Get to the Roots Extras
Get to the Roots Extras was created to archive interviews conducted by Stef Hinton for Get to the Roots on Radio St Pete 96.7 FM WLMX-LP St. Petersburg, as they're unable to archived at the radio station. Stef uploaded these interviews online in order to continue to support and promote the local musicians and community members who took the time to speak on air.
Get to the Roots Extras has expanded to include episodes containing light commentary, encouragement and motivational speech for fellow artists, and radio/podcaster based humor, as well as a behind the scenes look at some of the aspects of maintaining Get to the Roots.
Listen on:
Episodes
Monday Jan 19, 2026
Monday Jan 19, 2026
Get to the Roots Stef reflects on the overwhelming surge of daily uploads and how hard it is for musicians and creators to be noticed. She recounts this week’s Radio St. Pete playlist—featuring Mama Gina, Laura Lanero, the Anderson Brothers—and a theme of female angst balanced with happier tracks.
Stef shares candid thoughts on engaging listeners both in person and online, the struggle of creative work, and teases upcoming interviews and music-release advice.
Monday Jan 12, 2026
Monday Jan 12, 2026
Stef dives into authenticity, creator anxiety, and the struggle to promote past work, sharing candid stories from her radio show and podcast.
She spotlights local musicians like Cassie Jean and the Fireflies, Sarah Mae Gunn, highlights TikTok artists who create multiple videos to promote the same work, and urges creators to fight both front‑end and back‑end resistance.
Short, funny, and encouraging, this episode is a call to make imperfect work and keep sharing it -- much to the dismay of naysayers.
Thursday Jan 08, 2026
Thursday Jan 08, 2026
Get to the Roots Extras host Stef shares the alarming 2025 Pinellas County traffic numbers—13,135 total crashes, dozens of fatalities, and thousands injured—while sharing personal near-miss stories and observations about red-light running, hit-and-runs, street racing, and e-bike risks in St. Pete.
She spotlights IONTB as a timely local source, considers root causes of reckless driving, and urges community attention to road safety.
The episode closes with a teaser for an upcoming interview with an up and coming singer-songwriter, as well as more local stories and viral moments.
Wednesday Jan 07, 2026
Wednesday Jan 07, 2026
Wondering if you should move to St. Petersburg, Florida for a music project? It depends. The city offers abundant live venues, strong busking and festival opportunities, and a good scene for Trop Rock and live performers, with many available collaborators.Downsides include higher-than-average rent and housing costs, hot and humid summers, local competition and artistic gatekeeping, political and cultural diversity that can cause friction, and some safety and firearm considerations. Finding the right creative community can take time.If your project relies on live performance and local gigs, St. Pete can be a great fit. If you need low living costs or an easy path to industry signings, weigh the economics and social scene carefully before moving.
Monday Jan 05, 2026
Monday Jan 05, 2026
Host Stef walks through the St. Petersburg Beacon’s Year in Review, mixing local headlines — from restored bait shops and new clubs to stadium work and community events — with a personal, funny anecdote about an awkward Q&A at a speaker event that highlights gentrification and local eccentricities.
The episode captures the city’s changing character, memorable local stories, and small-town moments (including horoscopes and shuffleboard), offering a light, candid snapshot of life in St. Pete.
Tuesday Dec 30, 2025
Tuesday Dec 30, 2025
Get to the Roots Extras host Stef reacts to and summarizes the week’s top TikTok — an unsettling AI video about an orange cat, a donkey and an alpaca — and shares updates from the local music scene.
Stef announces a new music video she edited for Fiona Frensche and her love of Frensche's release: Sylvie. She speaks on promoting friends’ music, and reflects on how hard it is for local artists to break through.
She previews her Get to the Roots New Year’s Eve special with songs by Geri X, Cassie Jean & the Fireflies, Marty Fouts, Valerie Wisecracker and more, and encourages listeners to support local musicians.
Watch the new Harley Davidson music video here: https://youtu.be/SYepYNBbdOI
Sunday Dec 28, 2025
Sunday Dec 28, 2025
On Get to the Roots Extras, host Stef checks out the History Facts Article showing an example of a mid to late 1800's school test — answering old-school geography, math, language, history and science questions while reacting with humor and curiosity.
Along the way she reflects on how education and accepted knowledge have changed, shares historical facts from the quiz, and invites listeners to join her radio show and social channels for more conversation. (Wow, AI wrote that, pretty accurate, right?)
Check out the original article here: https://historyfacts.com/us-history/article/could-you-pass-a-school-exam-from-the-1800s/?lctg=e49e153b-028b-463a-8790-029e8a5364cc
Sunday Dec 21, 2025
Sunday Dec 21, 2025
In this episode of Get to the Roots Extras, Stef speaks with her cowriter Crazy Grandpa about their first release: "We Didn't Start the Fire 2," a sequel / cover of Billy Joel's 1980's hit.
Covering this song has been a dream of Crazy Grandpa's and we made it a reality. He performs a few verses of the song off the cuff and we ask listeners to check out the finished version, as well as share the newly released song with their friends, family, and enemies. We're not picky. We love this song and we know you will too.
Thank you for listening to us speak about creating and making magic happen together. We live in different countries, but meet every week on ZOOM.
Listen on YouTube Music: https://youtu.be/q1XeJHKjzSk?si=Ul95clzrzBbw1SZ7
Sunday Dec 21, 2025
Sunday Dec 21, 2025
Stef walks listeners through her annual Christmas radio show on Radio St. Pete, highlighting local holiday tracks, humorous songs, and personal memories that shape her approach to the season.
The episode features mentions of local artists, special drops, a call for jokes, and teases the radio debut of a collaborative song with Jérôme Savoie aka Crazy Grandpa.
The song about a Martian and Gorilla found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXwnp3Aka9s
Friday Dec 12, 2025
Friday Dec 12, 2025
Get to the Roots Stef dives into the surprising history of "Jingle Bells," revealing its origins as a 19th-century drinking song, forgotten verses, and odd lyrics like "bells on bobtail." She shares fun anecdotes, playground parodies like "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells," and her disdain for Christmas.
Tune in for a witty, irreverent deep-dive with laughs, historical facts, and a radio show update from St. Pete, FL.
I hiked in loafers!
Anyway, this used to start out with: "HOWDY!" and that's not an accurate representation of Stef Hinton.
Hello.
Stef Hinton does a lot of random stuff online, including a volunteer radio show that has led to this podcast. I created the Get to the Roots Extras podcast to archive interviews from my radio show, Get to the Roots, on RadioStPete.com.
I wanted more listeners to be able to hear my guests speak, as I feel every conversation I’ve had has been both meaningful and entertaining. I was also worried someone would feel slighted if they only appeared on the radio a few times and that experience just went “poof!” and was unable to be shared in the future. As artists and community members, we all need forms of promoting our work. Unfortunately, popularity and resumes are stacked up by the coins we can count, meaning: in order to compete with the attention of others, they must first need to know we exist.
Considering the internet is a relatively new invention, and radio has persisted 140 years, while at most, the internet has been around a maximum of 57 years, it seems counterintuitive that radio is temporary, but the internet is forever. Scientists tell us radio waves escape our atmosphere and travel the cosmos. I found out from the internet. The internet exists, where? On a few servers on this finite chunk of rock? Data centers? Will the internet ever bleed out from behind the clouds and travel beyond our galaxy?
Anyway.
I also upload solo episodes. In each episode I end up ranting about how if you're an artist, in any capacity, you should practice. Why? Because I wish someone drilled that into my sooner -- I mean people tried, but I didn’t understand it. In addition, my rants always encourage you post your work online / share it with others for free, as you build your audience in order to one day live from your work.
Our biggest hurdle is ourselves.
Our haters are our first fans.
Don't be one of those people who say "I want to do [THING]," but never stick with it long term. I am one of those people too. I had lofty goals and little skill. Now, I have slow moving goals and I’m trying to show skills worth sharing with others. I never followed through with anything for very long. I was highly inconsistent and I needed the motivation to actually try to fulfill the daydream.
So, anyway, thanks for checking out Get to the Roots Extras online. Please go give my guests some love on their social medias or if they are a musician, please go listen to their songs.