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WGSU Unveils Genny Fest ’22 Music Lineup

Third music and food-truck festival, May 6, will feature new and returning performers and food-truck vendors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(April 20, 2022) — The third Genny Fest Music Festival & Food-Truck Frenzy, 4–7 p.m. May 6, will feature music by Toronto-based alternative/indie band (the Australian-Canadian duo, pronounced “forest,” of Holly Forrest and Matt Fuentas). �鶹��ý�Ŷ� alumna (Allison Altschiller ’18) — making her third Genny Fest appearance — will be first up.

FXRRVST released Dear Friend (Pt. 1 & 2) — including the singles “Bad Things” and “This Rough Patch” — last year to college radio. Additional tracks WGSU has been playing since then include “The Story Doesn’t End At Chapter 14” and “Here’s The Key. Don’t Lose It.”

FXRRVST was nominated, in 2017, for Best Indie Act at the Toronto Independent Music Awards. On its website , the poetic-and-personal storytelling duo describes an eco-friendly “commitment to sustainability and environmentalism … an authentic extension of the kind, caring and compassionate people” that Holly and Matt strive to be.

Nashville (by way of New York) based independent singer-songwriter Allison Leah just released her latest single, “Sorry For Myself.” She has been called a “” and received other praise since releasing her debut EP, “Fly Home,” in 2018. In 2017, WGSU became the first U.S. radio station to air her music in regular rotation by featuring “A Love Song.” Some of her other songs — each played by WGSU — include “24 Years Down,” “What I’m Missing,” “We Can Still Sing” (released during and about the COVID-19 pandemic), “Coffee Cup,” “Landslide” (a remake of a Fleetwood Mac song), “Colorado” and “Black and White.”

“The WGSU staff has been working hard putting Genny Fest together — and we can't wait for everyone to enjoy the event,” Sarah DeVito, WGSU marketing director, says. “It should be a fun-filled day for all!”

Genny Fest ’22 will also feature six food trucks and �鶹��ý�Ŷ� dance groups — all performing on �鶹��ý�Ŷ�’s MacVittie College Union Plaza (rain location: College Union Ballroom; food trucks outside, rain or shine). Named for WGSU’s mascot, Genny, the festival is free and open to the public. Genny Fest benefits Friends of WGSU (and future Genny Fest music festivals).

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More information:
■ Genny Fest: www.geneseo.edu/wgsu/genny-fest
■ WGSU-FM (89.3): wgsu.radio | WGSU live stream:
■ Third Genny Fest Music Festival & Food Truck Frenzy: 4–7 p.m. May 6, 2022 (MacVittie College Union Plaza, �鶹��ý�Ŷ�; rain location: College Union Ballroom)
■ Food-truck vendors (outside, rain or shine): , , , and .

‘WGSU Flashback: A Continuum of Sound’ Returns For Second Season

Weekly music feature, in August, will highlight original and cover versions of songs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(July 26, 2021) — “WGSU Flashback: A Continuum of Sound” is back, starting Aug. 1, for a second summer season on WGSU-FM (89.3), the �鶹��ý�Ŷ� campus radio station.

This year, the retrospective music series will feature two songs a week: An original and a newer cover version (along with background on both of the releases and the bands behind them). “WGSU Flashback: A Continuum of Sound,” hosted by WGSU alumnus and Faculty Director Michael Saffran, airs Aug. 1–23 at 10:20 p.m. Sundays (immediately following “Live on KEXP”) and 4:20 p.m. and 10:20 p.m. Mondays — on air.

“‘WGSU Flashback: A Continuum of Sound’ is our ‘nod to history,’” Saffran says. “It’s one of the ‘threads’ connecting some of the music played on WGSU through the years — and it helps to build bridges between generations of music fans. Plus, this summer’s shortened season highlighting cover songs and originals is a ‘throwback’ of another kind: As a WGSU student DJ in the ’80s, I spotlighted cover songs in a feature that I called the ‘Weekly Re-make’ airing during my show.”

Saffran, who graduated from �鶹��ý�Ŷ� in 1985, was with WGSU (including as a DJ) 1981–1985. He has worked as a DJ and in other positions with a variety of commercial radio stations, mainly in the Rochester area, 1984 to present. He returned to �鶹��ý�Ŷ� as WGSU faculty director in 2012.

“I think this program is important — it helps us stay connected with our past as well as with the community, since some listeners grew up listening to the music that it features,” WGSU Marketing Director Sarah DeVito says. “It’s great that we’re adding some different sounds to the station.”

The segment’s name, “WGSU Flashback: A Continuum of Sound,” represents another nod to history: In the 1970s, WGSU once went by “The Continuum.”

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More information:
■ “WGSU Flashback: A Continuum of Sound” (season two, episode one) airs at 10:20 p.m. Aug. 1; and 4:20 p.m. and 10:20 p.m. Aug. 2.
■ Airs weekly, Aug. 1–23, at 10:20 p.m. Sundays and 4:20 p.m. and 10:20 p.m. Mondays.
■ Hear it on WGSU-FM (89.3): wgsu.radio | WGSU live stream:

‘Our American Stories’ Coming in January to WGSU

Weekly show features positive stories about ‘ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Dec. 28, 2020) — “Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb,” starting Jan. 2, joins the weekend talk-programming lineup on WGSU-FM (89.3).

“No politics, no opinions, just stories.” That description on the website () of the “national storytelling” program highlights the show’s nonpartisan focus.

Recent stories shared include the interesting backstory behind the man who, dressed up as Santa Claus, was booed and pelted with snowballs at a Philadelphia Eagles football game in 1968; “A Brief History of Toilet Paper” — telling the story behind “how a product that is disposable ... is most indispensable”; and “Elliot Lurie: From Brooklyn to ‘Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)’” — a story about the writer of “one of the most recognizable songs of the early ’70s.”

Hosted by New Jersey native Lee Habeeb, the show emphasizes positive, inspirational stories about “ordinary Americans who do extraordinary things.” The program, carried by some 200 radio stations nationwide, is produced by .

“In this immediate post-election period, in particular, many people feel exhausted and overwhelmed from the harsh partisanship, incivility, information overload and misinformation overload from ‘fake news.’ It’s a noisy world out there,” says Michael Saffran, WGSU faculty director. “‘Our American Stories’ offers more thoughtful and oftentimes uplifting stories — perfect for our times to help counter the cacophony in mainstream media.”

“Our American Stories” will air weekly at 10 a.m. Saturday (rebroadcast at 11:30 p.m. Sunday). This week’s (Jan. 2) show will feature segments with former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre sharing the memory of playing in a game the day after his father had died; retired Air Force Major Brian Shul’s humorous recounting of the ‘tale of the speed check’ involving the SR-71 Blackbird he was piloting; and a heartwarming personal story about finding the lost grave of a long-deceased family member.

The program joins other weekend talk programming on WGSU: “Alternative Radio” (8 a.m. Saturday); “A Way With Words” (9 a.m. Saturday); and the locally produced “�鶹��ý�Ŷ� Today” (10:30 a.m. Saturday and 11 p.m. Sunday) and “Kaleidoscope” (11 a.m. Saturday, biweekly, during spring semester).

For more information about WGSU and its programming, go to geneseo.edu/wgsu.

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More information:
■ Our American Stories:
■ WGSU-FM(89.3): wgsu.radio | WGSU live stream:

WGSU Introduces ‘Flashback: A Continuum of Sound’

New weekly (summer-only) feature will highlight a song a week from station’s storied past

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(June 30, 2020) — Music has been a staple on WGSU-FM (89.3) since the day, in spring 1963, when the �鶹��ý�Ŷ� campus radio station first signed on the air.

In a nod to its history, WGSU July 5 will introduce a