Carmel Harris

Carmel Harris presents ‘Roll On Country’ every Wednesday from 2pm to 4pm. This is her story.
“I am a counsellor by trade, but am now retired after 30 years in the counselling industry. I am widowed with three married children, nine grandchildren and seven step grandchildren. They are all very precious to me, but, sadly, none of them lives in Warrnambool. I started with 3WAY in late 2010 because I had a friend who was a presenter and I enjoyed his music; I am now in my 8th year on air. I love many different genres of music, but one of my favourites is country music, especially easy-listening Australian ballads that tell great stories of the outback and early Australian life. Some of my favourite Australian artists are Slim Dusty, Tom Maxwell and Ernie Constance. My favourite American country singers are George Jones, Don Williams and Merle Haggard. My radio program contains at least 90% Australian content each week. I have a good relationship with the other country music presenters at 3WAY and it’s easy to find someone to fill in for me if I’m sick or away. During most programs I get phone calls from listeners saying how much they’re enjoying the program or asking for a particular song or requesting a cheerio. I also have a list of birthdays and wedding anniversaries of many regular listeners and I play them a favourite song close to their special day. At 2.15pm each week I read out a list of upcoming local country music concerts and country music festivals. This is my Country Music Calendar and it helps to keep listeners aware of events they might like to attend and gives them phone numbers to contact for bookings. I have a fairly large collection of country music on my laptop as well as many CDs. I love to play new music when CDs are given to me. The other genre of music I enjoy is 50s and 60s of which I have a large collection. Occasionally, I get to fill in for another presenter playing great music from that era. I enjoy being a presenter at 3WAY and I hope to continue for many more years.”