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.