Back On The Air
/Fabienne Thrash discusses her acclaimed career on the radio
By Brandon Shoemaker
photo by shane darby.
If you ask Fabienne Thrash when she knew she wanted to work in radio, she’ll take you back—not to a classroom or a studio, but to her childhood kitchen table, long past bedtime, where her mother—an insomniac with a transistor radio—played the late-night show helmed by Ralph Emery from WSM in Nashville. The guests included Marty Robbins, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, and many others, talking between songs. For a wide-eyed kid up past her bedtime, it was like an undiscovered world. “I just thought it was brilliant,” Fabienne said. “Every once in a while, if I was awake, my mom would let me call in. I even talked to Marty Robbins once. That does a lot for a small kid.”
Fabienne with her Texas Country Music Hall of Fame award. submitted photo.
As a teenager, Fabienne worked at KMLA in Ashdown, doing whatever was necessary around the studio. Then, one Christmas in the early’ 70s, her first solo on-air moment finally came. “Oh God, I was horrible!” she recalled. “[When] my brother came to pick me up, I was crying, I was so awful. But they let me come back, thanks to the late Steve Pearce. I really appreciated that.”
Clearly, she quickly improved. Over the course of 50 years, Fabienne became that voice on the other side of the speaker—familiar, trusted, and unmistakably local. She worked across Southwest Arkansas, East Texas, and Louisiana, but Texarkana is where she has become a fixture, spinning country hits, announcing community updates, and anchoring the daily rhythm of life for so many.
“I’ve got a lot more gas in the tank. I’m not done yet.”
From that 50-year career, Fabienne has more than her share of fascinating stories—some that you’d expect, while others are less predictable. Her strangest on-air moment? That would be the time a bolt of ball lightning—yes, actual lightning—floated across her studio. As she was preparing to give an on-air update about severe storms in the area, she heard a thundering crack. “Then down through the building, floating by my nose, over the board is a basketball-sized blue blob, and then it went through all my equipment, all the cart machines,” she said. “Bright electric blue with white edges. It blew out the newsroom.”
And then, there was the day that a man with a gun walked into the station, upset over a news story involving a family member who had been accused of murder.
“He wanted to go on the air to talk about this family member and why they didn’t do it,” she said. Luckily, her coworker talked him down and convinced the man to pray with him, which gave Fabienne the chance to call the police. “But that was the most frightening thing,” she recalled. “We could have died, over a news story. That’s never left me.”
The professional life of a DJ extends far beyond the studio microphone. Fabienne became a beloved member of the community by connecting with listeners at various events and opening concerts. In fact, working the professional concert scene offered her the opportunity to meet one of the country music heroes she grew up listening to. Prior to a concert at the Perot Theatre, Fabienne encountered the legendary Willie Nelson as he was stepping off of his tour bus.
Fabienne and her daughter, Gracie, playing a wedding. submitted photo.
“I said, ‘My name’s Fabienne. I just want to thank you for my career.’ And he looked, and he kind of grinned,” Fabienne recalled. She explained to him the influence his music had on her at an early age, particularly his album The Sound In Your Mind. “And I said, ‘But I have basically been in country radio ever since, and I’ve had a great ride.’ [He replied,] ‘Well, thank you, baby. Thank you.’ And I was just—I was redeemed.”
In 2024, Fabienne was honored with the DJ Award by the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, the same day they inducted Tracy Lawrence and Roy Orbison (posthumously). For her, the honor was emotional and validating.
“I didn’t know anybody really noticed me, ever,” she admitted. “I’d met a lot of people. I’d helped open concerts. I’d introduce people on stage . . . but I never knew that it would end up [at] the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame.”
Unfortunately, not long after that celebration, her station was swept into a nationwide trend: automation, consolidation, and AI-generated voice replacement. Fabienne’s position was eliminated. “I wasn’t ready,” she said. “[The layoff] was a way to save money—I can understand it. I get that. But when it affects you personally, it’s very different.”
Fabienne sees what’s being lost in local radio—not just jobs but relationships.
“You’re losing your localness,” she explained. “People know those voices. They trust them. Sometimes you need to hear a real person tell you there’s a tornado in their area, or that there’s a serious wreck on I-30. I don’t understand how a random AI voice would be able to deliver that.”
In the light of her job loss, Fabienne was determined to keep going. She explored podcasting, continued to DJ weddings and karaoke nights with her daughter, and dreamed of opening a small, affordable event venue. “I’ve got a lot more gas in the tank,” she said, smiling. “I’m not done yet.”
Her seasoned voice is full of spark. She still lights up talking about music—from Willie Nelson and Led Zeppelin to Chris Stapleton and even The Beatles. She loves the way country music evolves, even when it divides audiences. “Music’s not stagnant—it shouldn’t be,” she said. “‘New country’ music is more inclusive, and I like that, too.”
Fabienne and her husband, Stuart. submitted photo.
Fabienne’s hiatus off-air was short-lived. She can already be heard again on 103.9 The Pig, an AMI Radio station, and she has also accepted a position as a 911 facilitator with Ar-Tex Council of Governments, in which she will be educating various groups on the importance of 911 communications and the proper use of those services. She is grateful for these opportunities as they pave the way for her to continue her illustrious career, which is far from finished. Driven by her strong work ethic and her love of music, Fabienne has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. “There’s a lot to be heard out there,” she said, “and I’m still listening.”