This is a “well, darn things are going great this summer for country music and country radio” article.
Country radio stations are leaping to the top of the pile in PPM markets. I don’t mean just markets like Dallas, where KPLX is inching its way back to the top of the heap, or Atlanta, where both stations are healthy, or Indianapolis where both stations are as hot as climbing the “Soldiers and Sailors” Monument on an August afternoon.
No, Country stations are at the top in markets like Milwaukee (to be fair Kerry Wolfe has accomplished this many times). Ditto for Tim Roberts in Detroit on WYCD. In Pittsburgh, where the only thing bigger than Country music this year is the Pirates, and Boston where the ‘A’ in Aldean is pronounced with a broad ‘A’. The concert season has helped drive ticket sales and radio ratings.
The difference between the Boston and Georgia accents did not stop over 70,000 New Englanders from filling Fenway Park (also pronounced with a broad ‘A’) to see Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, et al. It was one of the most electric nights they have seen since, well, I don’t know when, because the Red Sox won both recent World Series titles (2004 and 2007). This was followed by Taylor Swift coming to town at the end of July for two dates.
The charge from the concert season is bigger than I can ever remember it being. The CMA Fest, in Nashville, had its biggest crowd near the beginning of the Summer and things have rolled on since. CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night To Rock, which aired Monday night, set viewing records for ABC-TV, up 44 percent over last year’s show and set a record for the network overall since it began airing the special in 2006.
Not only Aldean and Swift, but Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Eric Church and Zac Brown Band have all been apostles of live music this summer. All of the big acts are out this summer. All of them are creating incredible excitement from city to city. That kind of excitement would not be possible if not for the fact that the music is as good today as it has ever been for radio.
I have written before that Tim McGraw and Blake Shelton have released, arguably, the best music of their careers this time. And, kudos to Warner Brothers Records for deftly handling the release of Shelton’s singles this time. It seems like they are giving radio enough time to expose a song and not coming right on top of the chart-peaked song. Radio always has a fresh Blake Shelton song and the listeners are responding to all of the music.
The music this summer has been the best in a long time. I hesitate to do a list for fear of leaving someone out, but Florida Georgia Line, Hunter Hayes, The Band Perry and Randy Houser have all set personal bests this summer. And have introduced their music to a whole new group of fans as parts of bigger tours.
“Cruise” has become an anthem, enough so that FGL was spotlighted on the Teen Choice Awards and fit right in with One Direction and Selena Gomez. Hayes came off the Carrie Underwood tour and has not missed a beat playing fairs and medium venues from coast to coast. He, and FGL, are guaranteed pop radio play going forward and that is going to help expand the genre even more.
Everything swings back so there is no guarantee next summer can be this big for the concert season or for country radio, but the format has laid the seeds with younger listeners, so the music and the experience leaves them with a new attitude about the format.
If WKLB is now a button in 10 percent more cars this summer because of the excitement, at least the format is in the game today where two years ago it might not have been.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MusicRow.)

Carrie Underwood is the voice of a new Grand Ole Opry radio campaign that is set to begin airing next week in regional drive markets, as well as on the Opry’s nationally syndicated radio program America’s Opry Weekend.
In the campaign, Underwood reflects on her recent 5th anniversary celebration as an Opry member and also invites radio audiences to visit Nashville and to stay connected to the Opry via its mobile app.
During an Opry performance earlier this summer, Underwood viewed an on-stage video reel of the past five years of Opry appearances. “It’s so hard to believe it’s been five years, but what an amazing five years it has been. Just watching that video, I was getting a little teary-eyed, thinking about how I felt when all of that was happening. And I still feel that blessed and that honored to be on this stage,” said Underwood.
Underwood performed her seventh Opry sold-out show of the summer this past Saturday, Aug. 10.
It was also recently announced that Underwood will reunite with Brad Paisley as co-hosts of the 47th Annual CMA Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The singer-songwriter also revealed that she is teaming with Nicole by OPI for an Underwood-inspired line of nail polish.

The Country Radio Seminar is currently accepting nominations for the 2014 Country Radio Hall of Fame. Nominations should be submitted online at CountryRadioSeminar.com, and following processing, each nominee will be provided with an official application. Applications must be returned to the CRS offices by Sept. 6.
Nominees may include air checks, press clippings, awards listings, and other materials for consideration, and inductees will be chosen by a select committee of Country radio and industry veterans along with members of the Country Radio Hall of Fame. Nominees must have at least 20 years on-air with a minimum of 15 in the country format, and have made significant contributions to the growth and development of the Country radio industry and ongoing contributions to the preservation and enhancement of Country music as an art form.
“We’re proud to open the nomination process for the Country Radio Hall of Fame, which is the highest honor bestowed on a Country radio professional. This will set in motion our effort to recognize the true legends of broadcasting in our industry; based on past inductees to the Country Radio Hall of Fame, the bar has definitely been set high for the class of 2014,” says CRS Hall of Fame Chairman RJ Curtis.
The 2014 Country Radio Hall of Fame Dinner and induction ceremony will be held Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014, at the Nashville Convention Center. CRS 2014 is set for Feb. 19-21, 2014.