RICK STEPHENSON
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Rick Stephenson has lived the life radio has to offer, working in many different cities like Minneapolis, Albuquerque, Shreveport, and Phoenix, Arizona. Rick now makes his home in Peoria, Illinois and is the morning personality at 97.3 River Country. Although he's a "60's child" and grew up with the Beatles, Beach Boys, and the rock revolution, his genre of choice is country music.
Rick's resume is impressive to say the least, having worked at KNEW in Oakland, where he performed every job from morning jock to production director. Ten years later, his company moved him to the Twin Cities where Rick became the morning air personality at WDGY, Minneapolis. He was a top five finalist for Billboard Magazine's "Radio Personality Of The Year" in 1989. He was also a panelist for USA Today for 18 months, picking top albums along with four other program directors from across the country.
From there, Rick programmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Phoenix, Arizona, and enjoyed his most rewarding accomplishments in Shreveport, Louisiana where he programmed at KRMD for nearly five years. He led his staff to three consecutive LAB Station of the Year awards, two CMA and an NAB nomination. He also programmed KITT and KWKH, Shreveport, the home of the legendary Louisiana Hayride.
After being a program director for fourteen years, Rick moved to Illinois in 2001 to become "Just a radio personality." And his experience continues to pay off! Rick has been awarded a Silver Dome Award for "Best Local Morning Show of the Year in a Medium Market" twice by the Illinois Broadcasters Association. Rick has been honored by the Country Radio Broadcasters in Nashville and received a Silver Dome Award for "Best Community Service Activity" for "Do Me A Favor Friday" and has been a Top 5 Finalist for the Country Music Association and Academy Of Country Music Personality of the Year.
The love of his life is his daughter, Megan. "God has blessed me with the most beautiful young lady you can imagine, and I am very proud of her in so many ways!"
JENN SMITH
The story of Jenn? Well, let’s start at the beginning. The year was 1983. It was a dark and stormy night…
Just kidding.
Jenn grew up in the small town of Heyworth, Illinois. She began her radio career at the young age of 8 as part of the “Youth Radio” program on B104 in Bloomington. When she was 16, she returned to B104 and worked part-time for two years. After graduating high school, Jenn moved to Charleston, Illinois and went to Eastern Illinois University (go Panthers!). While at EIU, she wore many hats at the student radio station, Hit-Mix WEIU, including co-hosting the morning show during her junior and senior years. Jenn graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies.
After college, Jenn returned to Radio Bloomington working in the traffic department (that’s commercials…not cars and stoplights traffic) and weekends at B104. She got her “big break” in 2008 when she moved to Joplin, Missouri to co-host Morning KIX on KIX 102.5. While in Joplin, Jenn had the opportunity to work with many of her favorite country artists including Sugarland, Dierks Bentley, Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum, George Jones, Martina McBride, Craig Morgan, and her favorite…BLAKE SHELTON! (Don’t worry…she was on her best behavior).
One of Jenn’s favorite things to do is give back, and she’s accomplished that in many ways. While in Joplin, she helped raise money for Children’s Miracle Network during their annual Radiothon, spent 24 hours high above the trees in a pink crane to support the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks, dove into icy creek waters for the Special Olympics Polar Plunge, and volunteered her time with Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Jenn is a huge TV nerd and will not answer her phone or doorbell during Dancing with the Stars, LOST, or Grey’s Anatomy. In fact, after watching, you can usually find her doing the tango with her cat, running screaming through the forest, or attempting to give her friends medical advice. She is proud to call herself a Gleek (fan of the show Glee) and a Twi-hard (fan of Twilight) and is convinced that one day, somehow, she will marry Edward Cullen, despite him being a fictional character. She also aspires to be a wizard (ala Harry Potter) a Broadway star (ala Kristen Chenoweth) and the next female white-water kayaking Olympic medalist (come on…that would just be awesome).
Want to know more? Listen to the River Country Morning Crew weekdays from 5-9am!