From the Control Room to the Ballroom | Tony Smith

Your Dark Companion Podcast · Jan 20, 2026 · 1h

For years, Tony Smith was exactly where you wanted him — behind the glass, keeping the lights on, the sound clean, and occasionally dropping a perfectly timed Dancing with the Stars reference that somehow became radio gold. In this episode of Your Dark Companion, Mike Rhyner and Grubes welcome longtime Ticket engineer Tony “the Engineer” Smith for a candid, funny, and surprisingly emotional conversation about radio life, finding your voice in the margins, and knowing when it’s time to walk away. Tony traces his path from promotions to engineering, explains how an unexpected obsession with…