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Game Time Tuesday

Album Releases For The Month Of August!

Today we talked about all the new music and albums coming from your artists here on WNZR! There’s one already out, and there a few new ones to come as well!

MercyMe has debuted their twelfth studio album, Wonder & Awe last Friday, August 8th!

With thirteen tracks on this one, the band takes a twist on the kind of style of music audiences would expect for them to put out. Lead singer Bart Millard described it as feeling like being in a teenage garage band, where they get to make music they are having fun with, and not be put under an expectation of what kind of style of music to make.

The album title, Wonder & Awe speaks as a theme of wanting to go back to that place of adventure, surprise, and as the title suggests, wonder and awe. Millard said one time “I mean think about it, not much surprises us these days”. And no wonder! With all the information we need in the palms of our hand. So the band wants to take us back “to eyes open wide” and “to that kid who once believed he was always made to fly”. When listening through this record, you can tell the band had a lot of fun putting this one together!

To read the full album review on JesusFreakHideout, click HERE!

Katy Nichole is releasing her second full-length studio album, Honest Conversations, on Friday, August 15th!

With her previous record, Jesus Changed My Life, Katy Nichole touched hearts with her honest, touching, and passionate lyrics that filled her songs. This album is bringing more of that heartfelt honesty that speaks to people worldwide.

It’s incredible to see how the Lord uses Nichole’s struggles to speak through to others who are going something tragic as well. We got to see a little of what this album will be like by getting to hear Katy Nichole’s song When I Fall when she released it 8 months ago!

To learn more about this upcoming record, click HERE!

Josiah Queen is debuting his second full-length studio album, Mt. Zion, on Friday, August 22nd!

With a unique style of folk-pop music, Queen is bringing that same unique style in new ways on this upcoming record! We’ve gotten to hear a few songs that will be on this record, such as Can’t Steal My Joy (feat. Brandon Lake) and Dusty Bibles!

We’ve seen Queen’s social media go viral ever since his big hit The Prodigal, and when he teases snippets of his new music, it almost never fails to bring excitement to listeners all over!

To hear more of what Josiah Queen said about this upcoming release, click HERE!

Keep David Crowder in your prayers for these next few weeks! He broke his leg last week, saying “I’m not near as athletic as I thought I was-“, and because of this he said he will also be missing a couple of shows as a result.

This week’s Song Poetry is a returning stumper! That means we weren’t able to find a winner for Song Poetry, so the winner of this one takes home three $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Here were the lyrics:

Come see all the captives run free
He’s tearing down the walls
He’s tearing down the walls
There’s grave shaking power when we sing
The Name above them all
Your Name above them all

These Song Poetry lyrics were from Phil Wickham’s The King Is In The Room! And for this week’s returning stumper, congratulations goes to Connie from Centerburg for being the first to call in and guess the song title and artist correctly!

Tune in tomorrow for a fun day of fun facts on Who Knew Wednesday, and for a game of Who Am I?, which is also a stumper, so tune in from 4-6pm for a chance to win two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Xander and Ethan

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Miracles Are Happening!

Today for Artist Newsday we highlighted the amazing miracle that God has worked for Forrest Frank and his broken back! We also shared all the information on some of the brand new songs we will be adding to WNZR’s catalog this Friday!

Forrest Frank has been recovering in bed since his injury two weeks ago when he fell off his skateboard at his home, breaking his back. He fractured his L3 and his L4 vertebrae and has been in excruciating pain. Who better to tell you what happened then Forrest himself. Here’s his post explaining it!

Forrest is absolutely right when he says THANK YOU JESUS!

We are adding two new songs on Friday and they are incredible songs of faith, but in different ways:

Josiah Queen – “Dusty Bibles”

  • This song is a spiritual wakeup call for many. It not only calls attention to the bibles that are sitting idle on many peoples bedside tables collecting dust, but it also calls us BACK to God. It encourages us to regain our intimacy with Him!

Lauren Daigle – “Let It Be A Hallelujah”

  • Lauren wrote this song 8 years ago and she has yet to release it! That’s a long time to keep a song in the vault but as it sat, her life evolved and she grew to understand and feel the words more powerfully. This song is a passionate dedication to living a life that matters.

Today we pulled some lyrics from a song we heard on The Afternoon Drive and played Song Poetry! Here were the lyrics we picked today:

Come see all the captives run free
He’s tearing down the walls
He’s tearing down the walls
There’s grace shaking power when we sing
The Name above them all
Your Name above them all

Today’s Song Poetry was a stumper again! If you think you know which song these lyrics are from, and who sings this song, listen in next week during The Afternoon Drive and give us the answer! If you can guess this stumper, you will get three $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for some fun facts for Who Knew Wednesday!

Thanks for listening!0

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Happy Birthday Katy Nichole!

Today on Artist Newsday we celebrated Katy Nichole’s birthday, and with that we went over all that she has accomplished in this past year! We also got updated with what’s happening with Forrest Frank and his back injury.

Katy Nichole was born today, July 29, 2000, making her 25 years of age this year. Since her last birthday in 2024, Katy Nichole has appeared on the NZ Top 10 with her song When I Fall, speaking to listeners far and wide with her deeply honest song which emphasized her desperation for God through very painful moments in her life. This song is set to appear on her brand new full-length album coming out on August 15th, which is called Honest Conversations!

Forrest Frank has been recovering in bed since his injury a week-and-a-half ago when he fell off his skateboard at his home, breaking his back. He fractured his L3 and his L4, and this is what he has been up to since then.

Forrest says on his Instagram account, “Following God is kind of hilarious because I’m feeling thankful for my back breaking???????” He goes on to declare, “Drugs don’t do this, money can’t do this, nothing else…. only JESUS”. Forrest is finding joy in every circumstance he finds himself in… even in the midst of recovering from a broken back. What an example he is leading to a generations young and old on social media– To rejoice always, glorifying God no matter what situation he finds himself in!

Today we pulled some lyrics from a song we heard on The Afternoon Drive and played Song Poetry! Here were the lyrics we picked today:

Come see all the captives run free
He’s tearing down the walls
He’s tearing down the walls
There’s grace shaking power when we sing
The Name above them all
Your Name above them all

Today’s Song Poetry was a stumper! If you think you know which song these lyrics are from, and who sings this song, listen in next week during The Afternoon Drive and give us the answer! If you can guess this stumper, you will get two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for some fun facts for Who Knew Wednesday!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Ethan Hershberger

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God can use ANYTHING… even a broken back to bring glory to His Name!

Forrest Frank is hot off of releasing chart-breaking songs like “Good Day” and his latest, “Your Way’s Better”, receiving so much love on Instagram and TikTok. Recently, he has done it once again, but this time it wasn’t because of a song… kind of.

Forrest has gone viral once again on social media, but unfortunately the Internet isn’t the only thing he broken these past five days. Forrest was skateboarding outside his home and had an accident, breaking his back. He has been bed-ridden, with a fractured L3 and L4. However, despite the circumstance, Forrest has not let this stop him from making music to continue worshipping and praising God.

Two days later, stuck at home, he teased the chorus of a new song he’s been working on, called “God’s Got My Back”, which as you can see is poking a little bit at his accident.

You can watch him make the song here. Be aware: The video contains a couple seconds of raw footage when Forrest hit his back on the pavement.

It is absolutely incredible to see Forrest continuing to worship and praise God, despite the situation he is in right now. While he may not realize, he’s portraying an honorable example to a younger generation– Taking an unfortunate circumstance, and turning it into praise!

Here is what Forrest teased a couple days ago, reacting to all the love and support he’s already received from this new song he’s working on!

“You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.” – Genesis 50:20

Here are the lyrics we took from a song we heard on The Afternoon Drive today for a game of Song Poetry!

Some days life feels perfect
Other days, it just ain’t workin’
The good, the bad, the right, the wrong,
And everything in between.

Today’s Song Poetry lyrics were from TobyMac’s song “Speak Life”. Congratulations to Jenn from Mount Vernon for calling in and guessing the artist and song title correctly, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for a game of Who Am I? and a special Who Knew Wednesday where we continue going On The Road With Big Blue at the Knox County Fair!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Joe and Ethan

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We’re “Counting Our Blessings”, Listening To Seph Schlueter’s New Full-Length Album!

We’re absolutely loving the music Seph Schlueter has been putting out! We get to see some of our favorites from him, and some brand new ones, in a full-length, 11-song album called “Counting My Blessings”, including the title track which was his first big hit!

On Artist Newsday today, we went more in depth with Seph’s new album that is out now, Josiah Queen’s new album, and something new coming from a band from the vault we hear on WNZR, called Kutless!

Seph Schlueter blows us away with his style of music that the Lord has spoken through to so many people, touching so many lives. This album reminds us of God’s grace and that His grace is always sufficient for us and never runs out. It’s an album full of worship and gratitude towards God. We’ve been so blessed to hear songs like Running Back To You and the title track, Counting My Blessings, on WNZR, which you can find on this new album!

With this new release, Seph will be taking his these new songs with him on his Counting My Blessings Tour this Fall alongside a favorite new artist, bodie! They’ll be stopping at The George in Cincinnati, Ohio on Thursday, October 2nd! You can find more details and ticket information on the Concert page on our website by clicking HERE!

What can you look forward to next with new album releases? You can keep an eye out for Josiah Queen, who’s releasing a new, full-length album titled MT. ZION. This new album includes the new one from Josiah and Brandon Lake, Can’t Steal My Joy, alongside some songs of his that have been blowing up on social media! God is once again using artists like Josiah to spread the love of God to areas like social media, and spread the Good News of the Gospel to people who may not have heard that much about Jesus or what He did to pay for each and every one of all our sins!

Josiah Queen be here in Ohio soon, joining the stage with Tauren Wells at the Ohio State Fair on Monday, July 28th! Keep listening in for ticket giveaways for this concert! We’re doing Tauren Wells and Josiah Queen trivia questions, and whoever calls in first with the correct answer takes home two tickets to the concert! Don’t miss your chance and tune into The Morning Thing, 6am – 9am, and The Afternoon Drive, 4pm – 6pm! More details about this concert and the Ohio State Fair can be found HERE on our website!

With their unique and hard rock style, the band Kutless creates a Revelation-inspired 6-song EP which is called The Seventh Seal. You can find this new EP on their YouTube channel, by clicking HERE and find it where they stream music!

Today we played Song Poetry! We took a segment of lyrics from one of the songs we heard during The Afternoon Drive. Here were the lyrics we had for Song Poetry today:

I don’t know who I’d be if I didn’t know You,
I’d probably fall off the edge.
I don’t know where I’d go if You ever let go,
So keep me held in Your hands.

This week’s song was… “Thank God I Do” from Lauren Daigle! Congratulations to Janell from Mount Vernon for calling in and guessing both the song title and artist correctly, taking home the $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for a game of Who Am I? and some fun facts on Who Knew Wednesday!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Ethan Hershberger

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Call On Jesus!

Even with a couple technical difficulties today, we still had a great show! Today on Praise Thursday, we read some devotions out of Our Daily Bread Devotions!

We read a story about a woman, Nancy, who was walking in her town, and on her way she walked past a dog being walked on a leash. The dog tried to attack Nancy, but the owner held on to the leash, keeping the dog from harming her.

This reminded Nancy how the devil is prowling around waiting to attack us and paralyze us with fear, however we do not need to fear at all, because he is no match for the God we know and believe in. God calls us to “submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you,” found in James 4:7. Cry out to Jesus in times of fear, desperation, anxiety, when you need help, and as it says in 1 Peter 5:10, “And the God of grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

Read the full devotional HERE!

Jesus is our everything. We couldn’t possibly get through life without Him. Our other devotion we went though talks about how Kennedy Blades, a 2024 Olympian gave all glory to God, and praised Him for her victories. It is so incredible to see Kennedy using the platform God gave her to give Him glory and praise for everything. We see this heart posture reflect David in Psalm 63 where he says in verse 1, “I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you.” Kennedy acknowledged that she couldn’t have gotten anywhere, or done anything without the hope and grace that she has been blessed with by Jesus Christ!

If you want to read the full story, click HERE!

Today we took a 20 second clip of a song we played during The Afternoon Drive today!

Today’s song was Firm Foundation from Cody Carnes! Congratulations to Adam from Fredericktown for calling in and guessing the song title and artist correctly, taking home that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for the NZ Top 10, where we count down the top 10 songs in Christian music of the week! We’ll also have some new music for you as well!

Thank you so much for tuning in and listening!
– Xander and Ethan

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Lauren Daigle From The Super Bowl To The U.S. Capitol!

Lauren Daigle has been taking audiences by storm, performing in some of the U.S.’s most well-known areas! Today is Artist Newsday, and we’re highlighting how incredible it is to be getting artists like Lauren Daigle to perform in all these areas where she gets the opportunity to let Jesus shine through her!

You may remember when Lauren sang live at this past year’s Super Bowl, wowing the stadium with her rendition of America The Beautiful with singer and trombone specialist Trombone Shorty. That train continues as she got the opportunity to sing at the U.S. Capitol for the 45th Anniversary of PBS’s Capitol Fourth Concert, singing live in front of thousands. She brought her special rendition of America The Beautiful with her once again, along with her version of Walking On Sunshine, and one of her biggest hits Rescue for her performance in D.C.

Lauren Daigle performing Rescue at “2025 A Capitol Fourth”, courtesy of PBS and Capital Concerts

Seeing this is so incredible to see, as artists like Lauren will get to reach other audiences on these platforms and spread the Gospel of Jesus through music, that of which she is unashamed of! We’re excited to see how the LORD uses Lauren and other artists to spread His Word and build His Kingdom next!

Matthew West is going on tour with a new Christian artist! On his Don’t Stop Praying 2025 Tour, Matthew is bringing Peter Burton along with him, of which we got to learn a little about him during Momentum 2025. We got to see one of the songs he has been working on, called Where Would I Be, and he will be bringing these songs with him as he goes with Matthew West on this tour!

Peter Burton’s Where Would I Be Lyric Video

Matthew West will be bringing his Don’t Stop Praying 2025 Tour to the Genoa Baptist Church in Westerville, OH on November 6th! If you want to be a part of this prayer, worship-filled night, and hear more from Peter Burton, click the link HERE to find more information and purchase tickets! Matthew has been so passionate about prayer, and strongly believes that prayer makes a difference, and that’s what he wants to bring to Ohio, and this entire tour.

So much artist news this week! If you want to join CeCe Winans on her More Than This tour with Charity Gale, make sure to find ticket information on our website, wnzr.fm. She will be in Kettering, OH on July 23rd!

Today we played Song Poetry! Here were today’s lyrics that we took from a song played during the Afternoon Drive:

Wide awake while the world is sound asleep, and
Too afraid of what might show up while you’re dreamin’
Nobody, nobody, nobody sees you
Nobody, nobody would believe you…

Today’s song was God Only Knows, from for King & Country! Congratulations to Jennifer from Centerburg for calling in and guessing the song title and artist correctly, taking home that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for a game of Who Am I? and Who Knew Wednesday!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Ethan Hershberger

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TobyMac is bringing a very special tour to Ohio!

Today is a very special Artist News Day! We’ve got news from TobyMac, a unique tour from him, Seph Schlueter, releasing his first full length album and announcing a full tour along with it, and news from Stars Go Dim as well!

Last week, TobyMac announced the Heaven On My Mind Start To Finish Tour, and it’s a little different from other tours he has taken. He’s stopping at the Akron Civic Theatre in Akron, OH on November 6th, which is one of five states he will be visiting on this tour! This is an intimate, more personal concert, where TobyMac will be performing his entire latest record live from start to finish, as the name suggests! Not only that, he’ll also be performing other great hits from his earlier records as well!

Ticket sales go live tomorrow, Wednesday, July 2nd and if you want to buy tickets, click HERE! The concert is on November 6th, at 7PM!

TobyMac’s latest record is called “Heaven on My Mind”, where TobyMac is on the other side of grieving the tragic loss of his son, Truett. This record is deeply honest, and as the record title says, after everything TobyMac has gone through, he has Heaven on his mind, keeping his “eye on the prize”, so to speak. He is counting on God, and he’s diving in even deeper into his trust in God!

Seph Schlueter is coming out with a his first ever full-length album on July 11th! It will have a whole 17 songs on it, and includes collabs with the likes of Matt Maher and Essential Worship. Alongside this album release, he’s going on tour with this record and all of his other songs, so you’ll get to hear songs like “Counting My Blessings”, “Running Back To You”, and many more! He’s coming to Cincinnati, OH with bodie to bring you a fun, worship-filled night! If you want to order tickets for this concert, click HERE!

Stars Go Dim is releasing a full length album called Roses on July 11th! Check it out HERE!

Today we played Song Poetry! Here were the lyrics we took from a song we’ve heard during today’s show:

I will not be afraid
In the end, you will lose
I will dance on your grace
With the one who buried you.

Today’s song was “Oh Death” from MercyMe! Congratulations to Kelly from Mount Vernon for calling in and guessing the song and artist correctly, taking home that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for Who Knew Wednesday!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Ethan Hershberger

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The King Of All… The King Of Hearts

Today is Artist News Day, and one WNZR artist keep very busy as of recent. Brandon Lake has released his highly anticipated, full release album called “King Of Hearts”. It includes some beloved songs heard on WNZR from the likes of “That’s Who I Praise”, “I Know A Name”, and “Hard Fought Hallelujah”.

However, Brandon decided he wasn’t going to end with only 16 songs on his full release, so he came back just a few days later with his Deluxe version of his album, “King Of Hearts (Full Deck Deluxe Version)”. He added 8 more songs to the mix, bringing the deluxe album to 24 songs in total!

And on top of all of that, Brandon is going on tour with these new songs! He will be in Ohio on October 12, so if you want tickets for that concert, you can find it on our full list of concerts HERE!

Our other artist news involves Blessing Offor and his new album that he recently announced is coming! Titled “Real”, this album is set to be released on the 8th of August with a whole 16 songs scheduled to arrive with this one!

If you want to see the full report on this new album, click HERE!

Today we played song poetry! Here were the lyrics we chose from a song played on WNZR:

A thousand generations falling down in worship
To sing the song of ages to the Lamb.
And all who’ve gone before us, and all who will believe
Will sing the song of ages to the Lamb.

The song today was “Holy Forever” from Chris Tomlin! Congratulations to Michelle from Mount Vernon for guessing the title and artist correctly, winning that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for Who Knew Wednesday, and a game of Who Am I? from 4-6pm!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Xander and Ethan

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