Under the shadow of his bright green baseball cap etched with the John Deere logo, you can see the shine of David John McCoy’s studded earrings. As he eats a plate of french fries in a diner on the west end of town, McCoy names off his roles: grandfather, partygoer and party-thrower, retired college professor, deejay and sought-after radio personality for channels big and small.

The Colorado Springs native has never fit one box.

“I’m a country boy at heart, but I’ve been working in a yuppie world,” said McCoy. “I’ve always had this internal struggle, because I don’t really belong in either world.”

His name tells the story well. For years, he went by D.J. McCoy. As D.J., he hung out with Willie Nelson and palled around with Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton. He got in bar fights and deejayed parties and introduced national acts on stage. He did commercials for the San Francisco 49ers, Dunkin’ Donuts and Klondike Bars. During spurts on the radio, he entertained 2 million people per week.

If McCoy ever writes an autobiography, he says he’ll title it “paid to party.”

“That’s what I’ve done for 40 years. It’s been one big party,” he said.

Now 64, he lists the name David John on his business cards. He reads Dr. Seuss to his 9-year-old grandson when he’s in town. And he set up his own corporation for his voice services.

He’s been the voice behind Pandora, Cumulus Media and ABC stations, but it’s hard to find something that clicks. He hung up his radio hat in April after a stint at Denver’s 93.7 the Rock.

“It not always a good situation; it’s like I’m a race car driver, and I’m a great driver, but you got to give me a good car. If you give me a 1970 Pinto with a flat tire, I can’t win the race,” said McCoy, who lives on a ranch in Peyton.

He’s driving in a new direction.

McCoy is slated for his first TV role in a new series called “Big Sky.” He’ll play a bad guy in the Western-themed show and plans to shoot the pilot sometime next year.

“Hollywood moves so slow. In radio we talk in hours and days; they talk in months and a year from now,” he said.

The show will have a classic, “Bonanza-“type feel. “TV is starving for something like this,” said McCoy. “Things happen in cycles and in Hollywood they do the same thing over and over until they beat it to death, whether it’s detective shows or reality shows.”

Still, he’s never chased fame. His favorite gig was working in a small Maine market and getting all of his listeners to track him down and recognize him at the local Wal-Mart.

“I’d do this bit where I’d wear mismatched socks and tell people on the radio I’d give them $1,000 if they caught me wearing matching socks, and anywhere I went at least 10 people would be checking my pant-leg,” he said.

And over the years, it’s grown harder to get listeners to “not change the channel.”

“When I started out, people took the radio everywhere they went,” he said. “A lot less people are listening to the radio now; some people don’t even turn it on.”

McCoy plans to move to Phoenix in a few months to be closer to his grandkids. Although his radio days are over, he says he won’t stop using his voice to reach people.

“I get asked what my hobbies are and I always say it’s people. I have lots and lots of friends. I love meeting people and hearing their stories,” said McCoy. “I like to think I’m impacting people one on one, even if it’s in some small way.”