30 years of Music On The Menu with Alan K. Stout

WILKES-BARRE – No one supports the NEPA music scene quite like Alan K. Stout. In 2024, this longtime music journalist, radio host, and live music event organizer, celebrates the 30th anniversary of “Music On The Menu.”

His career in music journalism began in 1992 and in 1994, he first launched his weekly music column, “Music On The Menu.” The column appeared in The Times Leader each week from 1994-2005 and The Weekender from 2005-2011.

The column led to the “Music On The Menu Live” music series, which allowed local songwriters to perform their own original material live on the radio, the “Music On The Menu” television show on SSPTV, the Music On The Menu music blog, the Music On The Menu podcast (during COVID-19) and the long-running “Music On The Menu” radio show, which launched in 2004, is noting its 20th anniversary this year, and continues airing each week on 105 The River.

Stout, for his work with Music On The Menu, was voted Northeastern Pennsylvania’s favorite newspaper columnist seven times. He earned a Keystone Press Award for Excellence in Journalism for his music coverage and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Steamtown Music Awards for his work in music journalism, radio and producing live events.

In 2022, he served as writer, narrator and and executive producer of the documentary film, “Agnes.” In 2023, he received a Community Champion Award from the Luzerne Foundation and a Change-Maker Award from the Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce. He currently serves as Executive Director of Visit Luzerne County, which oversees the annual Rockin’ The River concert series in Wilkes-Barre, and he serves on the steering committee of the Luzerne County Arts & Entertainment Hall of Fame.

In addition to profiling and supporting hundreds of local artists, Stout’s interviews include conversations with Billy Joel, David Bowie, Don Henley, Steven Tyler, Eddie Van Halen, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Jon Bon Jovi and dozens of national acts and members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Many of those interviews can now be found on YouTube.

His archived concert reviews (many of which took place during his time at The Weekender), for which he received press credentials, include Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Eric Clapton, Sting, and hundreds of shows at Montage Mountain Amphitheater, Mohegan Sun Arena and F.M. Kirby Center.

“It’s hard to believe that Music On The Menu has been a part of my life for 30 years,” said Stout. “I can still remember the day that the entertainment editor at The Times Leader asked me if I’d like to write a weekly music column. We were standing out in front of the Times Leader building on North Main Street, and he was on a smoke break. As he was heading out the door, he asked me to join him. I didn’t even smoke, but I assumed he wanted to talk with me about something. And it ended up being a day that changed my life. So much of what I went on to do with my life, and still do to this day, is because of Music on The Menu. When I meet people out and about, just walking down the street, or the supermarket, or wherever, it’s still the thing people want to talk with me about.”

“I’m very fortunate to have had so many people take an interest in my work with music and to have always been so supportive of the projects that I’ve been a part of,” he added. “Music, arts and entertainment will always be an important part of my life – and we have so many talented people here in NEPA – and so it’s really been an honor and a privilege to help support those things over the years. And, for me personally, it’s led to some wonderful friendships and very special memories.”

Alan K. Stout has been celebrating local music for 30 years through “Music On The Menu” and continues to bring excitement,nuance, and talent to Northeastern Pennsylvania.