America’s Morning Show is Ty-ing one on.
Starting today (Sept. 6), Ty Bentli, who replaced Blair Garner as he moves to a late-night show in the Cumulus lineup, joined Kelly Ford and Chuck Wicks on AMS, and the new cast of characters couldn’t be happier about bringing you, the listeners, along for the ride.
“I think it’s about bringing the flavor of this city and the music we love to the whole country and doing it as a team here in the studio and with our listeners,” says Kelly to Nash Country Daily. “We need listeners to play a part in this and we are excited about engaging them in a way they haven’t been engaged with the show before.”
The change came when Blair Garner, the original host of the show, announced that he was stepping down from the lead chair to spend more time at home with his twin children and tackle his new late-night gig. Enter Ty Bentli.
Ty is the new guy in town—Kelly and Chuck were a part of America’s Morning Show prior to the change. Ty, an experienced radio personality comes from TK in Los Angeles. He brings along his wife and 3-year-old son to Music City.
“I haven’t felt this way since probably Chicago, which was my favorite job I’ve had so far,” Ty tells NCD. “It felt right, it felt at home. The talent that was around me—the people that were around me let me know that every piece is here, we can make this happen. I didn’t feel that in the last couple of circumstances.”
With the addition of Ty, new segments have been added to the morning rundown, including What’s Up Chuck?, Music City Breakdown, What The Ford? and Adulting.
“What’s up Chuck? is a more updated irreverent look at what’s trending—what everybody is talking about,” says Kelly. “Music City Breakdown is a collaborative look at the rumor mill in Nashville and country news. We have our finger on the pulse of what’s going on here. We are breaking country news. That’s something the show has been missing. We do know what’s going on and to bring that straight from the source is pretty cool.”
“What the Ford? is going to be a blast,” adds Ty. “Kelly’s going to call out all the crazy weirdos that are out there doing crazy stuff. Literally WTF, but our ‘F’ is Ford. For me, one of the early features we’ll implement is something called Adulting. I’m a young dad —Kelly’s been nice enough to say I’m a hot dad—who is a little bit in denial of the fact that I’m having to live a mature, responsible lifestyle now. It will consist of all of my adulting problems. I’m learning to be a grownup and that’s what you’ll get from me on the show.”
Another difference you’ll hear in the mornings is the interactive factor, which will translate to more audience engagement.
“We weren’t as accessible as we are now,” says Chuck. “We are traveling to markets we haven’t been in a while. We are going to NYC in a few days, we’re going to Boston, we’re gonna go to Detroit. We have plans to do big things with Lee Brice and do giveaways. We’re doing things and making the listener part of the team.”
“The new concept is that it will be a much more interactive show,” adds Ty. “We’ll be in touch with people more on social media and we’ll be out on the streets as much as possible. The interaction of our social media will be very important and the topics that we bring callers in on will be more important. We want to engage callers with their advice and their stories and press deeper into who they are. We care about our listeners and are intrigued by their stories. You’ll hear a very strong relationship between us.”
“The new show has more of everything,” says Kelly. “More energy, more interaction with listeners, more information from the center of the country universe—Music City.”
“We’re three people who care about each other, get mad at each other, who laugh with each other and it should be just that,” says Ty. “It’s real people trying to be as vulnerable and honest and sincere as possible about who we are on the air. You’re getting three people who are experiencing the fun and hilarity of life in Music City and at the same time realizing that we have little gaps in our knowledge and experiences and we need the help of the listener.”
Tune in to your NASH FM station every weekday morning from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. to hear Ty, Kelly and Chuck bring country music to your home.
