to tiny fire trucks recently because he's running out of display space for this passion. Dave's biggest hobby, though, is spending time with his family. He's looking forward to relaxing with them this summer in the screen porch that overlooks a pond at his new house. Knowing Dave, there just might be a radio on nearby.