The Old Grey Wolf is known far and wide in North Texas for his stint at legendary radio station KZEW and as the co-founder of The Ticket.
Since he left the station he co-founded in December, he’s remain somewhat out of the spotlight. But he will be the focus of An Evening with The Old Grey Wolf. The special two-night premiere screening of the documentary Not in This Town: The Improbable Rise of The Old Grey Wolf is Sept. 16 and 17 at Granada Theater in Dallas.
The original documentary of Dallas radio legend Mike Rhyner follows the improbable rise of the architect of SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket, the first all-sports station in Dallas, which redefined the genre and begat a cultural revolution in our fair burg.
Written, directed and produced by former FOX4 sports reporter Crystal Vasquez, Not in This Town is a trip down memory lane with never-seen-before footage of Rhyner’s unparalleled career plus interviews with luminaries who were along for the ride, such as George Dunham, Corby Davidson, Randy Galloway, Brad Sham, John Rody of KZEW-FM and, yes, Greg “The Hammer” Williams.
Vasquez, who grew up in Arlington and graduated from the University of North Texas, first met Rhyner when she was hired to fill-in for the traffic reporter who was on maternity leave. Her first meeting might have been inauspicious, but actually it was typical Rhyner.
“I knew of him,” said Vasquez. “Obviously when you get hired through The Ticket, you got to do some research. And so I was familiar with the name and then I think the first time he and I ever spoke words was when I walked into their broadcast center.
“I sat down with my traffic notes. And it’s kind of dark in there. For some reason they dim the lights, it’s really dark. But I just looked up and there was Corby and Corby said ‘hello’ and then Mike just looked at me from across the table and just said, ‘Who are you?’ And it was kind of intimidating.
“‘Crystal.’ I said, ‘I’m just here filling in for Becca, the traffic girl.’ And he was like, he didn’t say anything. So basically it was, who are you? And I said I’m Crystal and I think that was the extent of that conversation.”
Obviously, she eventually broke the ice.
In addition to the screening, both nights of An Evening with The Old Grey Wolf will include a live Q&A with Rhyner hosted by Jeff “Skin” Wade of “The Ben & Skin Show” on 97.1 The Eagle. Doors open at 7 p.m. both nights and the screenings start at 8 p.m.
Tickets are available at GranadaTheater.com and start at $66.50 per person, with a portion of sales benefitting #SaveOurStages. (CDC guidelines, social distancing and masks are required to make sure the evening is safe and enjoyable for everyone.) Vokal Media is recording the live Q&A for future online streaming.