Familiar Faces

Photo by Pat Christman

NAME: TJ Palesotti

Occupation: Program director/Morning Show co-host Mix 99.1 KEEZ-FM

Hometown: Mound Guilty pleasure song: “Ripple” by Grateful Dead always helps level my mood.

Favorite radio/podcast: “High Performance Mindset” with Dr. Cindra Kamphoff; “Disgraceland” with Jake Brennan

Hey Mr. TJ!

TJ Palesotti, a local radio mainstay for more than two decades, is right at home in southern Minnesota

There aren’t many people in the Mankato area who can make the claim that probably 90 percent of the community has heard their voice. But TJ Palesotti might be one of them. If you’re a fan of Maverick hockey, you’ve heard the soothing sounds of TJ Palesotti’s voice announcing, over the sounds of a few thousand screaming fans, “MAVERIIICCCKKK GOOOAAAL!” or letting everyone know there’s “one minute remaining in the period,” to which the fans reply, “Thank you!” to which Palesotti in turn says, in an oh-so-Minnesota accent, “You betcha.” His voice also has been all over the southern Minnesota radio dial. For more than two decades, Palesotti has worked in local radio, garnering fans and followers for his pleasant demeanor and calming baritone. And anyone who follows him on social media knows he’s recently relocated down the dial, so to speak. As he said on his Facebook page, he was fired from his job at a popular country music station. But he was quickly snapped up by another station, and is now part of the morning show team on KEEZ 99.1-FM. He’s a true southern Minnesota original, and we’re so glad he agreed to answer a few questions for us.

Mankato Magazine: Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself? TJ Palesotti: I moved into one of two apartments in an old house in Fairmont in 1996 when I began my radio career. Five months later a girl moved into the other apartment. We’ve been together ever since. We have two children. Our daughter is 17 and plans to help cure cancer someday. Our son is 13 and plans to take his mother to the Oscars. I spend my spring coaching track and field for Mankato Loyola/Cleveland. I spend my fall doing public address for Minnesota State Football. I spend my winter doing public address for Minnesota State men’s hockey. In the summer I go to the lake.

MM: Your first job was in Fairmont. Tell us more about that. TP: April 15, 1996, overnights midnight to 5 a.m. for about a year. One night I was all alone and I looked out the studio window and there was a cow breathing heavy on the glass. He had gotten away from a nearby farm. True story. After that year I was moved to the morning show and exactly a year later Mankato called. I have an unbelievable amount of memories from my two-year stint in that small town.

MM: What interested you in radio and broadcasting? TP: It was a total accident. I really wanted to be a football player or a gold medalist. The required talent was not something I possessed. I thought about becoming a physical therapist. I spent a couple years pursuing law enforcement. Then I stumbled upon a broadcasting school that had a placement program, and I thought I’d get my degree and go sell advertising. While you’re in broadcast school, you learn a little bit about all the possible jobs in the industry. I fell in love with the on-air and production side of the business and I haven’t looked back.

MM: How has your first month at Mix 99.1? TP: Refreshing, exhilarating, sometimes overwhelming. That said, the only person putting pressure on me is me. I’m the kind of person that knows what I want, and I want to get to it sooner than later. I just need to remind myself that I am learning new things and it’s going to take time. I have a great rapport with Kelsey on the show and we’ve been having a lot of fun. It’s some of those behind-thescenes things that are new to me, and I really want to make sure I get them right. MM: You’ve said that you wanted to be closer to your hometown, Mound, Minnesota. Two decades later, you’re still in Mankato. What has kept you here? TP: Roots. When I was younger, my plan was to work my way back to the Twin Cities and live in the suburbs, but when I got to Mankato, that plan changed. We found ourselves right where we needed to be. It’s an incredible community and I recently found out how supportive it can be. I’m very grateful for that. Thank you.

MM: For the last 20 years, you’ve coached track and field. Recently, you were present for the first time for one of your athletes letter of intent signings. What was that like? TP: The shotput and discus gets a quick little bumper on the way to commercial break during Olympic coverage. I could watch those events all day. When you have an athlete that shares that passion with you, you’re able to achieve some great things. Dawson Davito came to me as a freshman who wanted to be a college football player and he knew track was going to make him better. He quickly realized that he was also a pretty good thrower. The day he signed that letter he committed to the University of Sioux Falls as a thrower AND a football player. He gets to do both! It’s storybook.

MM: How has your freelance work doing voiceover been going? TP: If I’m honest, business at tjpalesotti.com is slow right now, but I haven’t been pursuing it as much as I could. When your voice is already on the radio in a market, it’s not quite the commodity as it is elsewhere. I need to get better at marketing myself outside this region, and I will. I’m currently focusing all my energy on my responsibilities at Alpha Media with Mix 99.1. That’s the priority, but I’m always willing to talk about your project if you need a voice.

MM: We’re in a parallel universe. What is your occupation? TP: I’ve always secretly wanted to be a game show host. “Let’s play Bamboozled! Pick a Wicked Wango card to determine whether you go higher or lower!”

MM: Finish this sentence. On Sunday mornings, you can usually find me… TP: Occasionally at church but most likely sleeping in. Sunday mornings can sometimes be my only day to sleep in. I’ll get up late, grab some coffee and my phone, see what everyone is complaining about today and then get on with my day.

MM: What’s something most people don’t know about you? TP: Not one person knows this about me. It’s a MM exclusive. I know every word to “Underwater Rimes” by Digital Underground. The only person that’s ever heard me rap it is me. The only person that will ever hear me rap it is me. There’s a reason I play the songs and it’s because I can’t sing them … or rap them.

MM: Anything else you’d like to add? TP: I feel that I may have already said too much!