COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – We’re counting down the days until Red, White and BOOM! 2023. Most think the most important part of the show is the fireworks. But that’s only part of a much larger equation.

The fireworks will be bigger, louder, and brighter than ever this year. But the bright blasts wouldn’t be complete without one thing – the soundtrack.

“Luckily, people seem to like it every year,” said Jimmy Jam from WNCI’s Dave and Jimmy.

Jam and Kelsey Webb help pick out the songs each year. WNCI is the radio media partner for Red, White and BOOM!

Brian DeToto with DeToto Entertainment produces custom mixes for events like Red, White, and Boom. He has been working alongside Fireworks Director Earl Burke for the past 6 soundtracks. Together they determine song selection, song order, and the music/mix production of the soundtrack.

“Earl texted me this morning the fireworks guy, and he was like wait until you see the show this year. It’s going to be outstanding, I can’t wait,” Jam said.

“We do a lot of work together to get that soundtrack set first. And then we can start placement of all the shells where we want to have them break in the sky in different parts of the song,” Burke said.

The entire Red, White, and Boom process starts with the soundtrack. A lot of pressure, but Jam joked and said he’s been doing it “for 80 years.”

“We always try to have some traditional. Whether it’s Battle Hymn of the Republic or 1812 Overture. And then you always have the Miley Cyrus Party in the USA more current popular patriotic songs. Taylor this year. Yeah, there might be Taylor this year,” he said.

Of course, the Taylor Swift was clearly sarcasm… maybe.

Watch a preview of this year’s Red, White and BOOM! soundtrack in the video player below.

The science may not be exact for figuring out which songs are in and which are out, but Jam and Webb get plenty of suggestions throughout the year.

“People say ‘Hey man, can you play that Katy Perry song? That would be great for the soundtrack. It’s called “Fireworks.”‘ Well yea maybe we’ll do that for the 17th year in a row, we’ll see,” Jam said.

Admittedly, he is not a big fan of country music but aims to please everyone.

“You might hear an ounce of country. We try to keep everybody happy with the soundtrack. We try to make it a mix of current songs that everybody will know, mixed with great patriotic songs, and to be honest Buckeye songs. We always make sure to have our share of OSU tunes,” he said.

Even with tradition, they update and mix the soundtrack new each year.

“There’s a lot of new songs. You’ll hear a mix of a lot of current songs on there that have not been on in the past. And I’m not going to give them away but it’s a really good mix this year,” Jam said.

As for anything new this year, both Webb and Jam were pretty tight-lipped. “Nobody knows, it’s a secret, alright? Don’t tell anybody, alright?”

Although Jam did do his best Storm Team 4 impression.

“Well, it’s supposed to be dry. No rain. Yeah, we saw extended forecast. We saw the 30-day extended forecast,” he joked. But obviously, he can’t predict the weather a month away.

“We’re just so excited. It’s one of the best days of the year. It’s like Christmas,” Webb said.