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Tuscaloosa now has a Contemporary Christian music outlet and it's based here in Tuscaloosa. That is a first for our city.

Christian music, according to the largest music streaming apps, is one of the hottest genres in all of music over the last few years.

Artists like Brandon Lake, Phil Wickham, Elevation Worship, Crowder, for King & Country, and many more are drawing fans and artists from other musical genres.

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Photo: Facebook/Brandon Lake
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It probably doesn't hurt interest in comforting music when the world seems like it is almost always in a chaotic state.

Now, we have 101.7 The River, Lifting Tuscaloosa's Spirit!

Photo: Townsquare Media
Photo: Townsquare Media
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The project has been a labor of love for the Townsquare Media Tuscaloosa Director of Content, DC, who has been lobbying for a Christian music station in our city for years.

DC says he recommended the format to corporate when they began looking for a new direction for a couple of underperforming brands in the portfolio.

Finally, they signed off on it and here we are today.

101.7 The River is a safe alternative for families who want great music without the additional language and themes most parents wish to avoid in the car line at school.

Research shows Christian music listeners are fiercely loyal and have a strong desire to support businesses in West Alabama that advertise on the station.

That loyalty is nearly double that of their secular counterparts.

Station executives say the aim is to make listeners' lives a little brighter through upbeat and hopeful music and relevant faith messages.

101.7 The River programmers also say the early response has been overwhelmingly good. They point to a recent afternoon contest that brought in well over 150 messages on the station app in a few hours.

The messages were littered with comments from listeners with many saying they had been leaving it on 101.7 FM for hours at a time.

The station features Brant Hansen and Producer Sherri in the morning. John Tesh and his Intelligence For Your Life after the morning show.

Well-known local on-air personalities Steve Shannon and DC Chymes take over next with the former from 12 noon until 3 pm and the latter from 3-7 pm.

Evenings feature a new personality to Tuscaloosa and West Alabama, Andy Youso with late nights handled by Doug Hannah.

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