In 2022 a kindly listener sent me a tweet of a song called Broken Bird by a new artist called Hannah White. It was a gorgeous song which actually referenced country music within its lyric and it felt like a perfect fit for the AC. One thing led to another, we played the song again, I listened more and by the September of that year Hannah and her musical and life partner Keiron Marshall were opening for me on my solo tour.
That, however , is really only where the story starts. It felt to me that, not only were Hannah and Keiron making my solo and radio audiences very happy, they were becoming good friends whose deep love of music shone through in every performance and every conversation. After the tour closed we met up again a few months later at the UK Americana Awards in Hackney, North London, where Hannah’s song Car Crash had been nominated for UK Americana Song of the year. To complete a perfect story, the song won and I celebrated like I’d won the damn thing myself., such was my delight at an award going to a such a worthy winner.
Cut to 2023 and Hannah’s new album called Sweet Revolution came out and even included a cameo appearance by your radio host. Since those early days I have been encouraging Hannah and Keiron to venture north and visit us on the radio show. On this week’s AC we will finally get them to appear live when they come into our new music studio, perform live and we get a chance to ask Hannah lots of questions about where these remarkable songs come from. As I witnessed again on Sunday at The Glad Cafe where Hannah was helping close The Glasgow Americana Festival, audiences react to Hannah’s performance because she leaves nothing back in the dressing room. Her’s is a performance from the heart and it does all the things a great performer should aim for . Expect laughter, tears and deep joy. Hannah will be with us in the second hour of this week’s show and Keiron will be there on guitar and harmonies too.
In the first hour we have some great new artists and a good few familiar friends. Listen out for Eric Church in a beautiful tribute song raising funds for Hurrican Helene victims from his home state. Listen too to our good friend John Murry as he unites with The Cowboy Junkies own Michael Timmins. We’ll also have new music from two of the artists we’re excited about meeting at C2C 2025; Cody Johnson and Wyatt Flores. Finally we’ll remind you of the fabulous voice of Heather Little as she duets with our special guest Hannah White on her new single. It’s a packed two hours which all kicks off at five past eight on BBC Radio Scotland or BBC Sounds. Do join me if you can.
