Today on Artist Newsday and Gametime Tuesday we talked about Rend Collectives tour and our giveaway along with the Winter Jam 2026 tour lineup!
Saturday, January 24th – in Columbus. Saturday, February 21st – in Cincinnati. Friday. March 27th – in Cleveland (Specific venues and times coming soon). The Winter Jam 2026 Tour Lineup: Chris Tomlin, Matthew West, Katy Nichole, Emerson Day, Hulvey, Disciple, and Newsong. At the Pre-Jam Party: Jeremy Rosado, Heath Brothers, and Cliff Preston. Plus speaker: Zane Black.
Go to www.jamtour.com for information on tickets, Jam Nation – the fan experience and the Winter Jam app!
Don’t miss our NEW Contest – Ring for Rend Collective. Listen to The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive this week! Listen for the short clip of the song Hallelujah Anyway and be Caller #3. You can win a pair of General Admission Tickets to The Rend Collective Folk! Fall Tour at MVNU on 11/14!Tickets are valued at $26 each! Congratulations to Alana of Mount Vernon for being caller #3 and taking home a pair of tickets to Rend collective!
Watch the animation for “Gobble Gobble” by Matthew West! It was released yesterday and is so much fun!
Here were this week’s lyrics for Song Poetry!
The truth of its nature It’s always give and never take It flows with that freedom Surrendering itself away Carves canyons through stone Tells the rivers to run home
This week’s Song Poetry was a stumper! If you think you know the song title and artist of these lyrics, tune in next week for a chance to win THREE $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica!
We dug into the weeds a little bit on this week’s Artist News Day. We talked about Jamie MacDonald’s first upcoming studio album, as well as the details regarding MercyMe’s second debut to the silver screen, I Can Only Imagine 2.
Jamie MacDonald, recently signed onto Capitol CMG, announced her first ever album that will be coming out early next year! This self-titled album is scheduled to release on January 23rd, 2026 and will feature well-known favorites heard on WNZR like Desperate and Left It In The River.
You can expect this album to be full of honesty, faith, and healing as we see the story it tells. Jamie is telling listeners, “For over a decade, I’ve held onto God’s promise that I would one day write songs that would first heal me, and then bring healing to others. That time is now.”
You can find her taking some of the songs on her new record while she’s on the road this fall and upcoming spring! She’ll be coming to Ohio with:
Benjamin William Hastings on his At The Heart Of It Tour in Pickerington, Ohio on Friday, November 14th
Chris Tomlin on his Christmas With Chris Tomlin tour in Grove City, Ohio on Friday, December 19th
Phil Wickham on his Song Of The Saints Tour in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, April 17th
If you want to see Jamie live at any of these events, you can get tickets by going to the Concerts page on our website here!
We talked about MercyMe’s sequel to their box office hit, I Can Only Imagine last week, and earlier last week we got to take a look at their movie as they released the first trailer to I Can Only Imagine 2.
In this trailer, we see some of the struggles Bart goes through as he becomes a father. We also get a look at Bart’s new mentor, Tim Timmons, some struggles that he deals with, and how God uses him to help Bart as he learns how to be a good dad to his son Sam.
All of that and more is seen on their new trailer!
Here were this week’s lyrics for Song Poetry!
The truth of its nature It’s always give and never take It flows with that freedom Surrendering itself away Carves canyons through stone Tells the rivers to run home
This week’s Song Poetry was a stumper! If you think you know the song title and artist of these lyrics, tune in next week for a chance to win two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica!
Today on Artist Newsday we talked about where you can see some of your favorite artists on tour. If you love seeing and hearing your favorite WNZR artists live, you can go to wnzr.fm/concerts and see all the places where you can catch your favorite artists hitting the road!
After coming out with a new record, Wonder + Awe, last August, MercyMe are going out on the road this Spring to bring you some of their new favorites from this album on The Wonder + Awe Tour! Of course, they’ll be performing some of your favorites from previous albums!
Joining the band on the road will be their friends Big Daddy Weave, alongside Sam Wesley and Tim Timmons, who play a huge role in MercyMe’s upcoming movie! If you want to learn more about the heart behind this tour and what to expect from it, click here!
The band will be arriving at Toledo, Ohio on Thursday, March 19th! Ticket Information can be found here!
MercyMe’s Wonder + Awe tour will be connected with their upcoming theatrical release of I Can Only Imagine 2, which you can see in theatres February 20!
Returning to the silver screen with a sequel, this movie will dive deep into Bart’s life after MercyMe’s breakout hit, I Can Only Imagine, skyrocketed the band’s popularity. You’ll see Bart face as his past as he tries to be a father to his son, Sam. A big mentor in Bart’s life, Tim Timmons (played by Milo Ventimiglia from This Is Us), enters Bart’s life as the band goes on their biggest tour to date!
To read the full synopsis and stay updated for this upcoming movie, click here!
Anne Wilson’s third studio album, Stars, is out now! This record features 12 new songs, with one we hear on WNZR called God Story! You can learn more about this new album here!
This new release is being supported by her upcoming headline tour, called The Stars Tour, which is stopping in Akron, Ohio! It’s 90% sold out, so if you want to grab tickets, you still have some time!
Anne will be at the Akron Civic Theatre in Akron, Ohio on Friday, November 21! You can get tickets here!
Here were this week’s lyrics for Song Poetry:
Well, I find myself daydreamin’ Like never before There’s joy and pain, like sun and rain Through every open door
Rene from Mount Vernon came sliding in at the last second during today’s show and snagged a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! She correctly guessed the song title and artist, which were Heaven On My Mind by TobyMac.
Tune in on Wednesday for fun facts and a game of Who Am I? on Who Knew Wednesday!
The 56th Annual GMA Dove Awards aired last Friday night! Here were this year’s award recipients:
SONG OF THE YEAR – Hard Fought Hallelujah by Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll Writers: Brandon Lake, Jelly Roll, Steven Furtick, Chris Brown and Benjamin William Hastings
ARTIST OF THE YEAR – Forrest Frank
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR – Leanna Crawford
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR (ARTIST) – Brandon Lake
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR (NON-ARTIST) – Mitch Wong
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR – Jeff Pardo
POP/CONTEMPORARY SONG OF THE YEAR – Your Way’s Better by Forrest Frank Writers: Forrest Frank and Pera
GOSPEL WORSHIP RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR – Come Jesus Come by CeCe Winans and Shirley Caesar Writers: Hank Bentley, Bryan Fowler, Stephen McWhirter and Tara McWhirter
WORSHIP RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR – I Know A Name by Elevation Worship, Chris Brown and Brandon Lake Writers: Brandon Lake, Steven Furtick, Jacob Sooter and Hank Bentley
INSPIRATIONAL RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR – The Jesus Way by Phil Wickham Writers: Phil Wickham and Jonathan Smith
BLUEGRASS/COUNTRY/ROOTS SONG OF THE YEAR – Hard Fought Hallelujah by Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll Writers: Brandon Lake, Jelly Roll, Steven Furtick, Chris Brown and Benjamin William Hastings
CHRISTMAS RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR – Joy To The World by CeCe Winans Writers: Traditional
POP/CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR – CHILD OF GOD by Forrest Frank Producers: Forrest Frank, Pera, Noah Conrad, JVKE, Jackson Foote, Johnny Simpson, Zac Lawson and Splash Of Soda
WORSHIP ALBUM OF THE YEAR – When Wind Meets Fire by Elevation Worship Producers: Steven Furtick, Chris Brown, Josh Holiday and Chandler Moore
ROCK/CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR – Trustfall by Stephen Stanley Producers: Stephen Stanley, Tedd T. and Jake Halm
CHRISTMAS/SPECIAL EVENT ALBUM OF THE YEAR – Hallelujah! It’s Christmas! By Phil Wickham Producers: Jonathan Smith, Josh Auer, Jerad Atherton, Tyler Halford, Ben Lounsbury and Aaron Robertson
RECORDED MUSIC PACKAGING OF THE YEAR – Heaven On My Mind by TobyMac Art Directors: Nathan Blaine, Aaron Stearns and Trent Nicholson Graphic Artists: Nathan Blaine and Aaron Stearns Photographer – Robby Klein
SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR (CONCEPT) – Can’t Stop Me by TobyMac Director: Eric Welch Producer: Scott McDaniel
SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR (PERFORMANCE) – Hard Fought Hallelujah by Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll Directors: Brandon Lake and Jacob Boyles Producers: Jacob Boyles, Rachel Mulcahy, Sadie Schwanberg and Caleb Cook
LONG FORM MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR – A Drummer Boy Christmas (LIVE) by for KING & COUNTRY Directors: Joel Smallbone and Kadin Tooley Producers: Joshua Walsh, Stephen Preston and Luke Smallbone
FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR – The King of Kings Director: Jang Seong-ho Producers: Jang Seong-ho and Kim Woo-hyung
TELEVISION SERIES OF THE YEAR – The Chosen Director: Dallas Jenkins Producers: Dallas Jenkins, Chad Gundersen and Chris Juen
We held a contest to see if you could predict this year’s “Song of the Year” and “Artist of the Year” to win a special Dove Award Prediction Prize Basket! Here were the three winners of this prize basket:
Jess Kirby of Mount Vernon
Casey Kennedy of Mount Vernon
Tanya Hicks of Butler
These three winners each took home Brandon Lake’s King Of Hearts CD, Seph Schlueter’s Counting My Blessings CD, Phil Wickham’s signedSong Of The Saints CD, and CeCe Winans’ More Than This Limited Edition LP.
Anne Wilson is coming to Akron, Ohio with her The Stars Tour! Tickets are 90% sold out for this concert, so tickets are low but you can still get some if you’re interested!
She’ll be at the Akron Civic Theatre in Akron, OH on November 21st, at 7:30PM!
This week’s Song Poetry was a stumper from last week! Here were the lyrics:
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine He’s been my fourth man in the fire, time after time Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood And what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough
This Song Poetry stumper was Elevation Worship’s songTrust In God.
Congratulations to Haley from Mount Vernon for calling in and correctly guessing the song title and artist, taking home two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in on Wednesday for fun facts and a game of Who Am I? for Who Knew Wednesday on The Afternoon Drive!
Thank you so much for listening! – Xander and Ethan
All your favorite WNZR artists are down in Nashville, TN this week for the 56th Annual GMA Dove Awards! Today during The Afternoon Drive, we talked about the nominees, and a really special prize you can win regarding these awards as well!
You could win special gifts from some artists that are nominated for a Dove Award this year! We’re giving away CeCe Winans’ More Than This Limited Edition LP vinyl, Brandon Lake’s King Of Hearts CD, Seph Schlueter’s Counting My Blessings CD, and a signedSong Of The Saints CD from Phil Wickham!
You could be the winner ofall of these prizes in our Dove Awards Prediction Prize Giveaway. All of the gifts mentioned will be all together in one basket, and we’re giving away three of these prize baskets!
It’s super easy to enter this giveaway! Just click here, scroll down to the Prediction Form, and choose an artist who’s nominated that you think is going to win “Artist of the Year” and “Song of the Year”. Every person who guesses both categories correct will be entered into a drawing to win this awesome prize package!
To get your brain flowing, here are your GMA Dove Award nominees:
Artist of the Year:
Brandon Lake CeCe Winans Forrest Frank Josiah Queen Lauren Daigle Phil Wickham
Song of the Year:
Counting My Blessings – Seph Schlueter Good Day – Forrest Frank Goodbye Yesterday – Elevation Rhythm, Gracie Binion Hard Fought Hallelujah – Brandon Lake, Jelly Roll Still Waters (Psalm 23) – Leanna Crawford That’s My King – CeCe Winans That’s Who I Praise – Brandon Lake The Prodigal – Josiah Queen The Truth – Megan Woods Up! – Forrest Frank, Connor Price
If you want to see all the categories of nominations for the 56th Annual GMA Dove Awards, click here!
Cory Asbury is thinking of getting some of your favorite WNZR and Christian music artists to do a family friendly version of the Super Bowl Halftime Show!
Nothing official has been announced yet, but a name for this show that’s been thrown around is “Halftime for Heaven”. If this is something you want to see, show your support for this idea from Cory Asbury by going to his post, commenting on it, give it a like, and we’ll see if this goes anywhere!
Here were lyrics for this week’s Song Poetry!
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine He’s been my fourth man in the fire, time after time Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood And what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough
This week’s Song Poetry was a stumper, so tune in next Tuesday for a chance to win two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica if you think you know what song this is!
Tune in on Wednesday for some fun Who Knew? facts with Joe Rinehart and Gabriella Stanley!
Thank you so much for listening! – Xander and Ethan
Today on Artist News Day, yes, we’re already talking a little bit about Christmas! Some of your favorite WNZR artists are bringing their Christmas tours to Ohio, and they could be coming to a city near you!
Chris Tomlin is coming to Grove City, Ohio, on his tour called “Christmas with Chris Tomlin”. He’s bringing a special guest, Jamie MacDonald, along with him!
Chris is excited for this night of worship, prayer, and even laughter as he put it! It’ll be a great time worshipping with him and Jamie MacDonald. They’ll be at The Naz Church in Grove City, Ohio on December 19th!
We Are Messengers are coming to Wooster, Ohio on their “A Celtic Christmas” tour!
Hailing from Northern Ireland, they’ll be bringing a Celtic style of music that is worshipping and glorifying God! The band will be in Wooster, Ohio at Movement Church on Sunday, December 7th!
One of your favorite worship music artists, Pat Barrett is releasing his fourth studio album called Walk Through Fire!
This new release is coming out this Friday, October 3rd, with a total of 11 songs on it! This album is coming after his third album, Shelter, which he released in October 2023!
Pat is going on tour with Brandon Lake and Franni Cash on Brandon Lake’s King Of Hearts Tour this Fall and Spring! You can find tickets on our concert page HERE!
We’re seeing a brand new album from Tasha Layton coming out next Friday!
Tasha’s new album is called Life In Me, which features songs we’ve heard on WNZR, like Thank You Isn’t Enoughft. The Choir Room and Worship Through It ft. Chris Brown! This is what Tasha says about this upcoming release: “This album is so special to me! Each track really represents a season from my walk with Jesus. In its entirety, the album is a beautiful picture of His life in me.” She can’t wait for you to hear these songs!
You can find more information about this record HERE!
Today, we took some lyrics from a song we listened to on The Afternoon Drive and turned it into a poem for Song Poetry!
Here were this week’s lyrics:
Take my heart and let it move In spirit and in truth For the glory of Your Name With every breath that’s in me With every song and melody
Today’s Song Poetry came from Lauren Daigle and her song Let It Be A Hallelujah.
Congratulations to Chris from Gambier for calling in and correctly guessing the song title and artist, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in on Wednesday for a special broadcast, celebrating our 39th Anniversary!
Thank you so much for listening! – Ethan Hershberger
This past weekend, we saw some familiar artist faces from WNZR worshipping onstage during the Charlie Kirk Memorial service. We got to see Brandon Lake, Phil Wickham, Chris Tomlin, Cody Carnes, and Kari Jobe Carnes onstage together, worshipping God with over 90,000 people in attendance, and hundreds of thousands online.
While onstage, Brandon Lake paused in the middle of worship to just take a moment to recognize the thick, real presence of God that was filling the stadium. Hundreds were giving their lives to Christ this past Sunday. We got to see truth come in full swing as God takes everything the enemy meant for evil, and turned it for good!
Listen and watch what Brandon Lake declares during worship at the Charlie Kirk Memorial!
We’re so excited to see Big Daddy Weave coming to Duncan Falls, Ohio this fall! They’re bringing their friends Megan Woods and David Leonard along with them.
These artists know how to worship and put on a spectacular performance, so if you want to see some of your favorite Big Daddy Weave songs live, ticket information is available by clicking HERE!
You can find a list of concerts on our concert page, by going to wnzr.fm!
One of your favorite worship music artists, Chris Tomlin is coming out with a brand new album this Friday, which is titled “The King Is Still The King”.
This album is featuring Tomlin’s new one on WNZR, called “How Good It Is”.
Alongside this release, he’s going on a tour of worship evenings, and he’s stopping in Cincinnati this Friday! You can find ticket information for this concert HERE!
Today, we took some lyrics from a song we listened to this afternoon and turned it into a poem for Song Poetry! Here were this week’s lyrics:
I pray into the atmosphere Spirit of God, You’re here You have all authority I pray over my heart and mind I am healed by Your stripes Your blood declares that I am free
Today’s Song Poetry lyrics came from Hope Darst’s song Mighty Name Of Jesus!
Congratulations to Kandee from Mount Vernon for calling in and correctly guessing the song title and artist, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in on Wednesday for a whole lot of fun facts and more prayer at 5:25 to celebrate Global Prayer Week!
Thank you so much for listening! – Ethan Hershberger
We had a packed show with artist news from Natalie Grant, Phil Wickham, and more from the 2025 GMA Dove Awards!
Natalie Grant is now signed to record label Captiol CMG, and with this, she’s already announced a brand new Christmas album, with some old-timey classics like Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and Jingle Bells! This will be her first Christmas record in nearly 20 years, and she’s so excited for it!
Did you know there’s only 100 days until Christmas? So alongside this album release, Natalie Grant and Danny Gokey are going on their annual “Celebrate Christmas Tour”, which is on its 10th iteration!
To learn more about this new album and tour, click HERE!
Last week, we talked about Phil Wickham’s brand new album, Song Of The Saints that released last Friday, 9/12/2025! Now this week, Phil is celebrating this album release by going on tour with this record, appropriately called the “Song Of The Saints Tour”!
He’ll also be bringing special guest Jamie MacDonald with him!
Zach Williams’ album “Jesus Loves” is coming out this Friday, 9/19/2025! It’s title track, Jesus Loves, has been climbing The NZ Top 10 for quite a while now!
More GMA Dove Awards Performers and Presenters have been revealed!
We’ll get to see some favorite WNZR artists performing on October 7th, including Tauren Wells, for KING & COUNTRY, CeCe Winans, Josiah Queen, Elevation Worship, ELEVATION RHYTHM, and so many more!
We also see some WNZR artists presenting awards, including Bart Millard, bodie, Chris Tomlin, Crowder, Natalie Grant, and many more great presenters!
There will be even more announced in future weeks! To see the full list of artists and guests performing and presenting, click HERE!
We took some lyrics from a song we heard on The Afternoon Drive today and turned it into a poem! Here were today’s lyrics:
Every heartbroken, lonely soul sitting all alone And every outcast, stuck in their past, scared of letting go These are the ones The ones that Jesus chose
Today’s lyrics came from Zach William’s song Jesus Loves!
Congratulations to Satarah from Howard for calling in and guessing the song title and artist, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for some fun facts for Sonfest 2025 on Who Knew Wednesday!
Thank you so much for listening! – Xander and Ethan
We got some exciting stuff on Artist News Day this week! Let’s get into all the news:
Josiah Queen is taking his sophomore #1 album, Mt. Zion, on tour this Spring 2026, and you can catch him stopping by in Columbus! He’s bringing his friends Jervis Campbell and Gable Price with, who appear on his Mt. Zion album!
This concert will be taking place in an outdoor venue, KEMBA LIVE!. If you want to be a part of this night of worship, praise, folk, and joyful music, ticket information is available HERE!
We’ve gotten the pleasure to see Zach Williams on the charts with his title track to his new album, Jesus Loves! We’re gonna get to see this full album release next Friday, September 19th!
With a full 12 songs on this record, Zach Williams strongly believes in these songs, saying, “I’ve always believed in writing songs for real people who are going through real things.” More information about what Zach Williams is saying about his new album is found HERE!
Forrest Frank has come out with the deluxe version of his album Child Of God II! This album features artists we love on WNZR- Crowder, Cory Asbury, even The Figs, who we here on the song Lemonade!
More information about this album can be found HERE!
We’re happy to see that bodie released his debut album called No Skips! This album includes his hit Whisper & The Wind, which, at one point, made it on The NZ Top 10!
More information about this album can be found HERE!
We took some lyrics from a song we listened to during The Afternoon Drive to play Song Poetry! Here were this week’s lyrics:
Every time I call You, Jesus I call You, I call You Savior Worthy of glory forever Something comes out of the grave Every time I call Your Name
Today’s Song Poetry song was I Know A Name from Elevation Worship and Brandon Lake!
Congratulations to Kari from Newark for calling in and correctly guessing the song title and artist, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for some fun facts on Who Knew Wednesday!
Thank you so much for listening! – Xander and Ethan
Driving Notes 