John Shomby Joins The Team At 'Backstage Country'

United Stations an independent leader in original network radio programming, has announced the addition of well-known veteran Programmer John Shomby to the staff of its new daily, weekday program “Backstage Country” as the show’s Talent Relations Consultant.  Backstage Country is the brand new 5-hour daily program that features the stars of Country Music as rotating hosts.  

John Shomby

The program was developed by United Stations in conjunction with the seven (7) Beasley-owned Country outlets which also helped launch the network show as its flagship affiliates.  In his new role, Shomby will assist with the acquisition and scheduling of the show’s guest-hosts as well as handling industry relations with Nashville’s leading recording and artist management companies, any necessary talent coaching and coordinating elements of the show’s music selection.  He joins the program’s team effective immediately, the move brings a Country programming superstar to the Backstage Country staff, and the announcement of this appointment comes from the company’s EVP/Programming, Andy Denemark in New York.

John Shomby arrives at “Backstage Country” with a resume reflecting a lifetime in radio broadcasting.  His most recent stint was in Nashville where John was the Director of Nash Programming for Cumulus Media from 2016 to 2020.  In that role, he oversaw the programming of a bevy of nationally distributed shows including the Kix Brooks American Country Countdown and Ty Bentli’s morning show where he worked with Adrian Kulp who is now Senior Content Producer for Backstage Country.  Shomby was also Program Director for Cumulus’ WKDF Nash-FM 103.3.  For thirteen years he was in the Norfolk and Virginia Beach, VA area as Director of Programming and Operations for Max Media’s five station cluster including country WGH-FM (97.3 The Eagle).   

He’s also been Operations Manager for clusters in Augusta, GA, Flint, MI and Kalamazoo, MI for Cumulus Media from 1999-2002 overseeing CHR, Classic Rock, Mainstream Rock and Full-Service Talk Radio formats.  Prior to that, John programmed stations in Birmingham, AL, Portland, OR, New Orleans, Dallas and Boston in CHR, Rock, Talk, Oldies, AC and Sports formats.   He has served on the Board of Directors for the Country Radio Broadcasters since 2005 and has been its Vice President since 2019.   He’s also been a member of Nashville’s Leadership Music organization since 2010.   In May of this year, John established a programming and talent consulting firm, and United Stations’ “Backstage Country” is now one of his clients.   John can be reached at johnshomby@gmail.com.

In making the announcement of the addition of John Shomby, United Stations’ Andy Denemark commented, “The team that brainstormed Backstage Country always imagined this show to be a ‘next level’ project, and the way to stay ahead of the pack is with the best people in the business.  John Shomby fits that bill.  He is a superstar in the radio industry and beloved in the Country format, and he’s rounding out the team for this show perfectly.   Welcome, John!”   

John Shomby added, “Working on this show is going be amazing.   Backstage Country has all the elements I love as a programmer, especially the star power.   I’m so excited to come on board.”