Sarah X Dylan

Sarah X Dylan (born October 9, 1980) is an American Internet radio host, Internet television host, and former radio producer and talk show co-host. Formerly of the The Rick Emerson Show and KOIN-TV, and current co-host of Funemployment Radio, and is based in Portland, Oregon. Her name is a stage name.

Professional Name

"X"

The "X" in Sarah X Dylan does not stand for anything. She, along with Rick Emerson, is a huge fan of Futurama, and wanted a distinguishing name for radio, so she chose to use a middle initial of "X", in much the same way as the producer of Futurama, David X. Cohen chose "X" due to there being another David Cohen on the rolls of SAG/WGA. The addition of the "X" was done around the same time as the moving of The Rick Emerson Show to MAX 910, and many fans believe that it was an Entercom inspired change for the new station. She was not allowed to use the "X" while working on KOIN-TV. A local employer, Intel Corp. uses the letter X in name-based email addresses to differentiate between full-time employees and contractors.

"Dylan"

The "Dylan" in her name comes from her favorite Beverly Hills 90210 character Dylan McKay, portrayed by Luke Perry.

Biography

Early life

Dylan was born to a naval family and spent some time in Spain as a child. As a teenager, she lived in Oak Harbor, Washington while her father was stationed at NAS Whidbey Island, and attended Oak Harbor High School. Her sophomore year, her family moved to Bremerton, Washington where she graduated from high school in 1998.

Career

After graduating from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington in 2002, with a bachelor's degree in Communications, Dylan began working for Metro Networks as a traffic reporter for Portland, based at KOTK. She began spending her off time with the The Rick Emerson Show, eventually being chosen as the producer of the show, after the exit of former producer Christina Carlson. She worked along with Executive Producer Matt "F-Matt" Peterson until the sale of KOTK from Fisher Communications to Entercom Communications, and Peterson's promotion. She and Emerson had great chemistry on the air, causing her role to slowly morph into a co-host, along with Emerson and newsman Tim Riley.

When KOTK and KFXX swapped frequencies, came a new time slot for the The Rick Emerson Show, as well as a new show for Dylan. She began co-hosting Alternative Mornings on "Alternative Rock" KNRK, which was also owned by Entercom, in addition to her duties on Emerson's show. She also hosted segments featuring the promotion of local independent bands, in a recurring piece called "Band-Aid", which aired on both KNRK and KOTK.

In April 2005, Dylan accepted a position to join the morning news on the local CBS affiliate KOIN as the morning traffic reporter. As a result, she quit the show on KNRK, with a strong desire to remain on Emerson's show. As a punitive measure, Entercom fired her from Emerson's show. It ended up being a moot point, as less than one week after her last show, KOTK became an oldies station, taking The Rick Emerson Show off the air. Dylan quickly became a vital member of the KOIN Morning News, and stayed with the show until late 2006.

In early 2006, Emerson announced a deal to bring his show back to the air. During the teaser video, Emerson walks past Dylan, sleeping on a bench, and tapping Tim Riley on the shoulder bringing the triumvirate back together, on KCMD. Initially, both KOIN and KCMD shared a building, and she had several hours between shows; however over time, the stress of both shows, along with a management change at KOIN caused her to rethink her decisions. In September 2006, she left KOIN and began working exclusively for The Rick Emerson Show.

In early 2009, Dylan partnered with Lisa Wood to host The Punk Show on Sunday nights on KUFO. This coincided with a format adjustment of KCMD, which moved Emerson's show to morning on KUFO. The Punk Show was cancelled in August, and the Rick Emerson Show was cancelled in October 2009.

Less than a week after being fired from KUFO, Dylan and former production assistant Greg Nibler started a podcast named Funemployment Radio, from Nibler's spare bedroom. After nearly eight months, Emerson, along with Dawn Taylor, began two online radio shows, complete with studio space, which they share with Greg and Sarah. Funemployment Radio is available on iTunes and via Funemploymentradio.com daily.

In early 2011, Dylan and Nibler were approached by the Portland Trail Blazers to host an online TV show that showcases the culture of Portland as well as the place the Trail Blazers have in the community. The new show was named Sportlandia, an portmanteau of "Sports" and Portlandia (a common nickname for the Portland Metro, as well as a TV show about the city). Sportlandia originally aired each Friday at 4 pm, and at present airs at 12 pm Fridays. They would also broadcast a recap after each play-off game, during the NBA Playoffs.

Projects and notable appearances

Outside of the radio studio, Dylan has been involved in numerous side projects. Dylan has been an extra in projects filmed in and around Portland, but her scenes have never made the final cut. Her motto is, "I'd rather be a has-been than a never-was..." and vents her repressed anger on celebrities via her gossip blog.

She performed in the now-disbanded Tim Riley Factor, composed of various friends and members of The Rick Emerson Show. They performed original songs, including "Gene Simmons (took my girlfriend away)", which was later included on The Wonderstrucks' 2007 album "An American Education".

She is featured in the 2007 music video for the song "And It Becomes You" by the band Nicodemus.

In March 2008, she was half of a duo that performed the ObamaRama song "If You Like Barack". A parody of Rupert Holmes' "Escape", it spoofed the media's infatuation with grassroots songs promoting 2008 presidential candidates. Instead, some in the media mistook it for a legitimate rally of support and it received airplay, including on the Air America Radio network's Thom Hartmann show on April 2.

She used to model for local companies, such as Babygirl Boutique and Bishops Barbershop web and print advertisements.

Known to The Rick Emerson Show audience as the most social of the cast, she earned the 2007 Barfly Magazine award for "Best Drunk";^[1] her self-professed favorite drink being "cheap vodka sodas" and her favorite places to hang being "bars that serve cheap vodka sodas" especially during happy hour. The award is given annually to the individual voted as the most enjoyable person to get drunk with. Despite the radio show's local cult following, Dylan lost in the previous year's "Most likely to be famous" category.^[2][3]

Dylan is also typically found racing in the annual Portland Adult Soap Box Derby, where she and her teammates raced an extravagantly gaudy Popemobile, while dressed up as nuns,^[4] in 2007. This year, the vehicle was designed as a parade float, with Dylan and friends dressed up as bloody beauty queens.^[5]

She undertakes various other odd jobs to supplement her "grand CBS paycheck" in order to live her hipster indie lifestyle; Rick Emerson having said on-air that "Everyone in radio has [to have] a second job.".^[6] She currently works as a barback at an undisclosed Portland bar, and has also been known to work at a vintage clothing store.

Personal life

Dylan lives in Southeast Portland, Oregon, ("practically neighbors with Rick and Greg"). Whenever she made reference to someone she was dating, an alias was used to preserve their identity, such as "Raúl", "The Cab Driver", or "The Comedian" while working on The Rick Emerson Show, but she has become more candid in naming names on Funemployment Radio podcasts and archive. ^[7]

References

External links

• KOIN news report Dylan was a victim in a hit and run that tossed her unoccupied parked car 20 feet.
• "And It Becomes You" music video, by Nicodemus