Valley Rhythms

By Lola Rossi-Meza

Musician and Radio Personality Brad Mercer of The Heat 99.5 FM

Brought to you by The Palm Canyon Roadhouse, Brad Mercer of The Heat 99.5 FM and host of Brad Mercer’s Bands ‘N Fans, has committed to playing a track from an unsigned band at 5:35 p.m. during his radio program that airs from 3 until 7 p.m. every Monday through Friday. All you have to do is email a Mp3 file of your original music to BradMercerShow@aol.com for consideration. Who knows, you could be the next band to “Rock The Heat Airwaves.”
Everything Mercer is involved with, can be seen by going to his web-site: BradMercerLive.TV. At the site you are greeted by a caricature logo created by his cousin, Lin Mercer. You can hear a re-cap of the broadcast from the day or find a show you may have missed.
While viewing his site, I came across a video of Walk Off The Earth performing, “Somebody That I Used To Know” and went to YouTube and was able to view their new release, “Summer Vibe”. Check it out. As a matter of fact, check out all the video clips on the site. It is obvious that Mercer has a passion for promoting and helping others through his web-site. Bands can also submit their YouTube video for his internet TV show.
He is the host at the Rock Yard at Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino for their summer concerts where bands perform before and after one of the featured tribute bands. The concert scheduled for this week is a Tribute to Rush on Saturday, July 14. Only two shows follow: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin on July 21 and a Tribute to Guns and Roses on July 28. You can view video clips of the shows at his website. I enjoyed watching “Which One’s Pink” performing some of my favorite Pink Floyd songs.
Mercer is very diverse, especially coming from a family of actors, musicians and singers. He has been on the stage ever since he was 3 years old. “I picked my nose on ‘live’ national TV in Los Angeles on Leighton Noble’s Bandstand Review,” said Mercer laughing. His father, Jim, was one of The Mercer Brothers. His mother, Betty McCabe, was an actress who was in several movies with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and starred in “Moonlight In Vermont” for Universal. “I was writing my own songs at 5 years old.” He liked singing songs by Johnny Cash and Roger Miller.
Born in North Hollywood, and raised in Lake Arrowhead, Mercer graduated high school and hit the road. “I was touring all over the country for 12 years with The Brad Mercer Show and headlined at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for two weeks with a 30 piece orchestra.” He also sang the title track for “Walking Tall” the TV series on NBC.
Later, he owned and managed a comedy club in Jacksonville, Florida. “I did stand-up comedy, and that is what got me into radio,” said Mercer. “All the guys I used to work with in Las Vegas, Tahoe and Reno, like Jay Leno, Jeff Foxworthy, Rita Rudner and Pete Barbutti, would work for me in the comedy club. One day a guy named Chris Jones who owned a rock radio station came to me and said he wanted to do a ‘live’ show from the club, so we did.”
He invited Mercer to come to his morning radio show for an interview and the next day, called and offered him a job that lasted for 12 years. As The Rude Brothers, Christopher Rude and Radical Bradford, they were the top DJs and had a very popular radio show. They went from Jacksonville, to Fresno, to Atlanta, to Colorado Springs and landed in Palm Springs. Rude is now the anchor of “The Rude Awakening” at 680 The Fan, a sports radio station.
Mercer had his show on The Eagle 106.9 in Palm Springs for 5 years while he performed in his band. He left that job and with his wife Connie, produced and directed CSI: Alm Prings, a spoof of the TV drama CSI: Miami. “We did a screening at Fantasy Springs Casino, it drew attention to the film. It is a stupid movie, but what makes it funny, is the serious acting against the stupid script. Here it is… A ‘Hit and Run’ becomes a homicide in the City of Alm Prings but it’s not a human.”
Along with his sister, his son, Paul James, and other family members, there are many familiar faces in the movie with special guest stars Terry Reid and Mickey Thomas. As the web-site suggests, “grab a bowl of popcorn and watch the movie!” It is a silly movie, but may be just what the doctor ordered.
While in the studio, his daughter Kristie Miller called. She is also a singer and his son has his own band, too. You can contact Mercer at www.TheBradMercerBand.com and on Facebook.