‘Tis The Season!
As I’m writing this month’s article (a few days before Thanksgiving), I’m hard at work behind-the-scenes preparing for this year’s Christmas programming on WBTX. The Christmas music begins the day after Thanksgiving and will continue through New Year’s Day.
We’ve heard it for years – WBTX has perhaps one of the best selections of Christmas music you’ll find anywhere. The “core” of our Christmas library is southern gospel; in fact, I’ve just added in some brand-new Christmas recordings from Gold City, the Down East Boys, and Karen Peck & New River. Just as in years past, you’ll also hear favorites from the Hoppers, the Gaither Vocal Band, Greater Vision, Triumphant Quartet, Legacy Five, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, and many more.
What’s more, we also have an archive of many rare and hard-to-find Christmas recordings. We’ll take you back to the 1980s and 1990s to enjoy classic Christmas selections from the Talleys, the Bishops, the Cathedrals, the Hinsons, Heaven Bound, the Inspirations, Squire Parsons, and Carroll Roberson, just to name a few.
I’ll admit – it’s difficult to program a 100% Christmas southern gospel format for over a month – there’s simply not enough music (you’d hear songs repeated quite often). Therefore, we “branch out” just a bit. In addition to our southern gospel selections, you’ll also hear some classic “clean” country from names like the Statler Brothers, the Oak Ridge Boys, Kathy Mattea, Kenny Rogers, and even the Forester Sisters. Sadly, many of these recordings are neglected by many of today’s “mainstream” country stations.
Let’s Not Forget Light 96!
I mentioned a few months ago that Light 96 is back! Light 96 was our former “sister” station and was the very first station to program Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) here in the valley. Although Light 96 is no longer-on-the-air, the station has been revived as an Internet-only station programming 1980s and 1990s CCM.
This December, you’ll also hear a good many Christmas selections on Light 96! Now, Light 96 will not be going 100% Christmas, but you’ll hear at least 3 or 4 Christmas selections each hour from names like Amy Grant, Sandi Patty, Wayne Watson, 4 Him, Phillips, Craig & Dean, Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith, and Michael Card. Interestingly, I’ve also found that many of these selections are neglected by some of today’s “mainstream” Christian stations.
Again, you cannot listen to Light 96 on-the-air. So, you’ll need to go online to wbtxradio.com. Click the “Listen Live” button at the top of the page, and then click the yellow “Light 96” button.
We’ve also got a number of special Christmas programs scheduled throughout the month of December – these include hour-long Christmas album specials featuring visits with many of your favorite southern gospel artists. There’s also Shenandoah Bluegrass – spotlighting Christmas projects from the Easter Brothers, Ricky Skaggs, Rhonda Vincent, the Isaacs, and many more.
And, last but not least, continuing a 50+ year tradition on WBTX – we’ll air Handel’s “Messiah” on Sunday, December 21st, beginning at 2:00pm.
For a full schedule of Christmas programming, check out “WBTX Radio” on Facebook.
