A native of sleepy-yet-historic Mobile, Alabama, Dewight Barkley got his start in the industry at an early age as a music enthusiast turned professional. He started sneaking into nightclubs underage to listen to dance music and hang out with DJs he knew before finally making the connection between the records he was buying and the career choices they offered. An avid collector of vinyl, he built a career in music retail at the tender age of 20 with product knowledge from his own ever-expanding collection, an imposing library of over 27,000 dance 12" singles and still growing. Having worked for major national chains like the now-defunt Blockbuster Music and Wherehouse Entertainment for almost 15 years, he continues to manage a successful and profitable 12,000 square foot FYE superstore to this day--a daunting task on the front lines of music retail in the digital age.
Dewight attended Loyola Universtity in New Orleans on a poetry scholarship, where he studied journalism and public relations before turning his back on both and capitalizing on his hobby of DJing by landing a coveted prime-time weekend slot at Bourbon Street's notorious gay hotspot Oz. Using his record company connections and the central location of his home as a springboard, Dewight ventured out into securing guest spots throughout the Southeast and quickly established himself as one of the most versatile and sought-after DJs in the area.
Dewight eventually settled into a nationally-recognized residency at the posh Emerald City nightclub in Pensacola, Florida, where he has played a crucial and central role to the dance music scene of the area for over 10 years. As "ground zero" of the massive annual exodus of the gay club circuit each Memorial Day weekend, his growing repuation didn't go unnoticed and he was invited to become a part of the elite Billboard Dance Chart reporting panel, contributing to the magazine's weekly published charts that are "the" standard of the music industry. Always astounding with fine details and entertaining with fathomless trivia about every angle of the music business and its celebrities, Dewight has built personal relationships within the industry that have earned him the respect and credentials that make his opinions not only sought after, but also relevant.
A self-proclaimed workaholic with three jobs, he whiles away his rare spare time with songwriting and freelance work for About.com, because in his own words it "offers the perfect marriage of what I studied to be and what I actually love to do."
