January 12, 2026 News@CountryAircheck.com

Set On Shuffle: With the recent retirement of the syndicated The Big Time host Whitney Allen (CAT 11/17/25), affiliate Pamal WJEN/Rutland, VT has moved midday host Erin Bourne to nights Monday through Saturday. Jay Kennedy moved from afternoons to middays, and Chris O'Neil returned to WJEN for afternoons, marking his second stint at the station.

Cassidy Departs Sweet Talk: Sr. Dir. Julianne Cassidy has departed Nashville-based Sweet Talk Publicity after nearly a decade. Prior jobs include Associate Editor at Womanista and Digital Editor/National Content at Journal Broadcast Group, which included NashvilleEdge.com. No word on plans for the position. Reach Cassidy here.

Tour Support: Vince Gill's 50 Years From Home Tour begins June 18 in Orlando and includes a six-night residency at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. Ticket info here.

Waylon Wyatt kicks off his Everywhere Under The Sun tour April 23 in New Braunfels, TX, with subsequent stops in Birmingham, Cleveland and Charleston. Public on-sale is Friday (1/16) here.

Ain't Gotta Die To Be Dead(line) To Me: Nominations close tomorrow (1/13) for the 2026 CRS/Country Aircheck Awards. Two subsequent rounds of voting will take place, with winners recognized during the New Faces of Country Music Show March 20 at the Omni Nashville Hotel. Submit nominees including Station, OM/PD, Personality, VP/Promotion, Regional, DSP of the Year and more here.

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See Rock Cities: Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Jelly Roll, Brooks & Dunn, Riley Green, Miranda Lambert, Hank Williams Jr., Jon Pardi, Ella Langley, Brantley Gilbert, Treaty Oak Revival and Gavin Adcock will be among the performers when Peachtree Entertainment's Rock The Country festival comes to eight markets, beginning May 1-2 at Austin County Fairgrounds in Bellville, TX and wrapping Sept. 11-12 at Erie Country Fairgrounds in Hamburg, NY. Lineups vary by market. Find tickets, cities and dates here.

ICYMI: Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” is the first country song to receive RIAA double diamond certification with more than 20 million units sold.

Miranda Lambert will kick off the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series with a performance at the Daytona 500 pre-race concert Feb. 15 at Daytona International Speedway.

Big Loud's Kashus Culpepper, Big Machine's the Jack Wharff Band, Santa Anna/Akando's Tyler Nance and Canadian country singer Zach McPhee are included in Shazam's "Fast Forward 2026" list of 65 international artists "set to make waves in the coming year and beyond." See the full list here.

Life Note: Red Street's Alex Valentine is mourning his father Louis "Louie" Stojanovski, who passed Saturday (1/10) at the age of 91. Visitation will be 10:30am CT Friday (1/16) at Saints Peter & Paul Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral, 9660 Broadway, Crown Point, IN. Funeral and memorial luncheon will follow. Send condolences to Valentine here.

Chronicle: Longtime Cumulus WQXK/Youngstown, OH morning co-host Doug James died Jan. 8 at the age of 71 following a brief illness. "Doug was a beloved member of the K105 on-air team since 1989, and shared the K105 morning mic with co-host MaryAnn Graff since 1991," says VP/MM Bill Kelly. "[He] was passionate about the music, the artists, the listeners, and our community, and was a devout supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. He believed helping our community of listeners was as important as having them listen daily." Memorial donations can be made to St. Jude here.

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for the week ending Jan. 10, according to Mediabase 24/7.

BLAKE SHELTON/Stay Country Or Die Tryin' (Wheelhouse)
HARDY/Favorite Country Song (Big Loud)
PARMALEE/Cowgirl (Stoney Creek)
ELLA LANGLEY/Choosin' Texas (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers)
MEGAN MORONEY/6 Months Later (Col. NY/Columbia)

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for Jan. 11, compared with the same day last week, according to Mediabase 24/7.

MEGAN MORONEY/6 Months Later (Col. NY/Columbia) +890 points
ELLA LANGLEY/Choosin' Texas (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers) +435 points
HARDY/Favorite Country Song (Big Loud) +325 points
RILEY GREEN/Change My Mind (Nash. Harbor) +319 points
OLD DOMINION/Making Good Time (3 Up 3 Down/Columbia) +270 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (1/13): Trace Adkins, Shayne Morrison (Perfect Stranger), John Burns.

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Tennessee Pink: Columbia's Megan Moroney (r) with Backstage Country's Elaina Smith.

Omen At Work: Nashville Harbor's Caroline Jones with KWNR/Las Vegas' MoJoe Roberts.

Honky Talkin': Tracy Lawrence with Big D & Bubba's Derek “Big D” Haskins and Sean “Bubba” Powell (l-r).

iHeart Of Stone: Stoney Creek's Jelly Roll (in hat) with iHeartMedia's Jeff Kapugi, Alissa Pollack and Rob Kruz (l-r).