Mary Ann McCready

Mary Ann McCready has been re-elected as chair of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Board of Officers and Trustees. She will serve a one-year term.

This marks the second term as chair for McCready, who joined the board in 2006 and actively contributes to the education, finance, investment, development and marketing committees and councils of the board.

Additionally, trustees Ken Levitan, Ernie Williams and Jody Williams were re-elected for three-year terms, and board officers were re-elected for one-year terms.

With the board’s stewardship, the museum continues its pandemic recovery, reinstating a full slate of educational programming and maintaining an active exhibit schedule. New and upcoming exhibits include the recently opened “Chris Stapleton: Since 1978,” and the upcoming “Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock,” which opens Sept. 30.

In 2021, more than a million people visited the museum, and more than 109,000 individuals participated in nearly 700 in-person and virtual education programs.

Zach Bryan. Photo: Louie Nice

The same familiar faces take up residency on this week’s top country albums and streaming songs charts.

Most notably, Zach Bryan makes the biggest debut this week with his recently released Summertime Blues. The Warner Records project debuts at No. 7 with 16K in total consumption 2.3K album only/17 million song streams). Bryan’s massive American Heartbreak project also keeps its spot at No. 2 on the top country albums chart with 25K in total consumption. On the songs front, the Oklahoma native’s “Something in the Orange” falls one spot to No. 3, adding 9.9 million streams this week, according to Luminate data.

Luke Combs‘ “The Kind of Love We Make” trades spots with Morgan Wallen‘s “You Proof” this week for the No. 1 position, with the former adding 10.4 million streams and the latter adding 10.3 million. Newcomer Bailey Zimmerman climbs one spot to No. 4 as “Fall In Love” earns 8.2 million streams. Sealing the top five is Cole Swindell‘s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” nabbing 8.2 million streams this week.

Wallen continues his reign at the peak of the top country albums chart with Dangerous: The Double Album gaining another 48K in total consumption (866 album only/60 million song streams). Wallen also continues his run at No. 4 as If I Know Me adds 17K. Combs claims the remaining two spots: Growin’ Up at No. 3 with 23K and What You See Is What You Get taking No. 5 with 16K.

Don Hurley

Don Hurley has been named Program Director for Cumulus Tri-Cities TN-VA country station NASH Icon 104.9/WKOS-FM and for heritage classic rock radio station 101.5 WQUT-FM.

Hurley steps into the role on Aug. 1, and succeeds longtime Program Director John Patrick, who is retiring on July 31 after a successful 45-year radio career, including 31 years with the Cumulus Tri-Cities stations.

Hurley joins Cumulus Tri-Cities from Bicoastal Media in Medford, Oregon, where he served as Operations Manager for the company’s four-station group since 2008. Prior to that, he was Program Director for Saga Communications’ KAFE-FM and KISM-FM in Bellingham, Washington. Hurley has also held programming and on-air positions at stations in San Diego; Binghamton, New York; Flint, Michigan; and Las Vegas.

“I’m thankful to John Patrick for the many contributions he has made to the company and community over the years and wish him much happiness in his retirement,” says Cynthia Rollison, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Tri-Cities. “As we look to build on the long history of success with WQUT and WKOS, I am excited to welcome 30+ year programming pro Don Hurley to our team and look forward to working closely with him to achieve great things in the market.”

“I am thrilled to roll up my sleeves with Cumulus in the Tri-Cities TN-VA market, a wonderful community where my family truly wanted to be,” adds Hurley. “I’m grateful to Cumulus VP/ Classic Rock Wade Linder and Cumulus VP/Programming Greg Frey for their confidence, and especially to VP/Market Manager Cindy Rollison as we look to expand on the enormous heritage of WQUT and WKOS. I feel as though I’m joining an exclusive club, as opportunities at Cumulus Tri-Cities are extremely rare. Retiring programmer John Patrick has assembled a dominant team, and I’m honored to continue writing many more chapters to this amazing legacy!”

CMT’s Next Women of Country will celebrate the classes of 2021 and 2022 with two upcoming showcases, hosted in partnership with City Winery Nashville. The shows are slated to take place on Wednesday, Aug. 31 and Wednesday, Sept. 28.

“CMT Next Women of Country: Celebrating the Classes of 2021 & 2022, presented by CMT Night Out Nashville and Change The Conversation,” will feature performances from Callista Clark, Camille Parker, Hannah Dasher, Jenna Paulette, Julia Cole, Laci Kaye Booth, Lily Rose, Reyna Roberts, Jessie James Decker and Tenille Arts. The showcase will be be hosted by Decker and CMT’s Senior Vice President, Music & Talent, Leslie Fram. Tickets are on sale now.

“We couldn’t be more excited to celebrate some of the amazing artists recently inducted into our ‘Next Women of Country’ franchise as part of our new ‘Night Out Nashville’ series,” shares Fram. “Our upcoming showcases are perfect examples of the opportunities we aim to create and support for these incredibly talented artists throughout the year and we hope everyone will join us in supporting these incredible women from our 2021 and 2022 classes who all have amazing things on the horizon.”

She continues, “We’d like to thank our partners at City Winery Nashville and Change The Conversation who share our mission of supporting female artists, and a special thank you to the incredible Jessie James Decker who will both co-host and perform, as she continues to be one of the biggest champions of the NWOC franchise, always looking for opportunities to lift up her fellow female contemporaries every chance she gets.”

Performers and tickets for the Sept. 28 event to be announced in the coming weeks.