Update 6/19: “America’s Morning Show” will debut on Thursday, June 20 on WNSH.
“The team has been working around the clock to get ‘America’s Morning Show’ ready for the Big Apple and starting this week New Yorkers will experience the nation’s most unique and authentic Country radio show,” said John Dickey, Executive Vice President and co-COO of Cumulus.
“We’ve been getting ready for the big moment when we join fans live in New York and finally the dream is about to come true and the cast and I can’t wait to share it,” Garner said. “We’re like kids the night before Christmas. We can barely contain ourselves. It’s that kind of excitement with all of us. Breathe in, breathe out. We’re almost there!”
Original Report 6/10: Cumulus has announced “America’s Morning Show” will debut on Country “94.7 Nash-FM” WNSH New York later this month.
The new program will be hosted by Blair Garner along with co-hosts Terri Clark, Sunny Sweeney, Chuck Wicks and Lee Ann Womack. It will originate from Nashville with a live studio audience with regular broadcasts from New York as well.
Blair Garner joins WNSH from Clear Channel’s Premiere Radio Networks where he hosted the syndicated “After Midnite“. His co-hosts are all charting Country musicians. Heather McBee, most recently Vice President of Marketing and Web Initiatives at Sony Music Nashville will serve as Operations Director for the new show.
No details have been released regarding future syndication of the program, although it is likely to make its way to at least some of Cumulus’ other Country outlets in the coming months as the Nash brand expands.
The press release announcing the program follows:
Cumulus announces “America’s Morning Show” will debut on “America’s Country Station” NASH FM 94.7, New York City’s only Country format radio station, beginning later this month live from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays.
The New York market radio program will feature a mix of Country hits, in-studio interviews with Country music’s biggest stars and news about the Country lifestyle – with New York City area traffic, weather and information updated throughout the show. “America’s Morning Show” will originate live from Nashville before a studio audience, with frequent broadcasts from NASH FM 94.7 studios in New York City.
Host Blair Garner will be joined by co-hosts Terri Clark, Sunny Sweeney, Chuck Wicks and Lee Ann Womack. The team from “America’s Morning Show” joins existing on-air personalities Kelly Ford and Jesse Addy on NASH FM 94.7.
NASH FM 94.7 is the flagship radio station for the national NASH entertainment brand based on the Country music lifestyle. NASH will be a multi-platform brand serving the large and growing interest in Country through radio, video, on-line, magazines, events and merchandise.
“The collection of talent assembled for America’s Morning Show is without equal.This show will bring the superstars of country to listeners in an authenticentertaining way not done before,” said John Dickey, Executive Vice President and co-Chief Operating Officer of Cumulus.
“I am thrilled to begin waking up the New York area’s Country listeners on NASH FM 94.7 with an uplifting Country start to the day,” Garner said. “New Yorkers are embracing NASH FM in an amazing way and I look forward to bringing the Country music lifestyle to the Big Apple straight from Nashville.”
Garner previously worked in the New York City market as host of the afternoon drive on 95.5 WPLJ. Garner is best-known for hosting the highly acclaimed Country radio show “After Midnite with Blair Garner” for 20 years as well as the “Blair Garner Show” since 2006. Garner won “On-Air Personality of the Year” from the Academy of Country Music in the national category in 2004, 2006 and 2010 and has been nominated for the prestigious Marconi Award. Eric Weiss of The Weiss Agency represented Garner for his new role.
As co-hosts, Country artists Clark, Sweeney, Wicks and Womack join “America’s Morning Show” on NASH FM 94.7 directly from Country music’s world stage:
· Clark is an eight-time fan-voted Canadian Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year and a multiple Country Music Awards and Academy of Country Music Female Vocalist of the Year nominee. Hailed as “the female Dwight Yoakam” when she hit Country radio, the longstanding Grand Ole Opry member is known for the #1s “Better Things To Do,” “I Just Wanna Be Mad,” “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” and “Girls Lie, Too.”
· Sweeney has released two critically acclaimed albums Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame and Concrete. Her Top 10 hit “From a Table Away” was the highest charting Billboard debut single from a female Country artist in four years.
· Wicks launched with a debut album that featured three Top 40 singles including the Top 5 hit “Stealing Cinderella.” He recently released the EP Rough featuring his newest single “Salt Life.”
· Womack’s popularity started with the multi-format, multiple week #1 “I Hope You Dance” and she quickly became the duet partner of choice for George Strait, Don Henley, Alan Jackson and Buddy Miller. The progressive hard country songstress has won coveted awards including: Country Music Awards Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for There’s More Where That Came From, Single of the Year twice (for “Dance” and “I May Hate Myself In The Morning”*) and Vocal Event twice. Womack also won a Grammy with Willie Nelson. The native of Jacksonville, Texas has performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert and several Presidential inaugurations. She serves as the anchor for the African femaleempowerment charity Join My Village.
Heather McBee is the Operations Director of “America’s Morning Show” with responsibility for marketing, promotions, staffing and booking. McBee previously spent 20 years at Sony Music Entertainment in Nashville where she most recently served as the Vice President of Marketing and Web Initiatives.
Follow “America’s Morning Show” on Twitter: @americasmorning.
Originating from Nashville… so will WSM-FM or WKDF be the flagship?
WNSH will be the flagship. While its obviously likely the program will eventually be heard in Nashville itself at this time it’ll first be heard exclusively in New York.