December 3, 2024 News@CountryAircheck.com

Honeycomb Retires: iHeartMedia/Hartford & New Haven Area Pres. Steve Honeycomb, whose oversight includes WWYZ, will retire at year's end and remain in a consulting role through 2025. No word on plans for his position. Honeycomb has spent his nearly 40-year career entirely in Connecticut, with 13 years in sales at AC WRCH/Hartford before joining then-Clear Channel/Hartford in 2000.

Inside Track: Big Loud Management's Troy "Tracker" Johnson is launching the Nashville-based Track Mgmt in January in partnership with Live Nation. Initial clients are Hardy, Dallas Smith, Jake Worthington and McCoy Moore. Johnson has also recruited Big Loud's Emily Smith and Drew Magid to join his team. Johnson has been with Big Loud since 2015. Company Partners Seth England, Joey Moi and Craig Wiseman say, "As Big Loud concludes its artist management venture at the end of 2025, we couldn’t be prouder to see Tracker embark on his own entrepreneurial path. He and his team are more than ready for this moment, and we look forward to supporting Track Mgmt in the years to come."

WBWN's Stevens Exits: Cumulus WBWN/Bloomington, IL APD/MD/afternoon host Buck Stevens has exited. "To all those who have spent their days listening to me, you will never know how truly grateful I am," he shared on social media. "To all those that I have called my work family over the years, I am honored for the time spent working with you." Stevens joined the station in 1998 and added MD duties in 2000. No word on plans for the position. Reach him here.

Kerk Land: As reported via Breaking News, BMG VP/A&R, Frontline Recordings Katie Kerkhover has been elevated to SVP/A&R, Frontline Recordings, North America. Splitting her time between Nashville and Los Angeles, Kerkhover will also lead the A&R teams at company offices in Miami, New York and Toronto. “When looking for the perfect candidate to lead A&R in North America and elevate our frontline efforts in multiple offices, we didn’t have to look very far," says Pres./Frontline Recordings, The Americas Jon Loba, to whom she reports. "Katie has quickly become one of the most accomplished and respected A&R executives in the business, with the track record to match." Kerkhover joined the company in 2020 and rose to her most recent position in 2022 (CAT 5/4/22). Previous stops include Sony/ATV and CAM Creative; reach her here.

The Tiffany Network: Manager Tiffany Wiggers has been promoted to Principal at Nashville-based business management firm O'Neil Hagaman. She has been with the company for 20 years, joining as an intern in 2004, and is a member of the Tennessee and Nashville Bar Association's Entertainment Divisions.

Extra Credit: Nashville-based music publishing company Little Extra Music has added Victoria Goodvin and Tristan Scaife to its team. Goodvin's work history includes Creative Dir. roles at The Song Factory, Row Entertainment, Liv Write Play and, most recently, Wide Open Music, where she has worked since 2019. Scaife is the son of the company's late co-founder, Joe Scaife. Reach Goodvin here and Scaife here.

Tour Support: Brett Young's Back To Basics World Tour 2025 kicks off Feb. 13 in Springfield, IL with subsequent stops throughout the US, Australia, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK. Tickets here Friday (12/6).

Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas will embark on their first tour since 2015, The Arcadia 2025 Tour, April 17 in Louisville, KY. The 73-date run will be their first outing with new Union Station vocalist/guitarist Russell Moore, formerly frontman for IIIrd Tyme Out. Willie Watson is the opener. Tickets here Friday (12/6).

Season Of Giving: With the gift of memorable performances and solid TV ratings, Exec. Producer Robert Deaton gives the details on what went into the making of the 58th CMA Awards broadcast. Plus, Country Aircheck scoured websites high and low to find some of the best artist merch for all gift-giving needs. Read about it in Monday's (12/2) Country Aircheck Weekly.

Stories Of The Week: Search for news and people in the archives at countryaircheck.com.

Vote for the 2025 New Faces of Country Music here.
KIZN/Boise APD/MD/morning host Alana Lynn is departing radio.
SummitMedia VP/Events & Promotions Justin Ragland is leaving.

Specials Delivery: Syndicated radio host Josh "Rowdy Yates" Holstead is offering A Really Rowdy Christmas featuring up to five hours of holiday standards, country Christmas classics and holiday novelties. The one-hour A Lone Star Christmas features Texas artists including George Strait, Clint Black and Pat Green. Both specials are free of charge and have no inventory requirements. Reach Holstead here.

Bits & Pieces: Audacy KWJJ/Portland morning hosts Nick Steele and Kristen Flowers hosted their fourth annual “Nick & Kristen’s Medical Debt Payoff” Nov. 18-22, collecting enough contributions from listeners to help 3,345 people in the Pacific Northwest, and raising enough money to pay off more than $4.6 million in bills in partnership with Undue Medical Debt. In the program's four years, the married morning team has helped eradicate $16 million in medical debt; more here.

Cumulus KSCS/Dallas morning hosts Mark "Hawkeye" Louis and Michelle Rodriguez collected 215,800 cards to be sent to troops overseas during the holidays as part of their annual "10,000 For The Troops" collection.

Cumulus KUBL/Salt Lake City morning host Jesse James has been named in-arena emcee for the city's new NHL team.

Trisha Yearwood and The War and Treaty will perform at the 102nd National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony Dec. 5 in Washington, DC. The event will air Dec. 20 on CBS and Paramount+.

ICYMI: Chris Stapleton, Martina McBride, Scotty McCreery, Parker McCollum, Lauren Alaina and Lady A are among the artists participating in Fandiem's Fansgiving 2024 fundraiser.

Chronicle: Veteran personality Doug Dahlgren passed away Nov. 30. He was 82. Dahlgreen spent most of the '70s in Chicago, including mornings at Top 40 WCFL-AM. In 1980, he joined then-Country WIRE-AM/Indianapolis for a seven-year stint, which was followed by eight years in mornings at KUPL/Portland, OR. Dahlgren went on to spend five years at KAYO/Olympia, WA before retiring. No word on services.

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for Dec. 2, according to Mediabase 24/7.

ELLA LANGLEY & RILEY GREEN/You Look Like You Love Me (Sawgod/Columbia/Nashville Harbor) 3516 points
GEORGE BIRGE/Cowboy Songs (Records Nashville) 3164 points
KOE WETZEL & JESSIE MURPH/High Road (Columbia/Records Nashville) 3035 points
DYLAN MARLOWE & DYLAN SCOTT/Boys Back Home (Columbia/Curb) 2897 points
PARMALEE/Gonna Love You (Stoney Creek) 2673 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for Dec. 1-2 compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase 24/7.

ELLA LANGLEY & RILEY GREEN/You Look Like You Love Me (Sawgod/Nashville Harbor/Columbia) +1224 points
DYLAN MARLOWE & DYLAN SCOTT/Boys Back Home (Columbia/Curb) +709 points
KEITH URBAN/Messed Up As Me (Capitol) +576 points
JELLY ROLL/Liar (BMG/Republic/Stoney Creek) +476 points
LAINEY WILSON/4X4XU (Broken Bow) +275 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (12/4): Jelly Roll, Lila McCann, Brian Prout (Diamond Rio), Johnny Gray, Mike Dylan.

Tube Check Tonight (12/3): Various artists, CMA Country Christmas (ABC)

Parmers Only: Stoney Creek's Parmalee celebrates No. 1 "Gonna Love You" with Big D & Bubba. Pictured (l-r) are the group's Scott Thomas, the show's Derek “Big D” Haskins, the group's Matt Thomas, Barry Knox and Joshua McSwain and the show's Sean “Bubba” Powell.

Appreciate In Value: ACM Lifting Lives shows support for music therapy through its 2024-2025 grant cycle beneficiaries, including 10 memory care-focused organizations funded by Music Has Value. Pictured (l-r) are ACMLL's Fletcher Foster, MHV's Scott Borchetta, ACMLL's Taylor Wolf and MHV's Sandi Borchetta.

In The Clerb, We All FAM: The Family Alliance in Music (FAM) partners with the Grand Ole Opry for a night of music, family and community. Pictured (l-r) are the Opry's Jenn Tressler, RIAA's Jackie Jones, YouTube's Margaret Hart, the ACM's Haley Montgomery and the Opry's Dan Rogers. Read Country Aircheck's profile of the organization here.

Signage: Singer/songwriter Emily Ann Roberts signs with Jody Williams Songs and Warner Chappell Music. Pictured (l-r) are Starstruck's Cliff Williamson, Berkley Kriz, Narvel Blackstock and Jamie Wendt, Roberts and JWS' Jody Williams, Nina Jenkins Fisher and Tennessee Courtright.

Signage: Musician/songwriter/producer Dan Swank signs with Warner Chappell Music and All Time Low's Alex Gaskarth. Pictured (l-r) are Willo & Co's Shelby Yoder, WCM's Katy Wolaver, Swank, Gaskarth, Hard8's Keith Lazorchack and WCM's Alexa Morris.

StJudeRG_AD_YouLookLikeYouLoveMe_CountryAircheckDaily_Footer_2024.12.03_FNL.png