The sounds of December came early
Rita LeBleu
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” in homes across Southwest Louisiana. Trees are going up earlier than ever before because, as one mom put it, “We just need a little Christmas.”
Now it’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas at home and “everywhere you go.”
Local radio station, 92.9, The Lake, has been offering its Christmas music until Christmas format over the airwaves for almost a decade. This year, the sounds of the season could be heard a little earlier than usual and without advance notice.
“We wanted to surprise everybody,” said Morning Drive DJ Mikey O. “We just needed a little cheer and what better way to do that than with holiday music. The community needed it.”
COVID and hurricanes have impacted personal lives, houses and businesses throughout Southwest Louisiana.
“A few people have complained,” he said. “Overall, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, more so this year than ever before. More people were asking for it earlier than ever, beginning two or three weeks ago.”
Mikey O. said Christmas music is up there as one of his favorite three top genres.
“I love the chipmunk song,” he said. “It makes me laugh every time I hear it, even though I’ve heard it a million times.”
His all-time favorite is “O, Holy Night.” The station plays both secular and religious Christmas music until Christmas.
Listeners who want to weigh in on the program’s timing this year or request a favorite, can download the app, message the station via Facebook or email 92.9 The Lake from the station’s website.
“The simplest way is to download the app,” Mikey O. said. “It’s free; it’s in the apple play store. You can click the chat button and chat with me, with James and with Sara. That goes straight to us.”
If a requested song has been played within the last two hours, the DJ will need some time before airing it again. If not, it can usually be added fairly quickly.
The playlist comes from corporate.
“Those are the songs they want us to play,” he said. “Over here, locally, we craft it to how we feel best fits Southwest Louisiana.”
When the song “Baby It’s Cold Outside” was getting a lot of national attention, listeners here didn’t object to the original lyrics or the remake as they were doing in some markets.
“Keep playing that song,” they told us. “It’s a holiday classic.”
Rita LeBleu