Hello Baby

Excuse me if I sound a little giddy but I’ve just been to see my latest grandchild who arrived on Sunday. The first girl in the next generation was nestled in my arms only a couple of hours ago and seemed to be enjoying her first day on the planet. It is always a precious gift to welcome new babies into the world and I often wonder at how women seem to keep it all together in the days after such a traumatic experience. We tip our hats to y’all sisters…God was wise enough not to give blokes this task.

As the news filtered through the family the baby’s aunt made the comment that I felt summed up my own feelings. After staring at her photograph she said, ‘I can’t believe it was her all along!’ I’m looking forward to getting to know this little girl and all her adventures ahead. In the middle of turbulent times new life always brings a small shot of optimism.

Hello Joshua

On Another Country this week you will hear an amazing conversation with Joshua Ray Walker. It was recorded a few weeks ago on the afternoon of Joshua’s visit to play The Hug and Pint in Glasgow’s West End. A couple of years ago it’s almost impossible to imagine this conversation taking place as Joshua had been diagnosed with stage four colon cancer and he was facing a very uncertain future. His response was to write and record three new albums culminating in the most recent aptly titled, “Ain’t Dead Yet.’
Needless to say a lot has happened in the last few years to allow Joshua to commence touring again but I am pleased to say that he was great company and his songs from that period are a compulsive listen. The songs are strong but what will draw you in and keep you there is Joshua’s voice. It’s the voice of the lonely troubadour and has a unique Texan slant. Think Roy Orbison and up the heartbreak and you’re getting close. But there’s no point describing something you can hear for yourselves on this week’s show

On This Week’s Radio

We will have lots more wonderful music on this week’s show. Listen out for returns from Roseanne Reid, Rodney Crowell and Margo Price. You will also hear new tracks from Orville Peck, Noah Rinker, Allison Russell and Ashley Cook. It’s a packed two hour show which starts at five past eight on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotland this Tuesday evening. Join me if you can.

This is a very short blog which, in essence, points you back to last week’s Old Timers blog. The irony of this is that last week’s post celebrated older artists who are still making innovative music. It’s not been lost on so many of us that Dolly Parton at eighty still seemed to have so many new ideas and potential projects. In case you didn’t hear us last week, we tore up that Old Timers show and spent the two hours celebrating Dolly Parton after the shock news of her death which broke an hour before we went on air.

You can still listen via the BBC Sounds Page/App and on this week’s show we’ll bring you the show we meant to broadcast last week. I will also slip in some more Dolly to remind you of her great talent. We will also pay tribute to the man who was Dolly’s collaborator for so many years and so many great records, Porter Waggoner. I’ve been thinking a lot about Dolly and Porter this last week and playing many of their great cuts in the house over the last few days. We’ll share one of the great ones with you.

I suspect that we, along with many other broadcasters, will be digging deep into Dolly’s brilliant catalogue to share gems over the next few years. She left behind an incredible legacy to which we still need to pay respect.

As ever, we will be on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotland from five past eight this coming Tuesday evening. Join me if you can.

Up, Up And Away

If you’re a music lover, and you probably are if you’re reading this, you’ll be familiar with the songs of Jimmy Webb. It was thirty years ago I first bought a Jimmy Webb album and even then I thought of myself as ‘late to the party.’ That album was Ten Easy Pieces which contained re workings of some of Jimmy’s most famous songs. That’s the thing; it’s almost impossible to say how early any of us dicovered Jimmy Webb because his songs had already embedded themselves into our collective conscience.

I remember playing an album of classic Jimmy songs in the house one night when friends were round. When it came to Up, Up and Away In My Beautiful Balloon my pal, a good 15 years my junior I have to add, almost guffawed. ‘What is this you’re playing?’

That’s the thing about Jimmy, only listen superficially and you’ll dismiss him as MOR, but that is to miss the point and the extraordinary talent. Last week Jimmy Webb celebrated his 80th Birthday and on this week’s Another Country we shall remind you of why his music has been such a central force in Country Music and the wider genre of Americana. We’ll play out some of the conversation I recorded with him on a visit a good few years back when he was touring with his own sons as well as with the son of his greatest interpreter, Glen Campbell. If you’re not familiar with Jimmy’s work then it’s Glen’s covers, Wichita Lineman, By The Time I Get To Phoenix and Galveston that may be the best place to start. Leave The Fifth Dimension’s Up, Up and Away for a another day!

Sir Nick

On Friday a wonderful thing happened. We finished watching a deeply flawed but highly praised movie, (isn’t that often the case these days?) and switched the TV back over to whatever was on. To our delight we found BBC Four celebrating Nick Lowe with a film of a live performance from St Luke’s Church in London. It’s a venue the BBC have used to film some significant artists and this was beautifully recorded and shot. It was, as ever with Nick, understated and economically arranged. There was no long exposition as Nick always lets the songs do the talking. It’s all on iplayer so I guess you may well find it if you’ve missed it and I recommend it as a great hour you’ll not regret. At the end of the concert Nick was left alone on the stage to perform The Beast in Me, the song he wrote for his father in law, Johnny Cash. The song and Nick’s own performance is such a potent thing. That Johnny Cash recognised how appropriate it was for his own repertoire speaks volumes. We’ll have a little Nick and Johnny moment in this week’s show too.

That Country Music Surge

Last time round I did ask if any of you had any theories about the recent surge in the popularity of Country Music. Thanks for your replies on this. We’re still seeing that surge in popularity and the success of Ella Langley on both sides of the Atlantic is proof that something significant is going on. We’ll celebrate some of that popularity on this week’s show as well as bringing you some great new things from Phoebe Bridgers, Bella White and Little Big Town. It’s all on BBC Sounds or BBC Radio Scotland FM from five past eight this coming Tuesday evening. Do join me if you can.

I’m sure you know the song. It’s on Lainey Wilson’s Whirlwind and it’s a clever lyric which, in the best tradition of the genre, allows country music to hold a conversation with itself.

Once you get a taste, you’ll lick the spoon
Learn every word to The Dance and Neon Moon
And next thing you know
You’ll hang a swing on a piece of land
Start sayin’ things like hell naw, hot damn

Even as that song was being written the peak of country music’s popularity was some way off on this side of the Atlantic. Surprisingly, it may still not have peaked. But one thing is for sure: country music is more popular now than at any time I can remember in my long life.

If you look at the BBC Radio Scotland Social Media you can see and hear me alluding a little to this phenomenon. As we were filming the short links to our Luke Combs special Cheyne, (RS’s ace Social Media guru) and I were thinking aloud at the reasons for country music’s recent polularity. There’s the Taylor Swift factor, the Nashville TV series and Yellowstone too but even that doesn’t explain the astonishing career success of Zach Bryan or Charley Crockett.

So, help me out. If you’re someone who wouldn’t have listened to Country Music ten years ago I’m very interested in why you like it now? Please answer in the blog and we’ll try to give some time to your thoughts on future shows.

Thank You All

In keeping with this theme I got a welcome note from our boss here at BBC Radio Scotland last week. It explained that Another Country has almost doubled the numbers listening to the show over the last year. I’m so delighted new listeners are tuning in and, should you not already have heard the show, you are always welcome. You don’t have to like country music to enjoy what we play as we like to think we are simply playing great songs by some very talented artists. Way back in the 90’s and 2000’s the late Rab Noakes with Bryan Burnett set the path which we still follow with a show called Brand New Opry. Rab liked to say they played music which had been ‘touched by country music.’ On this week’s show we’ll play Lambchop, Brenna Wedl and Humbird to continue that great tradition. So thank you for listening.

Everyone Loves Charlie Worsham

Everyone loves Charlie Worsham and its not difficult to know why. He’s Nashville’s go-to guitar guy and despite playing on a million other records he’s finally released his third solo album just the nine years after the last one! Charlie was a standout guest at last year’s C2C and not only featured as part of headliner Dierks Bentley’s band but played a solo show earlier in the day at King Tuts. No one has a bad word to say about Charlie and you even feel better for spending twenty minutes in his company. Last week Vince Gill announced that Charlie had become a member of The Grand Old Opry live on the Opry stage. Charlie, who was playing in Vince’s band on the night, declared that this was the happiest moment of his life. We’ll tell you more about that moment and play you some great new music from Charlie on this week’s Another Country. As ever we start from five past eight on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Sounds. Join me if you can.

A Little Mercy

On Sunday we managed to get back to our regular church. It’s not our local place but it’s a place where we feel very welcome and at home. When you’ve been away from a while and (apart from a lunchtime Mass at a cathedral when we were travelling and a friend’s christening) we’d not been able to be in church for a couple of months. I realise this probably makes me an outsider as most people are happy to let Sundays slip by without giving church going a second thought. What was so great about Sunday was the affirmation by our local priest of the sense that we are part of a community of humanity and not fearful of every outsider that crosses our paths. Glasgow, like so many British cities, has experienced the presence of sinister far right activists determined to spread fear and distrust among newer residents. It’s very sad that this has been allowed to happen in a city which, in my lifetime, has always erred on the side of welcome.

A few years ago I was hosting a songwriting session with two black friends from London. I was a little nervous that they might not find Glasgow as accepting and multi cultural as I imagined it to be. To my relief they told me that, to my delight, they had never felt so welcome. I hold on to that experience though I fear so much has changed in the intervening fifteen years or so.
On Sunday our priest told us that he was a part of a group of religious leaders of all faiths who had been asked to speak out on the recent flag-waving and far right activism that has blighted our neighbourhoods. As a parishioner and a citizen who loves the city, I’m glad that the primary witness of the churches is to show compassion. As my old friend Mary Gauthier put it so well….We could all use a little mercy now.

The Duo

This coming Sunday you’ll hear my selection of songs for BBC Radio 2’s Sounds of The 70’s. It was a joy to pick songs from the decade which formed so much of my own musical direction. The 70’s was the first time I encountered country rock and that led eventually to my love of country music. On Sunday you’ll hear Emmylou Harris covering Kitty Wells and it was Emmylou who led me back to Gram Parsons and from there the road just carried on.
On this week’s AC we’ll play some great country duets which carry on that great tradition into which Gram and Emmylou fell so gracefully. Before them there had been The Louvins, Johnny & Jack, George & Tammy, Dolly & and so many more. This Tuesday you’ll hear The Bros Osborne, Thelma & James, Ferris & Sylvester, Buddy Miller & Dan Penn and Kimmie Rhodes with Willie Nelson. You’ll also hear our second hour special guest dueting with Jenni Muldaur paying tribute to their favourite country singers. Talking of Teddy…..

Ladies and Gentlemen, Teddy Thompson

As we were 2011

We are so delighted to welcome Teddy Thompson back to the AC. Teddy has been a guest a good many times on the show and we’ve loved his deep love of country music over many albums. Teddy’s latest record was the focus of his most recent visit to Scotland where he has deep roots. His maternal and paternal gradparents were both Scottish and on his mother, Linda’s side the famous Scottish actor Brian Pettifor is a well know Glasgow resident. In case you didn’t already know I’ll be reminding listeners how great Richard and Linda Thompson (Teddy’s amazing parents) were in their heyday on Sunday on Sounds of the 70’s. On the day after Teddy’s excellent St Luke’s show a few weeks ago he came into the AC for a long conversation about his new album, Never Be The Same, those country duets and how he managed tobe brought up by British Folk legends and end up living in America and loving country music. Teddy is such a talented artist whose take on music is so worthwhile. Spending an hour in his company is the best hour I can recommend for this coming week. Join us this Tuesday from 8 on BBC Sounds or BBC Radio Scotland.

Here we are now….

The Riff

There is something great about a killer riff. I often wonder how central the riff is to a country hit and often speculated when it came into the arrangement. There was a great story told by Jerry Kennedy arriving into a studio to play guitar on what turned out to be one of the biggest songs of all time, Tammy Wynette’s Stand By Your Man. The producer, the great Billy Sherrill suggested to Jerry that he could perhaps play something on the first few bars of the song before the vocal came in. Jerry panicked. His guitar was not long out of the hold from a flight he took from Chicago. His guitar was cold and out of tune. Starting to try to get it back into shape he happened to play a simple lick. ‘That’s the one,’ Billy told him and the rest is one of the most famous riffs in country music. On this week’s show you are going to hear some wonderful riffs leading into some of the best songs we’ve played so far on the AC this year.

Americana

When I first heard the term Americana I was so happy. I saw it in a record shop not far from where I live. (a shop, sadly, no longer there) It felt like a great term for so much of the music I loved. I wasn’t so sure about mainstream country and I really didn’t think rock or folk did justice to so many of the artist I admired, and it seemed my own instinct about music was essentially moving in an Americana direction too. It sometimes seems the term has become meaningless as it covers everythng from Buddy Miller (country) through JD McPherson (rock n roll) Laura Marling (folk) to The War and Treaty (RnB) …and more.
So it’s good to note that in this celebration of the music from the first few months of 2026 we have some great Americana (worthy of the term) to celebrate. Listen out for tracks by Noeline Hoffman, Hayes Carll and Mon Rovia all featuring in this week’s two hour celebration. If that’s not enough we will remind you how great Teddy Thompson is too.

We Still Love Country Music

There will be so much great country music on this week’s show too. It’s high season for country music as it becomes one of the most popular genre’s in the UK. When you hear that Morgan Wallen is record of the week on BBC Radio 2 you can be sure that something significant is going on. We’ll leave Morgan to the other station however and bring you Ella Langley (pic above), Megan Moroney, Luke Combs, Kacey Musgraves and the ever green Vince Gill. You already know there will be so much more don’t you? If you want to hear all our choices tune in to Another Country this coming Tuesday from five past eight on BBC Sounds or BBC radio Scotland.

The first time I met Luke Combs I firmly believe neither of us was overjoyed about the experience. He was in a dressing room at Glasgow’s Hydro before his first ever appearance at C2C. He and his tour manager looked exactly what you’d imagine two jet lagged people might look like if they’d been asked to get up at an unearthly hour and fly from a place they’d never visited to another city they’d probably never heard of. It wasn’t a good start.

We made the best of things but, as I vaguely recall, the interview wasn’t aided by my either his or my lack of enthusiasm. To be fair, Luke was one of so many names we really didn’t know much about on that first visit and looking back now I realise my questions were as uninspiring as that breezeblock dressing room. My final ask was to ascertain whether he might be returning to Scotland any time soon.

Nine years later Luke Combs is answering that question in the most emphatic manner. He’s returning to make the point that in 2026 he is the most significant country artist on the world stage. Just look at those tour dates. Sweden, France, Netherlands, Ireland, England and Scotland in sold out stadiums. Three nights at Wembley, two at Murrayfield and then we need to talk about record sales and streams.

Luke Combs has sold an estimated 168 Million total equivalent units. This surpasses artist Garth Brooks as the highest-certified country artist in music history. His albums don’t get gold discs they receive multi platinum status and don’t even start on his radio profile. But what makes most of this so remarkable is that the hung-over singer songwriter I met in that dressing room back in 2017 has achieved all of this in theses last nine years. Ten year town? Not in Luke’s case.

So, what is it that Luke does that propels this success. It’s not the jokey bravado of a Brad Paisley or the bon homie of a Garth or even the pop electronic crossover appeal of a Shania, it’s somehow about a voice and songs. Like his friend and fellow Caroline native, Eric Church, Luke has a distinctive voice and some great stories to tell. That, in the great tradition that is country music, has thankfully been enough for his music to be loved across the world. To see him in an acoustic radio performance is very little different to seeing him in an arena. His energy and honesty is a compulsive draw and next weekend 140,000 Scots fans are going to witness this for themselves.

On this week’s AC we will bring you two hours of Luke Combs originals, covers, collaborations as well as artists connected to the tour. On the show too we will play out a much better interview I recorded with Luke in 2022 where we talk about his influences and how those songs first emerged. If you have not yet succumbed to the Gospel of Luke I suggest you might well be believers come 10 pm this Tuesday evening. Join me if you can from five past eight on BBC Sounds or BBC Radio Scotland.

When I was a very young teenager I went on holiday with my parents alone for the first time minus my older sister. My father’s ideal holiday destination was an English seaside town. We seemed to do most of them; Southport, Lytham- St Anne’s, Bournemouth and his own favourite spot, Scarborough – to where I am travelling now on a rather bumpy tour bus.

On this particular year it was Bournemouth and, for the first time, my older sister, my regular holiday companion had gone elsewhere with friends to, a no doubt, more exotic location. I was to be on my own in a strange hotel. The first mistake I made was to buy a book of ghost stories to while away the hours my Dad wanted to spend listening to a local brass ensemble’s performance at the nearby band stand. The ghost stories became a perfect accompaniment/distraction until I got back to that lonely hotel room where everything I’d been reading seemed to come alive in the semi dark of an endless night of terror. I moved on to Agatha Christie for the remainder of the holiday.

There was one comforting piece of holiday luggage which helped console any further nightmares. We had taken with us a small transistor radio which I had in my room and to my delight I realised that everything with which I was familiar at home was still there on my holiday radio. How reassuring were those voices of familiar Radio One DJ’s and the night time reassuring crackle of Radio Luxembourg. 

I thought about all of this as I tuned into watch some of The Wimbledon coverage and remembered hearing a classic final played out, ball by ball, on the car radio on one of these long summer journeys.  The commentary would come and go as the old long wave signal disappeared in and out of range. The radio, in so many ways always saved the day as Nanci Griffith knew so well. If you can’t find a friend you’ve still got the radio. How right she was.

On The Radio This Week

This week we’ll keep celebrating summer country songs as summer seems to have finally landed in Scotland. Following on from last week’s repeat of our 2025 Emmylou Harris special (check it out on BBC Sounds) we’ll also have Tenille Townes, Ashley Monroe and First Aid Kit singing about Emmylou. You can hear some fabulous new songs from Tift Merrit, Luke Combs and Phoebe Bridgers too as well as some classic country songs.

Finally

I need to draw attention to the new Scottish artists coming through. We’ll play Frankie Morrow and Curiosity Shop this week – both artists to get excited about and soon we’ll have new music from Sarah Irvine. Scotland has an exciting musical landscape and despite what some people are saying BBC Radio Scotland is the only radio station celebrating its musical diversity. All of this will become clear on this week’s Another Country on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotland this coming Tuesday evening from five past eight. Do join me if you can.

July Saturday Nights

‘Funny how a melody sounds like a memory…’ Oh it is Eric, it really is. I have found myself engaging fully with Eric Church’s classic ‘Springsteen‘ a little over the last week as though of you who have seen us may have found out. (17,000 over the last three shows, thank you) When Eric Church first released that song some fifteen years ago I was the last one to really get it. I think I resisted as I (think) I suspected it was trying to carpetbag on the name. I was wrong and I regret not embracing it. I quickly got over it and went out to buy Chief and became a paid up member of ‘The Church Choir.’

Springsteen is a definitive summer country song but it’s not Eric’s only seasonal classic. On this week’s AC we will play another song of EC’s which seeps summer and it will be one of many songs sprinkled throughout the show celebrating the end of school and the start of the holidays. Last week we fought off the heat in England as we travelled through and although Scotland seems to be experiencing its usual mixed summer weather Deacon Blue will be back in the south and in Wales this week and I hope to see some of you there.

Optimism

I spent Monday of this week alongside my musical family at Glasgow University’s graduation ceremony where we were honoured to be the first collective recipient of an honorary doctorate in the 575 of the University’s existence. We were as surprised as we were grateful. It was fascinating spending an afternoon among a few hundred graduands all about to begin their new lives. What came over was a sense of optimism that despite the recent uncertainties in the employment market the people I spoke to were excited to make their mark on the world. It is that sense of optimism, courage and devil may care I used to see when co writing with with artists who were starting out. I often reflect on those who have had success since I first met them over guitar and notebooks in makeshift writing rooms. Perhaps they always knew what they wanted to do and because of that were more certain of how to get there. It was always exciting to be in their presence and yesterday’s room full of of aspiring world changers was equally exciting.

Landon

On the subject of exuberant youth you will hear Landon Smith on this week’s AC. I encourage you to listen to him but also check out the video. It’s as low budget as it gets but it captures the energy and ambition of his music perfectly. I think we will be playing and loving Landon a lot over the next while. On this week’s show you will also hear wonderful new songs by Bella White, Little Big Town and Bayker Blankenship (a recent Glasgow visitor during C2C), a beautiful new track from Margaret Glaspy as well as brand new artist Minna. There’s so much to enjoy we really can’t fit it all in…

Summer Songs

There is something about a summer song. Perhaps it’s the memory of a particular holiday or a journey in a car or the association with a record with the place where you came of age; in any circumstance the summer and song is a potent blend.
For those of you who may encounter me in my day job over the next few weeks you will probably understand that I have my own favourites and there is a Springsteen connection…but like this week’s special guest, it’s not a song by the more famous owner of that name.

I do recall certain songs of joy as well as songs that are forever blighted by my association with their radio presence coinciding with miserable holidays at summer camps. (well one certainly). In recent years we’ve been transfixed by Chris Stapleton and Miranda Lambert’s A Song To Sing. This year Miranda has surpassed that with Crisco and, it’s only June , and we have decided it’s our song of the summer. Of course there are so many and I’d love to hear your country faves, but off the top of my head I think of The Gambler, Strawberry Wine and Pontoon and I can smell the factor 30. Do let me know your own suggestions and perhas we can disappear down a summer country rabbit hole later into the season.

Sing Children Sing

One of the joys of young parenthood for me – and increasingly grandparenthood – was listening to my wife sing to our children. It was a family tradition from her own childhood which she passed on. Sometimes they would join in and at other times they would request their own favourites and often I’d simply enjoy the collective performance. In last week’s Observer there was an interesting focus on children, reading and music. Children’s laureate, the great Frank Cottrell Boyce was sharing his own thoughts on encouraging the former and Laura Marling was explaining howimportant the latter had become to her as a young mother. As if to prove the point Laura has recorded an album of the great children’s songs written by Raffi. It set me recalling some other roots children’s songs by some of our favourite AC acts. You’ll enjoy where this one goes if you tune in.

Another Springsteen

It’s no small deal putting the name Springsteen on your marquee I’d imagine. Alana Springsteen however has managed to establish her own identity despite sharing that famous name. She was a guest at our backstage ‘studio’ at this year’s C2C and we recorded a longer conversation than we have managed to broadcast so far. On this week’s show you can hear that longer conversation and discover more about the woman who gave us ‘You Don’t Deserve A Country Song.’ All this in two hours of radio? Yes! Tune in on BBC Radio Scotland or BBC Sounds and join me if you can this Tuesday evening.