Chris Grindrod evolving as community ambassador for Dayton Funk Center

From Motown to the Land of Funk.

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Growing up in Detroit, Chris Grindrod was surrounded by the sounds of the Four Tops, Diana Ross & The Supremes and other Motown Records acts. However, he was a funk music convert at an early age, which makes the Springfield transplant’s work with the Dayton Funk Museum and Exhibition Center so fitting.

Grindrod, who relocated to the area for a radio job in 2003, discovered funk at the age of 10 when he heard the Ohio Players’ “Funky Worm” on a compilation album of hits. Now, he is the Funk Center’s podcast administrator and an associate producer of “The Dayton Scene Radio Show.” The syndicated program, co-hosted by Funk Center CEO David R. Webb and Trent Darby, launched in August 2020 and is now heard in more than 60 markets.

“I really like the team,” Grindrod said. “Those guys are fantastic. What we’re doing with ‘The Dayton Scene Radio Show’ and with ‘The Funk Chronicles’ on YouTube, is sowing seeds. Every week, we’re putting it out there to more people. The more stations that come on board, the more people that discover the Funk Center.”

Grindrod, who hosts his own “Grindrod PR Podcast,” started his radio career in the late 1980s with a two-year stint as an intern at a Detroit rock station. He went on to work in various capacities at stations in northern Ohio, southern Florida and the Caribbean, from on-air announcer, audio production and program director to sales, marketing and management. The Funk Center marks a new chapter.

“This has opened up so many new opportunities to serve,” Grindrod said. “I originally just wanted to use a graphic for my podcast. Then, I wanted to be a funk ambassador, which led to doing the radio show. I’ve had a chance to go to some events with David and do audio-visual and just share what he’s doing.”

Grindrod is serious about being a community ambassador for the Funk Center.

“I’m connected in Springfield and people know me from my radio job, but they really don’t know much about me and the Funk Center,” he said. “They might know me in the past as the program director at the radio station, but I also want people to know this is part of who I am right now. I’m just trying to get the word out and let people know the Funk Center is happening. The more people connected to it, the farther we can spread our message about the region’s funk music history.”

More info: thefunkcenter.org.

Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or donthrasher100@gmail.com.

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