New York, NY (Top40 Charts) At 10 a.m. CST this morning, with one flip of a switch by country icon Randy Travis, Midwest Communication's CHR Station, Hot 106.7, was transformed to "Y'all 106.7." The first song to air on this new 80's and 90's-based country format was none other than Travis' very own "Forever and Ever, Amen."
Country
Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry member,
Randy Travis - an artist with over 25 million albums sold and combined total of 22 ACM, CMA and Grammy awards - was in the "Y'all 106.7" studio with
Brand Manager Ron Allen to kick off the new format.
Representing Midwest Communications ownership family, Mary Kay Wright said, "Nashville is a market already rich in great country programming, but we feel that this unique 80's and 90's-based format will bring country listeners an exciting new option. It's such an honor to have
Randy Travis as part of our Y'all 106.7 launch. He isn't just a top artist from the 80's, he helped define the best of what country music was then and still is today."
Ron Allen,
Brand Manager for Nashville's 96.3 JACK-fm, will add programming responsibilities for the new brand. Ron has served as Midwest Communications DUKE FM Format
Captain (Classic Country), and has launched and programmed several country stations over the course of his career.
Allen said, "We fully appreciate that the country format in Nashville is crowded, but we believe there is still an opportunity to serve the community and be successful in this lane."
Regarding the format change today, as a personal note, Ms. Wright also shared that "Today is a little bittersweet for our family. Midwest Communications CEO and founder, Duke Wright, who recently passed away, was a huge fan of Randy Travis. 'Forever and Ever, Amen' was one of his all-time favorites. He would have been thrilled that Randy helped kick off Y'all 106.7."
About Randy Travis
With lifetime sales in excess of 25 million,
Randy Travis is one of the biggest multi-genre record sellers of all time and a recent inductee into the Country
Music Hall of Fame class of 2016. His honors include seven Grammy Awards, 11 Academy of Country
Music statuettes, 10 American
Music Awards, two People's Choice awards, seven
Music City News awards, eight Dove Awards from the Gospel
Music Association and five Country
Music Association honors.
In addition, three of his performances earned CMA Song of the Year honors: "On the Other Hand" (1986), "Forever and Ever Amen" (1987) and "
Three Wooden Crosses" (2002). To date, he has 23 No. 1 singles, 31 Top-10 smashes and more than 40 appearances in feature films and television shows to his credit.
Four of his albums are Gold Records. Four are Platinum. One has gone
Double Platinum. One is Triple Platinum and another is Quintuple Platinum. In 2004, Randy was honored with his own star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is honored on the
Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville, TN. He has been a member of the cast of the Grand Ole Opry since 1986.
Since his near fatal stroke in 2013, with the help of his wife Mary and rigorous physical therapy, Randy continues to make improvements in his speaking, walking, and yes, singing. With the help of author Ken Abraham, he released his critically-acclaimed memoir in 2019, Forever and Ever, Amen. In 2021 CMT named Randy the CMT Artist of a Lifetime and in 2022 the country music icon released his award-winning documentary "More Life." For more information please visit RandyTravis.com.
