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Country Radio Seminar’s New Faces Show Was Once Make Or Break. Now It’s a Validation

How the Country Radio Seminar's New Faces show has changed over the years, from make-or-break to more of a validation for semi-established artists.

Alabama in 1980, Randy Travis in 1986 and Tim McGraw in 1994 all impressed the crowd with their two-song sets, solidifying support from broadcasters who inevitably helped them become significant ambassadors for the genre. Under current conditions, most attendees have likely met some of the New Faces artists and even had them sing in their conference rooms on radio promotion tours or had them perform for an acoustic, station-sponsored benefit. The late Charlie Monk, one of the seminar’s founders, told Curtis that in the show’s early years, performance slots were based less on the artists’ accomplishments than on their teams’ ability to pull strings.

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