Meet the WDLB On Air Staff!
John Simonson
Born and raised on a dairy farm in Jackson County, John is a country boy at heart. After graduating from high school in Black River Falls in 1982, he attended Brown Institute School of Broadcasting in Minneapolis where he graduated in 1984. Hired while still in broadcasting school, he became the Farm Director for Lucky AM 1170 WLKE and 99Q – WGGQ in Waupun, Wisconsin. John eventually found his way back to the Trempealeau Valley where he became the Music Director and afternoon DJ for WHTL Radio in Whitehall, Wisconsin.
While working at WHTL, John met and married his wife Jan, (she called in and had the wrong answer to a trivia contest question he was asking on the air!) and they have been a team in life for 30 plus years!
The Ol’ Country boy has also worked as Sales Manager at Western Wisconsin’s Information Station, WWIS in Black River Falls, Sales Rep and Program Director for WDLB-WLJY-WOSQ, in Marshfield from 1988 to 1996 and DJ for Great Country 101.9 WDEZ in Wausau from 1996 to 2003.
In 2016, John rejoined the staff at WDLB-WOSQ as part time announcer and took over the weekday morning spot on AM 1450 WDLB in November of 2017.
John and Jan have 3 grown kids and 5 grandkids (with one on the way). They are active and volunteer in church and when possible “The High Ground Veterans Memorial Park” in Neillsville. He loves Farmall tractors, Studebakers, Country, Rock and Classical Music, and he’s big on life, and invites you to listen weekday mornings on AM 1450 WDLB, live stream at
WDLBAM.COM or the TuneIn Radio app on your IPhone or Android!
Enjoy the Show!!
Jeff Cannon
Jeff was born and raised in Wausau, and after graduating Wausau East HS attended the venerable Brown Institute in Minneapolis. He began his career in broadcasting in the Fall of 1978 in Nebraska. Having worked in Country, CHR and Adult Contemporary music formats in Nebraska, New Hampshire, Missouri, Kansas as well as Wisconsin, allowed the all around perspective of the business.
Working on the Network level in Branson, Missouri and at WTMJ in Milwaukee has given Jeff the experience of radio broadcasting from both the network and affiliate perspective.
He was hired for Sales at WDLB in the Spring of 2008 and soon after migrated to the programming side of the building, holding the position of Operations Manager and now Program Director.
Jeff is heard live weekdays as host of the General Store, Insight and the Noon hour.
Mike Warren
Mike is a native of Spencer, WI and has lived in Marshfield, WI since 1983. He is the third of five children, and is a 1991 graduate of Marshfield Senior High School. In August, 1992, Mike began his broadcast career at WDLB-AM1450 as an announcer, a board operator and commercial producer.
In July of 1993, Mike moved over to the News Department, where he worked under News Director Thom Gerretsen and with part-time reporter/anchor Marilyn Hansotia. Mike took over as News Director upon Thom’s departure in May, 1999. After brief stints with Main Street Marshfield and a local community bank from 2006-2008, Mike rejoined the WDLB staff as its News Director in October of 2008, and has held that role since.
Mike also works as a part-time sports reporter, covering play-by-play assignments of local and high school sports teams. He is also an occasional host of the WDLB “Insight” talk program.
When Mike is not covering news and sports assignments, he and Kris enjoy attending Packers games and concerts, traveling, collecting antiques for their century home, kayaking and reading (mostly about local and national history). His favorite band is Van Halen (with DLR, of course). His favorite movies include The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, Back to the Future, National Treasure, Night at the Museum, All the President’s Men and The Post.
Gene Delisio
Gene is a native of Rockland County, New York, who also spent time growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He graduated from Spring Valley Senior High School in Spring Valley, New York, and came to the Midwest to attend UW-Milwaukee. Gene received his BA in Mass Communication from UWM in 1976, and began his radio career as Sports Director at WCBY-AM/FM in Cheboygan, Michigan. He later worked for WIVQ-FM in LaSalle-Peru, Illinois and WRHL- AM/FM in Rochelle, Illinois, before joining the WDLB staff in 1985. During his tenure in Marshfield, Gene has broadcast thousands of games involving the Marshfield Tigers, Columbus Dons as well as Marawood and Cloverbelt Conference teams.
For his efforts, Gene has been inducted into the Marshfield Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame, the Marshfield Area Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame and the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He has also been awarded the Howie Metz Award for his support of Marshfield Youth Hockey, and was named the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Media Man of the Year. Gene was also a member of the Marsh-21 organization, which helped construct the Griese Park soccer complex and Jack Hackman Field in Marshfield.
He received his MA in Communication from UW-Stevens Point in 1995, and served for several years as Faculty Advisor to UWSP student station WWSP.
In his spare time, Gene studies local sports and baseball history, watches his large collection of silent films, and roots for his beloved New York Mets. Gene and his wife Pat live in Stratford, with their Shih Tzu, Paddy.
