Edmonton Sun - Local Radio Station Plays Clay

Taking a 'Shine' to Christmas music
By MIKE JENKINSON, EDMONTON SUN

So when does it start to feel like Christmas for you? I heard some people talking recently that it wouldn't feel like Christmas until there was snow on the ground. Yeah, well, I hope those people are happy. Merry Christmas ... I'm going to the Caribbean, thanks.

Some people don't consider it to really be Christmas until the tree goes up in the living room and the Christmas lights are strung outside.

For me, though, the Christmas season kicked off in earnest last Thursday when my favourite radio station, Shine-FM, moved to its all-Christmas-music format, which will continue through the end of Christmas Day.

Yes, if you set your FM radio dial to 105.9 in Edmonton between now and present-opening time, it's nothing but classic Christmas carols, good old Christmas hymns, and contemporary Christmas music.

This year, I couldn't wait for the all-Christmas format to start. And I'm sure I'll been minorly depressed again when it's over.

But what do listeners think?

"You know what? There are always going to be a few people who will call up saying 'I can't believe you're playing Christmas music so early!' But if we didn't play it until the 15th (of December) we'd have more calls saying, 'How come you're not playing Christmas music non-stop?' " says Shine FM music director Hunt with a laugh. "But the majority of the reaction is positive."

Hunt says moving to an all-Christmas-music format for almost a month seemed like the natural thing to do for a radio station that plays only contemporary Christian music. "We like to think we have Christmas music 24/7 really," he says. "The majority of what we play is about Christ.

This Christmas season, Shine-FM has about 450 songs in rotation, which is about 160 more than last year. The station has also added a few artists that don't normally make the playlist, such as James Taylor and Clay Aiken, in addition to their regular roster of artists that ranges from Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant to Reliant K and Kutless.

But Hunt says the station is very selective when it comes to adding mainstream artists to their Christmas music roster, saying, "We make sure the song is what we consider to be a Christian Christmas song."

Needless to say, going to the all-Christmas format, even for a month, is quite the undertaking, says Hunt. "It's intense ... non-stop Christmas music," he says. I laugh, suggesting to him that might not the best way to sell listeners on the temporary format change - "intense non-stop Christmas music!" like it was some kind of monster truck show.

That said, he noted to me that there's a radio station in Detroit that's been playing nothing but Christmas music since November 1! "They're running TV spots - all Christmas, all the time," he says. "I don't think I could push myself to listen (to just Christmas music) for two straight months."

Maybe not. But I'll happily take 25 days of it on Shine-FM.