Hey everyone! My name is Cheyenne Hines, and I’m currently a senior at Mercer University. I’ll be graduating in May 2020 with a Journalism degree. For a senior project of mine, I decided to create and run my own weekly music review podcast, called Cheypod Shuffle. Before I get too far into that, let me tell you a little bit about myself.

First off, I’m one of three kids, but the only girl in my family. I’m the youngest by five years, and I was raised with determination and a passion to do whatever I wanted to in this world. I’ve always been a bit of a black sheep, but, hey, that’s the way I like it.

My mom was the one who ensured my love of music, teaching me all the words to her favorite songs by the time I was able to count. Whether it was backroads country, 80s pop, or classic rock, you can bet your last dollar I was singing along. I remember the first song I ever learned the words to was “When the Sun Goes Down” by Kenny Chesney. Fifteen or so years later, I’m still jamming to music, no matter what I’m doing. Whether it’s blaring my favorite wake up song while I’m in the shower, listening to something on the way to school, or singing lyrics in my head while I’m at work, my mind is constantly on shuffle. I’m always finding a new song or album that’s fitting to my mood, day, or stage in life.

Although I grew up mostly on southern rock and country, I continue my black sheep quality with my favorite genre being electronic dance music. There is nothing that makes me feel closer to pure joy than when I’m dancing my socks off at a music festival just letting the world melt away around me. I am truly myself when I’m headbanging next to my friends on a rail at a music festival, surrounded by people who are just like me, who love doing exactly what we are doing in that moment.

Through and through, I love nearly every genre of music out there, and if I don’t like it, I at least listen to it with an open ear and mind. I love talking to people about music, and I could do it all day. I could spend hours describing my favorite songs and artists to people, and I can listen to others do the same for days. That’s why I felt that incorporating something I love (music) with something I don’t exactly care much for (school), might make for an exceptional senior year project. So, here goes nothing.

So, in short, Cheypod Shuffle is my child, who I have carefully planned for and shed literal blood and tears for.

Each week, I’ll pick a genre or subgenre, and I’ll create a podcast discussing various things in that genre. Topics will usually include top/upcoming artists, top/upcoming albums, upcoming concerts, and then I’ll look at the top five songs on the Billboard Hot 100 for that genre and discuss them. I’ll occasionally have guests to help talk about those genres I’m not so familiar with. I’ll also talk about my favorites from the genre as well.

So, look out and look forward to what’s coming soon! I’ll be posting short blog posts alongside the podcast each week. Thanks for reading!