Hello again.
It’s been a break from the Radio Blog for me, but over these last few weeks I may have waved at you from a stage or joined you in singing a song. If you have been on The Great Western Road Trip over September and October then I’m grateful as you were wonderful audiences. More news of live appearances coming very soon!
I’d also like to say a huge thanks to all those of you who messaged me to say how much they enjoyed Small Acts Of Love at the Citizens Theatre over these last couple of months too. Working with Dominic Hill, his great theatre company and my co writer, Frances Poet was a real joy.
All of this has meant that I left my live duties as your AC host for a few weeks. However the BBC were good enough to let me leave you with a few special shows including 90’s Country Women, Tom Waits Birthday Special and a 50 year celebration of the amazing career of Emmylou Harris. Talking of Emmylou, if you tune in to this week’s live broadcast this coming Tuesday evening you will hear exclusive news of Emmylou which will bring great pleasure to her many fans who listen in. You can still listen to that all this specials as well as my Country Connections show via BBC Sounds. In the meantime there has been so much going on in country music we need to share with you. It seems Luke Combs may not only be a country music superstar but, in fact, second only to Coldplay in live ticket demand in the UK. As I write this the news has just broken of a 3rd (THIRD!) Wembley Stadium show next summer in addition to his two Edinburgh Murrayfield gigs.
I think we can safely say that country music, far from being a weird subset, has become part of and as big as the mainstream. I also hope this means that some of these country music fans start to dig a little deeper and find the joys of artists they’ve not yet discovered. As ever, I’d like to suggest The AC as a perfect way to start that discovery. On this week’s show for example you’ll hear artists including Will Clark, Waylon Wyatt and The Head and The Heart. If these are new names to you then you might be relieved to know we’re also celebrating 110 Years since the birth of Nashville’s legendary producer, Owen Bradley whose stewardship introduced Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Buddy Holly to the world. We’ll also celebrate imminent visits of Brandy Clark and Chuck Prophet to Scotland. All this and and so much more in a packed two hours of country music that starts at five past eight this coming Tuesday evening on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Sounds. Do join me if you can.