Quick "Hot Dish" update, 1/8

A favorite vintage image, posted by request--Bucky Covington during last summer's tour, photo by DeniseBernadette. Thanks for writing!

Legendary country music writer, CMT commentator, and radio star Hazel Smith, who had such nice things to say about Bucky Covington during his Idol run, mentioned him in her Hot Dish column today at CMT News:

My North Carolina kids are showing off -- singing and signing. Raleigh's Eric Church is making waves on Capitol Nashville while American Idol finalist Kellie Pickler from Albemarle is looking good on BNA Records. And now, Bucky Covington, the pride of Rockingham, has signed with Lyric Street. His first single, "A Different World," is set for Jan. 16 release.

Mrs. Smith's whole column is a must-read; today's Hot Dish features her thoughts on the current divide between "critic's choice" and the top of the country charts--definitely food for thought. (And if you're interested in literal food, she also offers a recipe for a hearty Broccoli Cheese Soup.) Enjoy! There's a link in our sidebar to Mrs. Smith's country music news podcasts--we'll keep an ear out for Bucky's name in her commentaries. (Thanks to Sunscreen for the tip.)

It looks like Bucky's "Different World" picked up a station overnight. Flint, Michigan's B95 (WFBE-FM) is on board--congratulations! This station offers online streaming; there's a "High Noon Bistro" lunchtime request show that sounds promising. If you're local, give them a call on their request line at (810) 251-5-B95 and maybe you can enjoy a midday break with Bucky Covington blasting from your speakers...

(Edited to add a nice Flint-related heads-up from dbrosch: "Jenn from Bucky Country got to give an online intro to 'Different World' about 10 till noon today. They also have a toll free number to call in (877 hive b95) so others can call in for free and request 'Different World'." Thanks to dbrosch and Jenn!)

And kudos to XM's Highway 16 for giving late night/early morning listeners a chance to hear "Different World" in the wee hours today; Highway 16's next "Traffic Report" all-request show airs on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, but subscribers can use the "Contact Us" info at the home page to request a song any time.

The start of the week brings us another "Top 5 at 6" on WKML 95.7 in Fayetteville. Bucky's single is clearly a big hit out there in the listening area and on the station's live stream. Will it continue to top the countdown? You can email a request to country@wkml.com, then keep your radio or PC tuned in--the song will probably grace the WKML airwaves during the day today, as well.

And yep, a little bump on Mediabase this morning--the new spins gave "Different World" a nudge to number 73.

Finally, a fun blog post from North Carolina--you never know who you might run into while you do your Saturday shopping. (Thanks to Becky for the link.)

News post next--see you soon!