November 28, 2022, Issue 835
Country, Caribbean Style
As the days grow shorter and colder, what better time to visit a warm, tropical destination? One that’s the only place outside the US or Canada where two Country stations go head-to-head. A British territory, the Cayman Islands lie in the northwest Caribbean between Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba. Famous for their crystal-white beaches, the three Cayman islands have a total population of around 80,000 people (approximately the size of Casper, WY), the vast majority of which (more than 95%) live on the 20-mile-wide main island of Grand Cayman. Despite their small size and the fact that Doug Dodds commercial radio didn’t begin operation in the islands until 1992, there is a vibrant local radio scene with a dozen commercial stations split mostly among two local owners: Compass Media (not the syndicator) operates four stations, including ZFKY “Rooster 101” (so named for the island’s ubiquitous feral chickens), and DMS Broadcasting, which has seven stations including ZFKC “CayCountry 93.5.” Call letters in the Caymans exist in license only and are not Dave Kelly required, or used, on the air. Cayman Country Grammar: Rooster 101 PD Doug Dodds explains country music has a long history in the Caymans. “Before the island had its tourism industry or financial sector, there wasn’t much here, so most of the young men would go work on ships or oil rigs,” he says. “They’d be gone for months at a time and bring back records – loads of Johnny Cash and Merle [Haggard].” Dodds adds the lack of local radio before the ‘90s also had an effect. “You had those 50,000-watt AM stations that would come in at night. People would huddle around their staticky radios and listen to country music.” Country stars also vacationed on the islands and, in 1987, a group of investors including Conway Twitty, Larry Gatlin and Ronnie Milsap opened Treasure Island Resort – then the island’s largest property. (continued on page 3)
Let’s Glow, Girls: Warner/WMN’s Brett Eldredge (c) with the label’s Shane Tarleton (l) and Cris Lacy at the opening of his annual Glow Live holiday tour.
Holiday Sleigh-lists
The Thanksgiving leftovers hadn’t even been put in the fridge when Christmas titles started making their annual appearance on Country playlists. Country Aircheck is again compiling weekly charts of holiday titles based on airplay from the CA/Mediabase reporting panel (see Chart Page 4). On the overall chart, three songs came within a dozen points of the top in the first week of holiday airplay, led by Burl Ives’ 1964 classic “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” which was 10 points ahead of Alabama’s yuletide standard “Christmas In Dixie,” which was just two points ahead of George Strait’s modern classic “Christmas Cookies.” Lainey Wilson’s take on the Strait song is the most-played this week among current and recurrent holiday titles (all airplay data is
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