Meet the Crew
ERIC & GINA BABIN
Owners / General Managers / Program Directors
Producers – “TROP ROCKIN’ THE USA SHOW” and “The Positive Vibration Radio Show”
Eric & Gina are living the life Jimmy Buffett wrote about!
They spend their time traveling the western hemisphere to bring you the best trop rock has to offer.
Radio Trop Rock is proud to be home to the Trop Rock Music Association Awards for Radio Station Of The Year 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024, Radio Show of the Year (live) 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, Radio Show of the Year (pre-recorded) 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 and also the 2018 & 2019 Trop Rockin’ Magazine’s People’s Choice Radio Show of the Year and DJ Personality of the Year. Eric also earned the first ever TRMA award for Music Business Professional of the Year in 2019 – a huge honor being voted on by strictly by the artists within the TRMA Academy! Radio Trop Rock has earned a total of 25 TRMAs and 4 People’s Choice Awards! Since 2017 Radio Trop Rock has earned EVERY award within the industry!
Trop Rockin’ the USA with Eric & Gina airs every Wednesday at noon central. The Positive Vibration Radio Show airs at 4pm central every Friday and replays at noon on Monday.
Live music remote broadcasts schedule can be found on the RadioTropRock Facebook Page.
Steve Huntington
The Steve Huntington Radio Show
Steve got a call from Jimmy Buffett back in 1998 asking him if he could help him start in internet radio station. The station they started was Radio Margaritaville!
For the next 25 years Steve Huntington was with Radio Margaritaville, 14 of those years were spent as the Program Director. Many early listeners of Radio Margaritaville consider Steve the “Voice of Radio Margaritaville”.
Steve brings his broadcast experience and encyclopedia knowledge of music to Radio Trop Rock in January of 2025!
Radio Trop Rock is both excited and honored to have Steve become part of our team!
Starting Thursday January 2nd at noon central
STONEY GABEL
SANDY BOOTS RADIO SHOW presented by BUDDY’S BACKYARD
Stoney abandoned his dreams of being a model in 1997 to pursue a career in music. Since then, he has learned three chords on the guitar and become a superstar in the small town of Lytton Springs, Texas. He is a grilled cheese aficionado and he once lassoed a wild emu. His show blends tropical sounds with songwriter roots and barnyard noises. He often plays at Trop Rock festivals when more famous artists call in sick.
Sandy Boots Radio Show airs each Tuesday at noon central and Wednesday at 6pm central.
GREG DUMAS
DJ – BUDDY’S BACKYARD “HAPPY HOUR 2.0”
Native New Orleanian and self proclaimed “Oldest Living Teenager”, Greg Dumas, had been around the music business most of his life, even remembering the first 45 record he ever played on his R.C.A. Victrola at the age of 4.
Greg’s love for records and broadcasting took him from playing in clubs in Germany , while in the Army to major clubs around the state over the last thirty years.
Greg is attributed to the starting up the first non-commercial college radio station in Louisiana (KVFG, Which is now KNSU at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He’s worked all over the state through his year at KHOM-FM in Houma, LA, KTIB AM & FM in Thibodaux, LA, WJBO and WFMF in Baton Rouge and WAFB-FM also in Baton Rouge, LA WRNO in New Orleans, KSMI in Donaldsonville, LA, and KXOR in Thibodaux, LA., where he dreceived the award for Radio Station of the Year award one year and Broadcaster of the Year the next from the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters.
Although on-air broadcasting is his favorite part of radio, Greg worked most of the time in management and sales, because, as he says, “That’s where the money was. ..and that’s where the money for the complete operation comes from.
Greg’s connection with the Trop Rock world came when he approached Bret Brown, the manager of Margaritaville in New Orleans, about doing a Happy Hour show on Radio Margaritaville every Friday. Those days, Radio Margaritaville was only on the web. “We actually had people all over the world emailing us while we were doing the show. Ya gotta remember, this was the early days of radio on the web” Greg said. From there, the Happy Hour team of Bret, Sheila Chimento, Steve Huntington, and the late Carson Cooper, kept people going on their way home from work on Fridays. When Margaritaville in New Orleans closed, so did the show. He looked back and said, “That was a great and successful time for all of us.”
Now, Greg is multiplying his desire to keep people happy on Fridays, thanks to Eric and Gina Babin, by taking the Happy Hour concept a step further. Buddy’s Backyard Happy Hour 2.0 earned TRMA’s Radio Show of the Year (Pre-Recorded) Award in 2022. It’s Happy Hour 2.0!
Buckle up ’cause you never know what’s gonna come from the man on the Bye-You!
Happy Hour 2.0 airs Fridays at 5pm and Sundays at noon central.
RENEE ADAMS
DJ – DON’T WORRY, BEACH HAPPY presented by GTS CHARTERS & OUTFITTERS
Born into an entertainment family, Renee has been movin’ since the age of two. Renee’s mother a former June Taylor Dancer for the Jackie Gleason Show, taught her at an early age to perform to an audience of any capacity. Renee has put her focus into creating Interactive Family Shows. Her ability to connect with a crowd, has established her a remarkable rapport with audiences everywhere.
Renee’s resume is impressive – theme parks, corporations, cruise lines, resorts, and countless family & children’s events all over the World. With her amazing energy, creativity and tireless performances, it’s no wonder why Renee has been given the opportunity to open for national country and rock artists as well as working with the stars of the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and the list goes on. She has also worked as a sports host for Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports and warms up the crowds at sporting events including the Superbowl, Pro Bowl, and Cure Bowl.
Renee is a published author of 14 interactive children’s books which you can find on Amazon under Two Facts and a Fib Books. She also has written and produced 9 interactive family shows for all the Disney cruise ships. Renee resides in Winter Garden, Florida, where she raises her two children to believe there is unlimited opportunity for those with enough passion.
Renee now brings her high energy to Radio Trop Rock spinning your favorite tunes and interviewing some of the biggest names in trop rock!
Renee’s Show airs each Monday at 7am with replays Tuesdays at 6pm central.
THOM SHEPHERD
Producer – “THE SONGWRITERS”
CMA of Texas Songwriter of the Year
Thom Shepherd is an Idaho based touring artist who spent many years as a songwriter in Nashville. The last few years have found him traveling across the country, telling stories, and captivating audiences with his wife, artist Coley McCabe.
He is the 2018 Trop Rock Music Association Songwriter of the Year and also earned the 2019 TRMA Awards for Event of the Year (small) for Lone Star Luau, and Duo of the Year with Coley. “The People” chose Thom as Songwriter of the Year and Thom/Coley as Duo of the Year via the Trop Rockin’ Magazine People’s Choice Awards in 2019. Thom, along with his hit “Always Saturday Night,” are featured in the “The Parrot Heads Documentary” with Jimmy Buffett. He also appears in the film “Chasing The Sun,” and his song “New York to Montana” has recently been turned into a novel.
His latest project is his YouTube series and podcast, “The Songwriters,” which features famous and up and coming writers telling the stories behind their songs.
He is the writer of five #1 singles including “Redneck Yacht Club,” recorded by Craig Morgan, “Riding with Private Malone” recorded by David Ball, and three Texas music number ones. In total Thom has written over 10 radio singles and has had over 100 songs recorded by other artists.
He is the producer of two concert events: The Lone Star Luau, and the Palm Coast Songwriters Festival.
His music has taken him on 9 tours performing for our military in 17 different countries. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri and spent his high school years in Stephens City, Virginia. He graduated from George Mason University and one week later moved to Nashville. He is a two time cancer survivor, a father of two, recipient of the TRMA “I Can” Humanitarian Award, and winner of TRMA “Best Radio Show” for “Live From The Redneck Yacht Club”
Find out more at thomshepherd.com and at youtube.com/thomshepherd
Thom’s feature “The Songwriters” can be heard Saturdays at 7am central, Tuesdays at 3am central and Wednesdays at 7am central.
ERIC ERDMAN
Producer “FRESH SONG FRIDAYS”
Eric Erdman premiers a previously unrecorded unreleased song he either wrote or co-wrote EVERY week!
While Eric doesn’t specifically fit musically within the “trop rock” genre he has taken it by storm over the past couple of years. Due to his amazing talent playing guitar and unparalleled song-writing, when combined with his smooth-as-butter voice, he tends to make an impression anywhere you find people that appreciate good music. Add to the fact he meets the standard trop rock artist requirement of being a damn nice guy and you can’t deny he belongs here. Those with addictive personalities may want to be careful when attending an Eric Erdman show, you may be hooked for life, quit your job and follow him around the world! You’ll find Eric at any trop rock music festival he can fit into his very busy world-tour schedule!
For more details on Eric, his music, and tour click HERE.
Eric’s Fresh Song Friday airs every Friday at 9am central.
GINA BABIN
The Positive Vibration Radio Show
GINA IS A 2X TRMA WINNER FOR PRE-RECORDED RADIO SHOW
Gina hosts an hour of reggae tunes, facts, interviews, and more.
Gina’s background may be in decades of insurance sales, but now the outlet for her passion for music is the Positive Vibration Radio Show. She’ll be interviewing reggae music legends along with independent reggae artists. You never know who Gina will have on the show, but you can be sure you’ll enjoy it.
The Positive Vibration Radio Show with Gina airs each Sunday at 6pm central and Monday at noon central.