“The Direction” is a radio show hosted on Shippensburg University’s own WSYC station. “The Direction” airs every Friday at 4 p.m. on 88.7 FM. Each session brings with it interviews, in-studio performances by local talent and the latest college radio. Shippensburg University student Sean Fennell, who also is the assistant editor of The Slate’s Arts and Entertainment section, hosts the show.
Fennell started off the second most recent show (at the time of writing) with a song by The Mountain Goats called “Up The Wolves.” After the song ended, Fennell proceeded to talk a little about Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle and his songwriting style. Fennell also mentioned that Darnielle has authored a novel called “Wolf In A White Van.” Fennell launched back into the music with songs like, The Kooks’ “Hooray For Henry,” Shearwater’s “Animal Life” and Opus Orange’s “Balance.” Fennell played everything from progressive rock to synthpop to electronica.
Between the musical breaks, Fennell talked about the programming, such as the fact that the New Jersey-based rock band, The Everymen, would be playing a show in the studio. The band played the songs “Spain” and “Fingers Crossed” off of their new album, “Givin’ Up On Free Jazz,” which came out in May. The band also played a couple of other songs, reprising some of the material that they had played during their concert at the Thought Lot the day before.
The show continued with more easy listening music courtesy of Fennell and finally segued out with Built To Spill’s, “The Source.” Having a student host is probably the best thing about “The Direction” — it is recent bands and singers chosen for college students by a college student. Music dominates “The Direction’s” programming, which might make it not worth listening to for people who prefer more talk-radio oriented programming.
However, if music programming with minimal interruptions is what you are after, WSYC’s “The Direction” is the show for you.
In addition to its radio programming like “The Direction,” WSYC also maintains an Internet and social media presence. Shippensburg students can check out WSYC’s website at www.wsyc.org and follow the station on Twitter at @887TheDirection.
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