His listeners know him for his good-humored, enthusiastic chatter, but there’s a lot more to Rob Dewbre than his persona on Bee Broadcasting radio stations.

A father of three teenagers, Dewbre is a musician, an advertising jingle writer and performer, a skilled audio and video editor and an appliance salesman. He’s also pretty funny.

Dewbre, 44, came onto the Flathead Valley radio scene in 1996, joining Benny Bee Jr. on the B-98 morning show.

“We clicked almost immediately,” Dewbre said of his partner. “To this day, he is one of my top five favorite people.”

Dewbre says Bee does “the heavy lifting” on the show, while his role is along the lines of a sidekick.

“He doesn’t tell me what we’re going to talk about and honestly I don’t want to know,” Dewbre said. “I sit there, I take it in, and I wisecrack. That’s my job.”

It’s been a successful partnership, Dewbre said, with the classic rock morning show consistently rating No. 1 in its targeted demographic of males ages 18 to 54.

“And classic rock isn’t exactly a dominate genre these days,” he said, adding that the chemistry between himself and Bee plays a significant role in attracting listeners. 

In addition to his work on B-98, Dewbre is a DJ on Bee Broadcasting’s “Hank” classic country radio station. Despite his affinity for rock ‘n’ roll, Dewbre says he was raised on “old country” music.

A fourth-generation Flathead Valley native, Dewbre graduated from Flathead High School in 1988 and promptly went to broadcasting school in Cambridge, Minn.

“I figured it would be the easiest way to get into the music business without picking up an instrument and I thought it would be a good way to pick up chicks, but that turned out not to be true,” he said.

At around the age of 19, Dewbre did pick up a guitar and he took to it quickly. He joined a band, The Road Scholars, that toured the Midwest for about three years. He soon after returned to the Flathead Valley.

“It took me eight years to get back here and I have no urge to leave now,” said Dewbre, who lives in Columbia Falls with his children.

Around 1999, he jumped into music editing for the Montana Secrets show on the Outdoor Channel; that lasted for about three years. That experience got him into video editing as well.

The technical experience set him up for his jingle recording gig. Dewbre’s voice and style are distinctive and recognizable in jingles he’s done for businesses such as Fast Toys, Party Time Party Rentals, The Blue Cow, Neon Sun, Intermountain Mortgage and Silverbrook Estates.

He frequently collaborates with a favorite female vocalist, Jesska Alcott, and he works closely with the advertisers in developing the tunes.

“I try to write 30-second songs as opposed to jingles,” he said. “A lot of the time an advertiser doesn’t know what they want until they know what they don’t want ... You can do it over and over again until you get it right. That’s the advantage of recording.”

Dewbre shared a secret behind jingles: “What makes a jingle good is when it sticks in your head. It could be because it’s good, or it could be because it annoys the hell out of you. Either way, I win.”

His interest in music goes well beyond jingles, however. He’s been writing songs for 20 years, and besides his guitar and harmonica playing, he dabbles with other instruments, including a drum set he recently acquired.

“Drums in your living room — funnest thing ever!”

Dewbre adds that he is almost in a position to record an album of his original music, and he is looking forward to doing so.

But he is a busy guy. In addition to his radio work, Dewbre does sound and video editing for a television show called “Eye of the Hunter” that is hosted by outdoor adventurer Tom Opre. The show is broadcast on NBC SportsNet.

He is also a salesman at Fred’s Appliances, a job that he enjoys even though it is quite different from his other pursuits.

“I’ve found that the secret to survival in the Flathead is diversification,” he said.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.