Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde have the highest-debuting track on this week’s Pandora Top Spins Chart, as “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” makes its bow at No. 16. Frank Ray’s “Country’d Look Good on You” also posts a strong debut, entering the chart at No. 39. Walker Hayes’ “Fancy Like” retains the No. 1 spot. Read More.

Cumulus Media “K100” WKKO Toledo, OH (7.2-8.6) keeps its top market spot in the latest Nielsen Audio CDM results. Its 8.6 12+ AQH share is the station’s best since the November ’20 survey. Both iHeartMedia country stations in Little Rock, AR, see impressive growth: KSSN (95.7) is up 6.6-7.4, while classic country sister “105.1 The Wolf” KMJX rises 5.7-6.6. Read More.

Donna Cruz joins Victory Publishing Company KBEY Burnet-Austin, TX (103.9) for mornings starting Monday, Oct. 11. Cruz, who co-hosts the nationally syndicated “Keep the Faith” and tracks middays at First Dallas Media contemporary Christian WCBI Dallas (90.9), will host her KBEY show from her home studio in Round Rock, TX. PD Joel Burke is seeking a co-host for the show. Read More.

Cumulus Media “K-Bull 93” KUBL Salt Lake City PD and afternoon host Travis Moon walked a little less than 88 miles and raised a little more than $10,000 with his third “Travis Moon Walk.” The five-day hike from Provo, UT, to Ogden raised money and awareness for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Read More.

Dan Gallo, who departed the morning show at Cox Media Group “Country Legends 97.1” KTHT Houston during last week’s company cutbacks, has launched a weekday audio blog called “The Bombastic Blogcast.” Gallo plans to publish the roughly half-hour show, which can be heard via his Facebook page, Mondays through Fridays. Read More.

Creative Artists Agency announces its plan to buy ICM Partners. If approved, the deal would be the largest acquisition in the agency world since WME bought IMG in 2014 according to the LA Times’ Wendy Lee. The deal has both agencies teaming up to “drive broader and more inclusive representation.” Read More.

The Grand Ole Opry beefs up its 5,000th Saturday-night lineup with the additions of Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Dustin Lynch and Darius Rucker. The milestone broadcast on Ryman Hospitality WSM-AM Nashville (650) takes place Oct. 30. Opry members Bill Anderson, Terri Clark, Vince Gill, Chris Janson, Jeannie Seely, Connie Smith, The Gatlin Brothers and Chris Young already had been announced for the show. Read More.

New England-based broadcast group Binnie Media names Michael Czarnecki Director of Brand Operations. He joins the company from iHeartMedia news/talk “Wonk-FM” Washington, DC. He previously served as PD of iHeartMedia talk WRKO Boston (680). “In his new role, Michael will work closely with our marketing, promotions, news-talk, and music initiatives in all formats,” VP of Programming Heath Cole said in a release. Read More.

Blake Shelton and Tim McGraw will headline the 2022 XPR Augusta, a week-long golf and music festival, next year. To be held April 2-9, 2022, at Augusta, GA’s Lake Olmstead Stadium, the inaugural event includes interactive brand activations, golf activities, celebrity chef-inspired food and beverage and live music. Shelton performs Wednesday, April 6, while McGraw headlines Thursday, April 7. Tickets are on sale now. Read More.

Lee Brice will headline Ragin Country Crawl, a benefit to raise funds for Louisiana hurricane-relief efforts, on Sunday, Nov. 7, at the CajunDome in Lafayette, LA. Randy Houser, Colt Ford and Dee Jay Silver join Brice for the concert, which is presented by CMR Construction & Roofing. Proceeds will be directed to disaster-relief efforts aiding Southern Louisiana victims of recent hurricanes. Read More.

When Morgan Wade and producer Sadler Vaden finished the process of creating “Wilder Days,” it was 11pm and she was ready to go to bed. Read More.

What makes a market great for country music fans? When lawn-service company Lawnstarter set out to rank U.S. cities according to their friendliness to the format, it looked at four major categories — everyday listening, which included the markets’ country stations; genre interest, gauged par… Read More.

Scotty McCreery (Triple Tigers) takes over the top spot with “You Time,” moving 2*-1* and +769 spins/+2544 points. Jameson Rodgers (River House/Columbia Nashville) is the new runner-up with “Cold Beer Calling,” featuring Luke Combs, moving 3*-2* and +409/+1740. Lee Brice (Curb) goes Top 3 with “Memory I Don’t Mess With,” up 4*-3* at +549/+1949. Read More.

Travis Moon, PD/afternoon host at Cumulus Media “K-Bull 93” KUBL Salt Lake City, completed his five-day “Travis Moon Walk” to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Saturday afternoon. “I want to thank everybody for the notes of encouragement — you guys sharing these videos, you guys texting,” Moon said in a Facebook Live video before crossing the finish line at Darren Bideaux RV in Ogden, UT. Read More.

Independent artist Will Bannister’s “Find a New Home” continues to grab people’s attention in Clint Eastwood’s film “Cry Macho” — enough that it ranks behind only Walker Hayes’ “Fancy Like” on Shazam’s Country chart at the moment. New to the chart this week at No. 12 is Keith Urban’s “Crimson Blue,” which appears in the finale of Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers,” starring Urban’s wife, Nicole Kidman). Read More.

iHeartMedia “B 104.7” WBBS Syracuse, NY, strengthens its market-leading edge in the latest batch of Nielsen Audio Aug. ’21 CDM results. With its 12+ AQH share rising 8.6-9.8, it not only easily outpaces Cumulus Media Top 50 “93Q” WNTQ at 7.5, it has its best share since the September ’19 survey. Read More.

Five months after leaving to pursue an opportunity outside the radio industry, programmer Cat Thomas is back in the saddle at Beasley Media Group Las Vegas. Thomas started last Monday as OM for the cluster. He’s also PD at “Jammin105.7” KOAS and Digital PD for the cluster’s stations, which includes country “102.7 The Coyote” KCYE. Read More.

For the third time since 2000, the 104.9 frequency in the Quad Cities region goes country, as Townsquare Media KIIK DeWitt/Quad Cities, IA, flipped from classic hits to “US104.9” on Friday. The station, which competes with market leader iHeartMedia WLLR (103.7), ranked 10th in the market in Nielsen Audio’s Spring ’21 book, with a 3.1 12+ AQH share, well behind WLLR’s 16.0. Read More.

Chris Young, Jordan Davis, Maddie & Tae, Matt Stell and Parker McCollum will play this year’s 99.5 QYK Guitar Pull for Beasley Media Group WQYK Tampa (99.5). The event takes place Nov. 14, at The Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, FL. "We are so excited to bring back 99.5 QYK’s Guitar Pull for the sixth year to the Tampa Bay area,” says PD Travis Daily. Read More.

Chase Daniels, former PD/afternoon personality at iHeartMedia country WRWD Poughkeepsie, NY (107.3), joins Bold Gold Media Group Hot AC WSUL Monticello, NY (98.3) as PD. He starts afternoons on-air next month. “I'm thrilled to become part of the Bold Gold Family and work for a group that is all about immersing its stations in the community," Daniels said in a release. Read More.

Jeremy Grey, former morning host at Telemedia Broadcasting country “Thunder 104.5” WGRQ Fredericksburg, VA, joins Centennial Broadcasting Hot AC WBQB Fredericksburg (101.5). “So pumped about this!” Grey wrote on Instagram. “I’m deeply humbled and excited to wake up with you every morning from 5-10 on ‘The Jeremy Grey Show!’” The show debuts today. Read More.

Brett Young is getting into the holiday spirit early with his first Christmas album, “Brett Young & Friends Sing the Christmas Classics,” available Friday, Oct. 22. He also will bring some of the songs to life during an appearance on “CMT Crossroads Christmas: Brett Young & Friends.” “I’ve always known that I wanted to make a Christmas album one day,” Young said in a release. Read More.

Larry Gatlin hosted a one-hour “All the Gold of the ‘80s” special on SiriuxXM Prime Country (Ch. 58) over the weekend. "I ‘preciate the good SXM folks giving me a little air time to play some of my personal favorites and to tell a few stories along the way,” the singer said in a release. Read More.

Dan Gallo and Chuck Akers, morning co-hosts at Cox Media Group classic country “Country Legends 97.1” KTHT Houston, have exited. Gallo, who had been with the station for 14 years, confirmed the news to Country Insider on Thursday. “It's a companywide reorganization they're going through right now,” Gallo tells Country Insider. “Chuck Akers and I were let go [Thursday] morning.” Read More.

Conner Smith has been writing songs since age 6. At 9, he became one of the youngest writers ever to sign with BMI. “When you grow up in Nashville you learn that being a songwriter is a job you can do,” Smith, 21, tells Country Insider. “Learn From It,” Smith’s debut for The Valory Music Co., goes for adds Monday. Read More.