Effective immediately, the Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.® has announced the addition of three new executives to its Board of Directors:

Clay Hunnicutt, Senior Vice-President of Programming, Clear Channel, Atlanta.  Clear Channel is the largest operator of radio stations in the country.   As the person in charge of programming for Clear Channel’s 200 plus country radio stations, Hunnicutt must have an inside track on what’s going on in country music.  In an article for the American Chronicle, Hunnicutt says of his job “I love what I do because it affords me the flexibility to not only focus on the Country format but also to be able to look at and understand all formats.”  See, Clay Hunnicutt:  Clear Channel’s Country Connoisseur. 

Renee’ Leymon, Senior Director of National Promotions at Lyric Street Records in Nashville.  Leymon has been part of promotions at Lyric Street Records since 1998, when she landed there after a stint with Arista Nashville; and

Keith Kaufman, has been Program Director at WSIX-FM Nashville since 2004, when he was responsible for making dramatic changes to WSIX’s slogan, positioning and airstaff in order to rebuild its “big” position in the country music market.  WSIX is, of course, the mother ship of country radio as the first successful country music formatted station on the FM dial in the US.

The current list of directors to which the trio will be added are identified on CRB’s web site (Click here to view).  Hunnicutt fills the void left as a result of Gregg Swedburg’s recent resignation.  Kaufman and Leymon fill two newly created at-large positions, which expire in March 2009 and March 2010, respectively. 

The CRB is a non-profit organization founded in 1969 to support the country radio format.  The organization has done a great job at this task over the years by organizing various industry events and seminars across the country, one of which is the well known Country Radio Seminar which is held annually in Nashville.  CRB is also the trustee for the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame, founded in 1974.  Ed Salamon is CRB’s current director.

Kaufman and Leymon are also serving on this year’s Agenda Committee for the 40th annual Country Radio Seminar.

When asked to comment about the new Board appointments, CRB president and board member Becky Brenner stated “it is always a tough vote because we have so many deserving individuals who apply to serve on the board. These three individuals have been long time supporters of the Country Radio Broadcasters and the Country Radio Seminar. Their individual talents and passion will help to lead us into our next 40 years.”

General information about Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. may be obtained at their website www.crb.org or by calling the CRB office at 615-327-4487.