Driving Notes

WinterJam 2026 is finally arriving in Ohio this Saturday! We’ve been anticipating their arrival to Columbus, Ohio by talking with the WNZR artists that are a part of this year’s lineup! We wrapped up our conversations with Chris Tomlin! You can listen to our conversation here:

WinterJam isn’t the only big concert we’re excited to cover! This morning, the Ohio State Fair announced their Christian artist taking part in their concert series this Summer 2026! This year’s artist is none other than for King & Country!

We’re celebrating this announcement by giving away “Win It Before You Can Buy Them” tickets by playing for King & Country Name That Tune!

Linda from Utica was our first winner for our giveaway on The Afternoon Drive. Keep listening on The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive Wednesday and Thursday for your chance to win!

For King & Country will be seen at the Ohio State Fair, in the Celeste Center, this summer on August 3rd! Regular ticket sales go live on Friday!

For more information, go to our Facebook post HERE!

On top of our two ticket giveaways, we also played a game of Song Poetry for our $5 Watts Restaurant gift card giveaway!

Here were this week’s lyrics:

And I don’t need to see it to believe it
For my whole life, You’ve been that all I’ve needed
And I, I’ve felt You in the fire and the rain

This week’s Song Poetry was a stumper! If you think you know the song title and artist these lyrics are from, tune in next week for a chance to win two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

Tune in on Wednesday for another chance to win a pair of WinterJam 2026 passes and a chance to win “Win It Before You Can Buy Them” tickets to see for King & Country at the Ohio State Fair! You’ll also hear some fun facts for Who Knew Wednesday!

Thank you for listening!
– Xander and Ethan

As we’re leading up to WinterJam 2026, we got to talk with one of the three artist headliners, Matthew West!

WinterJam will have its first stop in Ohio on Saturday, January 24, at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio! Make sure you arrive 2-3 hours early when arriving to WinterJam to secure yourself a seat, and beat concert traffic!

WNZR will begin giving away WinterJam passes starting this Thursday on The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive! We will be playing WinterJam artist trivia!

For more information about WinterJam, click here:
https://www.wnzr.fm/winter-jam-2026

Back in 2019, Jason Gray filled listeners in with the battle against cancer that his son, Jacob, was fighting. Through time, Jacob showed no sign of cancer after he went through treatments, and the Gray family believed this chapter of their life was behind them.

Recently, Jacob started showing signs of the cancer returning. Jason Gray shared on his Instagram, “I’m heartbroken to share that Jacob’s journey has taken a sudden and devastating turn.” A swollen eye the size of a baseball led to Jacob having a biopsy revealing that his ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) returned, and the family is once again on the fight with this cancer.

Despite the circumstances, the Gray family is fighting the cancer with a vengeance. Jason Gray has been giving viewers updates on his Instagram, sharing “In late December, he improved enough that we were able to get back on track with the original plan. Whew. And that’s where we are now. He continues to respond well, and it truly seems like the tide is turning.”

The Gray family is looking at the next step with treating Jacob’s ALL. “In February, he’ll begin CAR T-cell treatment, which will require relocating to Seattle for a couple of months,” Jason Gray shared. “It’s drastic. It complicates his life, his ability to work, and how he pays his bills—but it’s doable. Especially with the help you’ve all so generously given. Truly… thank you.”

Please pray for the Gray family as they face this battle of cancer, relocate Jacob to Seattle, and for Jacob to beat this cancer once and for all!

To support Jacob and the Gray family, click here:
Help Jacob Fight Leukemia (Round 2)
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jacob-fight-leukemia-round2

Read the full story on CCM Magazine here:
https://www.ccmmagazine.com/news/jason-grays-son-shows-fight-update-on-jacobs-2nd-battle-with-cancer/

We had a stumper for this week’s Song Poetry lyrics!

Here were this week’s lyrics:

Don’t forget the things that He has done before
And remember He can do it all once more
It’s like the brightest sunrise
Waiting on the other side of the darkest night

These lyrics were from Haven’t Seen It Yet by Danny Gokey!

Congratulations to Jennifer from Centerburg 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 some Who Knew? Wednesday fun facts and a game of Who Am I? for another chance to win that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant!

Thank you for listening!
– Joe and Ethan

With WinterJam 2026 being a few weeks away, and this week on Artist News Day, we got to talk with one of the headliners of this year’s lineup, Katy Nichole!

She talks about what she’s excited about returning to the lineup this year, the message she wants to bring to audiences across the country, and more insight about her song “When I Fall”. You can listen to the conversation on our SoundCloud here:

WinterJam will stop in Ohio at three different locations!

Their first stop will be at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday, Janurary 24!

Their second stop will be at the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Saturday, February 21!

Their final stop in Ohio will be at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday, March 27!

Tickets are $15 at the door for each person; for more information, go to our concerts page on our website here!

If you’re looking for a night of worship, joy, and hope, look no further than The Hope Nights Tour with Danny Gokey and We Are Messengers, with special guest Jon Reddick!

These artists are passionate about bringing you music that reminds you of the love and hope Jesus brings to our lives! You’ll get to hear favorites like “Haven’t Seen It Yet” from Danny Gokey, “Wholehearted” from We Are Messengers, “God, Turn It Around” from Jon Reddick, and many more!

The Hope Nights Tour will be stopping in Archbold, Ohio, at the Archbold Evangelical Church, on Friday, March 13! There are VIP, Early Entry, and General Admission Tickets available!

You can find tickets for The Hope Nights Tour here!

We took some lyrics from a song we listened to during The Afternoon Drive, and turned them into a Song Poetry!

Here were this week’s lyrics:

Don’t forget the things that He has done before
And remember He can do it all once more
It’s like the brightest sunrise
Waiting on the other side of the darkest night

This week’s Song Poetry was a stumper! Next week, these lyrics will be worth two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Give us a call next week at 5:15 on The Afternoon Drive if you think you know the song title and artist!

Tune in on Wednesday for some Who Knew? Wednesday fun facts and a game of Who Am I? for another chance to win that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant!

Thank you for listening!
– Joe and Ethan

As Christmas and New Years are wrapping up, we are looking forward to the next big Christian tour that has been happening every winter since 1995. That, of course, is WinterJam!

This week on Artist News Day, we talked with some WNZR artists who are on the lineup this year; Russ Lee of Newsong and Emerson Day!

Listen to our conversation with Russ Lee of Newsong here:

Listen to our conversation with Emerson Day here:

Next week on Artist News Day, we will talk with one of the three headliners of WinterJam: Katy Nichole!

While MercyMe won’t be at WinterJam, they are getting ready for their next headline tour, The Wonder + Awe Tour, with Big Daddy Weave, Tim Timmons, and Bart Millard’s son, Sam Wesley!

They will be stopping by Ohio on Thursday, March 19, at the Huntington Center, in Toledo, OH! The concert will begin at 7PM, and you find ticket information at the concert page on our website. Click here to find tickets.

This concert will be connected with their upcoming movie, I Can Only Imagine 2, and the artists that were involved in that story. You can learn more about MercyMe’s sequel on their website, by clicking here.

Here were this week’s Song Poetry lyrics!

Hey, how you been?
It’s been a while, and I’m just checking in
I miss the way things used to be back in 2017
And I just miss my friend

This week’s Song Poetry lyrics were from Dusty Bibles by Josiah Queen!

Congratulations to Samuel 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 some fun facts on Who Knew? Wednesday!

Thank you for listening!
– Ethan and Gabriella

On today’s Artist News Day, we talked about Seph Schlueter bringing his Counting My Blessings Tour back this spring, Leanna Crawford coming to Ohio four different times with The Sisterhood Tour, and… Forrest Frank sold out 90% of his upcoming tour in just one week!

Seph Schlueter is coming out of 2025 with many achievements, including a Gold certification certification on his song “Counting My Blessings”, which also sat at #1 for a couple of weeks on The NZ Top 10! Seph’s song “Running Back To You”, which also appeared on The NZ Top 10, earned Billboard’s Christian AC title, among reaching many other accomplishments!

To read more about Seph’s 2025 year, click here!

Seph will be back in Ohio this spring with his Counting My Blessings Tour, alongside his friends, Allison Eide and Charles Weems!

You can catch Seph in Massilon, Ohio, on Thursday, February 26! Tickets will go live on Friday, December 19. Stay up-to-date on our webiste, wnzr.fm/concerts to get tickets for yourself!

More information about Seph’s tour can be found here!

Leanna Crawford is headlining on The Sisterhood Tour, alongside her friends, Riley Clemmons and Madison Watkins!

Leanna will be coming to four different cities in Ohio on this tour: Massilon, Van Wert, Circleville, and Holland! Tickets are live now, and you have many options to choose from!

Leanna’s Massilon, Ohio concert will be on Friday, February 27, at Rivertree Christian Church (Jackson Campus), Massilon, Ohio 44646.

Ticket information for Massilon, Ohio’s concert can be found here!

Remember when we talked about Forrest Frank announcing his Summer 2026 The Jesus Generation Tour? Well, after just one week, Forrest’s entire tour is 95% sold out! This includes Cincinnati, Ohio’s show, being completely sold out!

There are some re-sale tickets available for Cincinnati’s show, but with much higher prices than originally. If you’re interested, the re-sale tickets can be found here!

We had a stumper for this week’s Song Poetry! Here were this week’s lyrics:

If you told me all about your sorrows
I’d tell you about a cure
If you told me you can’t fight the battle
There’s a _____ _____ who won the war

These lyrics are a stumper again for this week!

This Song Poetry will be worth three $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica next week, so tune in then and give us a call if you think you know the song title and artist for these lyrics!

Congratulations to Janelle from Mount Vernon for calling in and correctly guessing the artist and song title, taking home two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

Tune in on Wednesday for a game of Who Am I? and Who Knew? Wednesday!

Thank you for listening!
– Gabriella and Ethan

So many of your favorite WNZR artists are planning to hit the road again in 2026! We have a couple more concerts, from Ben Fuller, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Forrest Frank to put on your radar!

Forrest Frank is back this summer! He’ll be coming to Cincinnatti, Ohio on “The Jesus Generation Tour,” with a grand lineup of Tori Kelly, Cory Asbury, The Figs, and more special guests! He’ll by stopping by at the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnatti, Ohio on Monday, July 27.

Last time Forrest went on tour, some locations sold out in minutes. If you want to catch Forrest in Ohio, make sure you keep track of when tickets go live.

Watch for the presale code here!

Steven Curtis Chapman is continuing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his record “[Speechless],” with special guest La Vie Quartet! This record featured several loved songs like “Be Still and Know,” “Fingerprints of God,” “Speechless,” and “Dive”.

He’ll be in Akron, Ohio on Tuesday, March 3, at the Goodyear Theater, in Akron, Ohio! You can get tickets at our concerts page on our website, wnzr.fm.

Ticket information can be found here!

Coming off his Walk Through Fire Tour, Ben Fuller is bringing worship, raw honesty, and testimony on his Black Sheep Tour, with special guest Band Reeves. He’s inviting all the prodigals and the ones who feel like outsiders. Let the love of God show you that you are loved and never too far gone!

You can catch Ben at Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster, Ohio, on Sunday, April 19!

Ticket information can be found here!

Pray for Danny Gokey this week as he had an accident playing basketball! He is left with a black eye, but his Christmas tour is still on! Listen to Danny Gokey tell you about what happened here:

We had some Christmas lyrics for Song Poetry today! Here were today’s lyrics:

If you told me all about your sorrows
I’d tell you about a cure
If you told me you can’t fight the battle
There’s a ______ ______ who won the war

These lyrics were a stumper! If you know what song these lyrics are from, and the artist who sings the song, check back in next Tuesday! These lyrics will be worth two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica next week!

Tune in on Wednesday for some Who Knew Wednesday facts and a chance to win a gift from WNZR’s Christmas Gift Exchange!

Thank you for listening!
– Xander and Ethan