Your Hometown Roadtrip host Brandon Dawson travels down memory lane discussing his career journey

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Brandon Dawson is a well-loved and respected WJBF News Channel 6 television personality in the community, but little did he know that coming all the way from Syracuse, New York would lead him to being the host of his own television series.

Dawson sits down with us to discuss his journey to becoming the host of Your Hometown Roadtrip.

Welcome to Celebrating Black Excellence! Thank you for joining us as our special guest. Now you are originally from Syracuse, New York. How did you get from New York to down here in Georgia?

So, my mom had a job in New York at first, but then, she was looking for stuff obviously. She was wanting to grow in her career, and so, she found a job down in Athens, Georgia. So, we moved down. I think I was about 13 years old and went from Syracuse down to Athens. We have been here in the south ever since. It’s too cold up north. So, we just stuck around. (Laughs)

So how did you get from Athens to Augusta?

I was looking for school. Obviously people were like, “Oh, why don’t you go to UGA?” But I was really trying to get into to film, and I was really always interested in cameras. Augusta University has a very good television and cinema program. So, I went there for about four years, and that’s how I ended up here in Augusta.

So, I know you that you originally had aspirations of being an actor. How did you go from having aspirations to be an actor to get into broadcasting?

I want to say it was probably just working on a bunch of sets, and it’s one of those things where as a kid, yes, I wanted to be an actor. I wanted to do movies. I wanted to be Spider-Man, and it is one of those things where as I kind of gotten older, I started really getting into cameras and broadcasting. It was probably my first job here at WJBF. We went out, and I was filming football and just fell in love with live production. The more I kept doing it, and the more I started working here, I was like, “Man, this is really what I want to do.” I still do some acting on the side. I will occasionally pop up in some stuff. If you’re into the local theater scene, I’ll be in some of those plays. However, it just got to be one of those things where I think I fell in love with this profession so much. Then I was like, acting is kind of a hobby, but journalism and doing stuff for television is my career.

Before we get to your career, we’re going to often talk more about your passion, your hobby. You do stuff with Le Chat Noir. So, how was that experience working with Le Chat?

So, working with Le Chat Noir I can pretty much everything that I’ve done I put a lot of that into them. I did improv for about seven years, which is comedy just on the fly. So, we did that. I did improv for a long time, and then, it was one of those things to where you just kept doing it. I fell in love with that. I did some other plays as well. With that, I want to say the first time that any of my bosses here even noticed me. They went to one of my shows. They went to one of my shows, and I had a great night. I was on fire. They came up to me afterwards, and they were like, “Oh, man, Brandon, I get it now. I get it. You got a little bit of a talent on you.” I think before that they only really saw me as kind of the silly kid who ran around here and played with cameras. So, it was that moment, they saw what I could do, and that kind of planted the seed in their mind, “Oh, maybe this kid could be an on-camera talent later on.” There’s a whole story to how I actually ended up becoming a talent. But yeah, that was the start. They started seeing me there, and that’s where they kind of recognized my skills. So, Le Chat Noir kind of gave me everything. You know, I proposed to my wife at Le Chat. If you go online, you can find that video went viral. I did it during an improv show. So, Le Chat Noir has a big place in my heart.

Let’s talk about your show: Your Hometown Roadtrip. Tell us about the show. What is the show about for people who haven’t seen it?

So, if you haven’t seen Your Hometown Roadtrip, I got the idea a long time ago. I take a lot of day trips. You know, my wife and I take vacations, a decent amount, but I like to go to surrounding areas that are like 45-minute drives. So, I got the idea. I said, “I really would like to do a show where I just go around, and I go to these different places in the CSRA and highlight local businesses, places, and people. I wanted it to all be positive and fun. So, I came up with that idea. We went through the process, and I told my bosses. They loved the idea. I think I pitched it for a while, and then I kind of forgot about it. Then, it came up. They came up to me one day, and they said, “Oh, well, you know, we’d love to actually do that show.” So, I was thrilled about it, obviously. We just got done with our first season, and it was just a blessing to be able to go out there and to be able to talk to people about their experiences and how they got to where we are. It’s kind of like what you and I are doing right now, just talking about myself. I like to go out there and do that for other people. It’s weird for me right now to have to be talking about myself. I feel like saying, “Karlton, tell me about your life,” but I’m not going to do that. (Laughs) Maybe, one day on Your Hometown. We’re going to switch the roles eventually. We’re going to switch the roles, and we’re going to get you on there. And then, I’ll throw out the hard-hitting questions. (Laughs)

So, what has the impact been like? How’s the reception been for the show?

It’s been very well. I’ve gotten a lot of messages saying, “Hey, thanks for coming out. Thanks for highlighting our community.” It’s nice to be able to go out to some of the surrounding areas for a good, positive thing that they have going on. So, I’ve gotten a lot of nice messages. I’ve gotten a lot of people who reach out to me and just say, “Hey, the next time you come back out here, you got to come and check this out.” So, people have been very thrilled about it, and then the people that we’ve talked to loved it. There’s nothing better than being able to talk about your journey and how you got there. I love that for people because a lot of times you see a business and you go in and buy something. You maybe chat with somebody for a second, and then, you leave. But to actually talk with someone and be like, “I started here. I was building up to this for 20 years, and now I have this business. It’s succeeding, and the community has supported me.” Getting to go out and just hear that kind of stuff is a blessing.

And this has impacted you, obviously, in a great way. We see the smile on your face. Congratulations to you again on the show.

It’s really nice. I got to give a big thank you to my crew. I work with a great crew. I got to give a big thank you to my bosses because everybody has supported me the entire time that I’ve been doing this. I’ve gotten no pushback on this at all. The second that I said that I wanted to do it, everybody loved it. work with a really great photographer, Gary Nipple. He’s incredible. I have a bunch of really good production techs who have helped. We go, and we have a great time. If you can’t tell, we go out, and we have a great time with the show. It’s just nothing but smiles not only from us, but from the people that we’re out there interviewing as well. So, I love to see it.

So, what can we look forward to for season two?

We are taking a break right now for the holiday. We just got done with our first season, and for season two, it’s going to be bigger. We’re going to be seeing some more places that we haven’t been to in the CSRA. We’re talking to more people. I’m going to get out there and try to do some wackier stuff. Like when we were out in Aiken last time, when we left, I said that next time I come back here, I’m going to learn how to ride a horse. So, best believe, coming up this next time, I’m going to be riding a horse. So, we’re going to be going bigger and doing that. I honestly want to try to get some of the other talents here that we have at WJBF to come out for some episodes and just have a good time.

If people want to follow your journey, or they want to watch more of the show, or if they haven’t seen it, they want to actually experience for the first time, how can they do so?

We take all of our segments and we put them online. You go to WJBF.com and go to the WJBF Plus section. You’ll just type in Your Hometown Road Trip. You’ll see all the segments that we’ve done. If you kind of look at them and go by the area, if you kind of watch them in order, it’s almost like you’re watching a whole episode. You miss out on a few things, but you’re essentially watching the whole episode. Of course, right now, we’re about to be doing some reruns. We’re on every Wednesday at 12:30 on WJBF News Channel 6. While we’re on break, we’re starting back from the beginning. You can go back and watch from our first episode and just keep on watching until we come back, and we have some new episodes coming up probably right around February.

Thank you for supporting Celebrating Black Excellence 365! We will be back with more interviews and even more digital content in 2024! Happy Holidays!