Ryan Sampson has been lured back to Tamworth from Toowoomba to fulfil a career goal.

His long-term goal was to work in radio, so when 88.9FM station manager George Frame invited him to join “the family” as a sales and promotions executive, Ryan leaped at the chance.

“Obviously having music as my passion, as well as a sales background made the decision a very easy one for me,” Ryan said.

Just two months ago, he was selling Mercedes-Benz cars in Toowoomba and now he has the best of both worlds – promoting the station and presenting his own show from 2pm to 4pm Monday to Friday. The fact he still has quite a few family members living in and around Tamworth made the deal even sweeter. Selling the revamped radio station hasn’t been a hard ask either, Ryan said, as they’ve had people knocking on the door wanting to become station sponsors.

“Because I’m from Tamworth, I have a vast network of people within the region, which has definitely helped me in my new career,” he said.

“Apart from working here at the station, being surrounded by all the music events that happen in town during the week is just fantastic.

“The monthly jam at Oxley Bowling Club, Lawrie Minson’s Songwriters @ The Pickin’ Pen and the all-in jam at The Albert are just some of the live music events that happen year round in Tamworth.

“People say there’s no live entertainment in Tamworth, yet there’s so much going on. You’ve just got to get out amongst it.”

Although he hasn’t been performing around Tamworth since his return, Ryan will definitely have a strong presence during the festival, returning to the North Tamworth Bowling Club with musical compadre Pixie Jenkins for their highly successful Campfire concerts.

“This year we’ll have the very talented Manfred Vijars joining us at those shows, which will be great,” Ryan said.

“Manfred can really spin a yarn or two and will add another dimension to what Pixie and I bring to the show.”