This one goes out to my old friend and musicologist, Jovan Mrvos. In November 1989 we played in New York City – two shows in the one night thanks for asking – and during that tour and were covering Dark End of The Street. On the subsequent days after the show I received a cassette album from my friend Jovan. It was James Carr’s compilation album of the same name. To my eternal shame I hadn’t known of James Carr, but my friend was correct to point me to the greatest version of the song. For years after I carried round that James Carr cassette in various cars glove compartments and would put it on to remind me of how the song should sound.

Years later I discovered that the man behind that song and so many other great tracks of the era was Dan Penn. Along with Spooner Oldham and other southern song writers Dan Penn gave the world a sound track of classic songs that have been covered and covered again to such an extent that they have become modern standards. Last year an interesting project emerged where Dan re launched an album he’d made twenty years earlier. Now here’s where it gets slightly complicated but stick with me. One of Dan’s other great songs is I’m Your Puppet made famous by James and Bobby Purify. The Purify brothers was simply a pseudonym for two disparate soul singers to form a duo. In time there would be two Bobby Purifies and the second Bobby was one, Ben Moore. (Are you still paying attention?)

So…twenty years ago Dan Penn produced an album of new songs he’d co written for this Bobby Purify. In the meantime Bobby (aka Ben) died and Dan felt the album he’d made with him had never received a strong enough release. So, along with the cooperation of his original co writers, he assembled an album of his original demos for Bobby’s album, ‘Better To Have It,’ and along with the original album, released a double album called ‘The Inside Track on Bobby Purify,’ earlier this year.

Now, I hear you say, what has any of this got to do with country/Americana music? Well, interestingly, it has been Americana with people like Yola, Robert Finlay, Allison Russell, Dan Auebach , Solomon Burke and our old friend, Buddy Miller who have kept the soul music flag flying through their various releases celebrating the music created in and around the southern states (mainly Alabama and Tennessee) by black musicians in the late sixties and early seventies. Were it not for some of these artists it’s likely than much of this music would have been forgotten. It’s also true that genre is, as we’ve been showing in recent weeks, a bit of a misleading distraction to enjoying great songwriting and singing. The music of Dan Penn flows through and past all of these boundaries and brings together the great music of soul, country, blues and gospel that enables some of our favourite sounds to exist. Listen to The Drive-By Truckers covering Eddie Hinton and believe!

So on this weeks special AC, I spend the second hour of the show with Dan Penn chatting about The Real Bobby Purify, James Carr, Charlie Rich, Aretha Franklin and a catalogue of timeless classic songs. In the first hour I’ll bring you new music from Johnny Cash his daughter Roseanne, Darius Rucker and Maggie Rogers. It’s a packed two hours and it all starts this Tuesday on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC SOUNDS. Do join me if you can.

Among the many fine moments at this year’s C2C Festival last month there was a significant moment on the final night at Glasgow’s Hydro. We had enjoyed an Introducing Nashville set from Karley Scott Collins and Lauren Watkins and as the audience awaited the final song from Conner Smith he proudly announced that he was the first ever artist to top the UK Country Airplay Chart. His single, Creek Will Rise, has already made a huge impact in the US but the big news for 23 years old Conner was that the folk here in the UK were loving it too.

That gig has become (and I suspect it may continue) a popular fixture of the C2C weekend. Three artists playing acoustically with 40 minutes to perform a round which usually includes their best/biggest songs of their career so far. It’s always interesting to see how much impact a singer and a guitar can make in a half-full arena and that often comes down to the song. As John Osborne wisely opined in our recent conversation, what makes something ‘country’ these days is defined by the tone and style of the lyric. That perhaps best explains why so many outside country music find it hard to recognise a country record which doesn’t boast fiddle, steel or banjo. My old friend, Fingaz said it best, when I asked why on earth a young man from Uganda would love Country Music, ‘It’s because it’s all about the stories.’ Years later I would find myself in a Toyota Landcruiser avoiding potholes in Zambia as my local driver explained to me how much he loved Johnny Cash. The soundtrack to that bumpy ride felt a little incongruous, but heck, I went with it.

So, on this week’s AC we’ll play out a session and conversation with Conner Smith whose fine album, Smoky Mountains came out earlier this year. He’ll talk about how much he owes to the music of Tyler Childers and perform two exclusive session songs for us. We’ll also remind you of the talented Karley Scott Collins and Lauren Watkins too.

As ever we have a pile of great new records to choose from too and highlights this week include a guest appearance by one of our favourite singers, Patty Griffin. We’ll introduce Chuck Prophet going bluegrass (well almost) and  spin some great returns from Ben Glover, Dean Owens and Morgan Wade. If that’s not enough I shall introduce you to Medium Build, Heather Little and Parker McCollum. It’s a packed show in which you will find so much to love. Tune in from 8 p.m. this Tuesday on BBC Sounds or BBC Radio Scotland and do join me if you can.

It’s a late spring evening and the April rain, that now seems inevitable, is doing its damnest to dampen the day. However there is warmth in my heart and a smile on my face as I sit near our fire and let the embers die sown gently being ‘Othered.’ 

Otherness is the name of the new album by Ferris and Sylvester and thanks to their generosity I’ve been living with the CD in the car and tonight I’m spinning the vinyl on my newly restored record deck. I’d be doing this anyway but it’s especially appropriate this week as we welcome our old friend Issy Ferris and Archie Sylvester back to the AC for a special Studio One session live from BBC Pacific Quay. The last time they were with us we were stilll trying to keep our distance and wear masks and they hadn’t, at that point, had the drama of their Nashville adventure. This was when they ventured over The Atlantic to take part in Americana Festival 2022 and ended up staying on a little longer than expected when Issy gave birth to their son, Lucky in Music City in September of that year. This didn’t stop UK Americana voting their debut album as Record of The Year at the awards the following January.

Since then they’ve been recording a new album which emerged earlier this year and touring extensively everywhere as a band. This week we have the chance to hear Issy and Archie in acoustic mode (the way we first knew them) but if you get hold of the album – which you should – you’ll hear a classic mash up of blues, country folk and pop. It’s exciting, loud and brash and has some great playing and singing which, I imagine, gets even more exuberant when they take the F&S show out on the road. For this week’s show they’ve picked some great songs from Otherness to perform live, as a classic cover and selected some great contemporary music to play on the show.

I should add that on this album there’s a great song and ruff outtake of a song called Rain. That’s never going to go out of fashion in Scotland. Do tune in on Tuesday to hear more.

Elsewhere we’ll have Brett Young, Zak Brown Band, Kacey Musgraves, Beyonce and Maggie Rogers and so much more. We’ll bring you some classic cuts and remind you about some great gigs coming soon. There’s so much to play and enjoy in two hours. It all starts at 8 on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Sounds. Join me if you can.

I’ll never be cool

I’ll never be good looking

And I’ll nver be rich I know

But Lord, I’m grateful

from Blue Rose Code’s Grateful

Gratitude. Perhaps one of the most valuable attributes we can hope for in a checklist of personality traits. And yet, it’s a hard one to get and sometimes difficult for others to accept. It’s the word that comes to mind first when I think of this week’s special guest on the AC. Ross Wilson aka Blue Rose Code is someone who has put that word and that idea front and centre of everything as he’s made in music over the last ten years.

He’s also been in a hurry to be grateful too. He’s made at least six albums, numerous EPs, compilations and singles and a live album as well as touring extensively with an assortment of fine players who make up the BRC ensemble. In its current guise Blue Rose Code is a seven piece live act who have just recorded a great new set of songs called Bright Circumstance which brings together all the elements of the BRC sound: country/folk/blues/jazz…in fact, in a time when we are celebrating the killing off of genre, let me say the new album is all of these things and none. It’s a Blue Rose Code album.

When Ross first spoke to me about the record, he correctly pointed out that our show would be as good a place to showcase the songs as any for the veru reasons I’ve just given. As our old friend and mentor, Rab Noakes used to say, ‘ we play music that has been touched by country music in some way.’ Of Bright Circumstance there is no doubt taht has been the case.

Ross Wilson however has a restless energy about his life and his music. Is it making up for lost time or is it that like all great creators he is curious to see what me round the next bend. Either way we  too are grateful for his quest and where it has led him and the songs he’s gifted us along the way. In a way he’s a man out of time and his music could fit in to any of the last five decades and that’s what gives him a unique style and sound. You can hear that sound as Blue Rose Code play live from Studio One on this week’s Another Country.

Elsewhere we’ll bring you wonderful new music from Carly Pearce, John Moreland, Roseanne Reid, Kenny Chesney (there’s always a first time for everything) and Charley Crockett. There will be old things too as we celebrate music that must have inspired Blue Rose Code from Van Morrison and Bob Dylan. It’s a busy night on the radio and we do it all in two hours on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotland from 8 this Tuesday evening. Join me if you can.

I’ve been travelling quite a lot in recent months. I’m very relieved to be home for a while and taking the time to spin a turntable again at critical times in the day. One of the most dispiriting aspects of modern cities across the world is the absence of record shops. They are there, but you really, really have to look hard and do a bit of map chasing to find them. Interestingly there are more music shops than record stores and that perhaps is the little chink of light at the end of the tunnel.

Last week I found myself taking an old turntable in for a bit of love and care. Finding myself only a few hundred yards from a good record retailer I took the chance to pop in and have a browse and (inevitably) a large haul. I bought everything from Bill Evans to The National and even picked up the current Waxathachee album on vinyl. If this is putting you in the mood for a little browsing and digging then you should look out for Record Store Day which come round on April 20th this year and you may even find a a vinyl exclusive from yours truly and chums.

The real joy of records is the fact that they have to be put on and taken off and (realistically) you’re not going to jump and down to skip tracks. So letting them play becomes a thing of joy. This week has been a good week for music and country music particularly. When an album like Cowboy Carter  (has there ever been such an album?) comes along it creates such a stir in the water that people can’t help but notice that there is something new out there. We’ve already made oursleves clear on how excited we are about Beyonce´s new album and we will play another great track from it on this week’s show. I’ll probably talk more about this on the show but it’s been quite amusing to hear media people getting themselves in a tiz under which genre the album should be filed? They are probably still disorientated from Kacey Musgraves release a couple of weeks back. But I should say this: if anyone thinks it’s worth complaining that either album ‘isn’t country enough’ then have a listen to what passes as real country on the chart or on country radio first.

On this week’s show we’ll also bring you more from our C2C conversations when we hear from Brian Kelley what he really thinks about his ex Florida Georgia Line partner. We will play out more from  the fascinating conversation we recorded with TJ and John Osborne regarding their eponomously titled new album and we’ll spin some vinyl from Hurray For The Riff Raff as well as play new songs from Tenille Townes and Megan Moroney. It all starts at five past eight this Tuesday evening on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Sounds. Join me if you can.

It was nearly ten years ago I first encountered Kacey Musgraves. It was the summer and we were all excited about the Commonwealth games and a coming referendum. (OK some weren’t as excited as others – but you have to show some enthusiasm for these athletes too).

The year before Kacey had released her debut album, Same Trailer, Different Park, which was in retrospect a ground breaking album. It ways in we can only quantify now that album changed something in country music which, since that time, has found new audiences to reach and new ways to reach them. It’s also seen Kacey evolving and changing in ways that still delight and suprise.

The young Kacey and a still old, me. 2014

It’s a cold, rainy Monday evening and I’m safely tucked into my studio enjoying my second spin through Deeper Well, Kacey’s 5th studio album. It’s a much anticipated release which I’m enjoying in warm loud hi-fidelity after a rather hasty take in my car over the weekend. Again she has collaborated with the Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk on song writing and production and it all works beautifully. Don’t expect her to retrace any steps but similarly, know that Kacey’s Texas roots and her love of country music shines through perfectly. Here I must quote my old late friend Rab Noakes who, helpfully, described the music on the show which pre dated ours, Brand New Opry, as celebrating music which had been (in some way) touched by country music. That country music has touched, influenced and thrilled Kacey, there is no doubt and I hope you make the discovery for yourself. We’ll give you a head start by playing two selections on this week’s AC.

Elsewhere we will play out some fascinating conversations from this year’s C2C in Glasgow as we catch up with Lily Rose, Mason Ramsay, Drake Milligan and Tigirlily Gold who all triumphed at this year’s festival. As well as chat we also have some exclusive live performances from Lily and Mason. Believe it or not we still have more in the can from C2C to play out in the next few weeks.

We’ll also have new music from Wilder Woods, Lizzie McAlpine and The Secret Sisters. As ever we’re on air from 8 on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Sounds. The blog shall return in two weeks time as football takes over the airwaves next week and you may well find me cheering on our National Team at Hampden next Tuesday rather than spinning discs in the studio. Meanwhile do join me for another very special show this week.

When the C2C ’24 line up was announced last year there wasn’t a huge deal of enthusiasm coming your way from this source. I felt it wasn’t a line up stacked full of names we’d play regularly on the show if I’m honest (which I like to think I try to be!)

So far, so true. But now the weekend has come and gone I have to say how out of step I was. With very few exceptions I discovered so many new artists and songs to enjoy despite diving in and out of backstage to catch interviews which interrupted the time I could spend watching each set. So, what did I see?

Priscilla Block was the perfect opening act, I missed Brian Kelley, despite being determined to catch him as we had a appointment to chat to Jake Owen and Brad Paisley. I’m pleased to say I caught enough of Jake and Brad to know they were both brilliant. Spotlight wise too, though I missed Mason Ramsay’s performance I heard so many good things and enjoyed our conversation, and both interviewed and watched the excellent Tigirlily Gold.

On Saturday I only saw about ten minutes of Drake Milligan but it was enough to know it was a show that people will be talking about until he, inevitably, returns. Though Elle King wasn’t doing any conversations after her Opry melt down, I thought her performance was mesmerising. I’m a new fan, Elle, cme back and talk to us.

Brothers Osborne (though perhaps making the mistake of playing too loud) were excellent. This has been a festival of some hugely talented guitarists and John Osborne was up there with the best of them. I have to admit to missing most of Old Dominion’s show but we recorded a great conversation with four of the guys from the band which you will hear this coming week. I need to give an honourable Spotlight mention to the artist I am still very excited about. We’ve flagged the songs of Lily Rose up now for a few years and she didn’t disappoint on her C2C debut. We also recorded a great session with Lily.

On that show you will also hear chats with Kane Brown and the wonderful Carly Pearce, who did not disappoint. Again I missed a lot of Lauren Alaina’s set but was there to hear her one woman take on One Beer, which I thought was brave and brilliant.  I saw all of the Nashville Introducing song round and was so taken by all three singer songwriters. We recorded a session with Conner Smith for future broadcast but I also thought Karley Scott Collins an exciting new talent. Great voice and some fascinating songs.

There was a great set too on The Spotlight Stage from Restless Road who had hardly any sleep due to delayed flights from Belfast. By the time they hit the stage they’d performed at King Tuts and recorded a great session for us in Studio One. These boys will take some stopping.

All of this was impressive but nothing compared to the 8 minutes Chapel Hart took to blow the roof of The Hydro. I’ve loved what I knew of The Chapel Hart sisters but I’m now a sold devotee. We recorded a conversation with them and we are hoping to get them into record a session during their next visit this coming summer.

Phew….what a great weekend in the country. Over the next few weeks you can hear some of these special sessions. This week we talk to the headline acts. Don’t miss it. It’s all live from 8 this Tuesday on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Sounds. Join me if you can.

I’ve very rarely been an outsider looking in, from the wings, to  a show in which I’m involved. Early amateur dramatics aside I’ve always been on stage for all the time a concert lasts and, with our band, there are no ten minute solos where you can slope off and have a break. There was a time many years ago when we had our Bacharach & David EP out and the first encore didn’t involve me at all. I had the strange experience of watching and listening to Lorraine singing, ‘Are You There With Another Girl’ in the gloom of a backstage arena – never the most glamorous of spots. It was strange.

I’ve also been at the other end when I took a solo spot during the gig and one musician failed to return having decided to allow himself a smoke break at the stage door. A mistake that never occurred again, I might add. The there’s the odd time of doing one of these shows with various singers doing spots where you have to be aware of what everyone else is doing. I usually find myself worrying that I’ve really got nothing special to offer and saying to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be good if they just skipped my turn?’

My other ‘wings’ moments happens on a regular basis at C2C which I host every year around this time. Officially I’m the compere, but as the night rolls on each act tends to have some hi-tech, pyro, video bombast to announce their presence and an old bloke with a mic saying, ‘put your hands together for…’ doesn’t really cut it. So I mill around and pass on the info that a big name is coming in ten minutes and you’d better get your drinks in and prepare. However it does give me a chance to watch at close proximity the talent that’s on show each year at C2C. Great players, brilliant singers and a catalogue of songs to die for seems to be a pretty great reward for a three day ticket at The Hydro.

I have great memories of introducing Marty Stuart before a storming set, standing in amongst Lyle Lovett’s Big Band to announce him on stage and watching from the front as Luke Combs barnstormed his way through a two hour spectacular two years ago. I’m kind of over the phones-lighting-up-the-arena thing and I’d simply take good songs well sung and some country crunch which I do think we will see this coming weekend. I’m not sure there is a more consummate country star around in 2024 as Brad Paisley (above) who headlines the first night. I’m also not certain there is a more exciting new talent as Lily Rose appearing on any of the nights. I’m looking forward to seeing Brothers Osborne properly and hearing Carly Pearce with her band rather than a solo spotlight stage. I’m also quite excited about the short set we’re going to witness from Chapel Hart on Sunday. I’m sure you have your own wish lists.

On this week’s AC we’ll point you to some of our highlights and remind you of some great C2C moments from the last few years. It’s all on the BBC Radio Scotland from 8 p.m. this Tuesday evening or any time you like on BBC Sounds. Do join me if you can.

Over the last few days I’ve received particularly sad news about the loss of two people who made and incalculable contribution to music in Glasgow, Scotland and ,by definition, the wider world.

The music business, when all is said and done, is a small circle of people with whom interaction happens in so many different and varied ways. I was once reprimanded by a young upstart at an awards ceremony for referring to our world as a business. He was wholly wrong of course. It is a business and the fact so many good people make a living from it is testimony to that. The loss of my two friends over the last few weeks illustrates the point that there are so many diverse skills that make up the wider music family.

Last week we heard the news that Steve Cheyne had died suddenly. There have been some lovely tributes to Steve on social media and elsewhere but let me explain, in case his name means little, how vital his contribution was to music in and around Glasgow. Before Steve opened his brilliant rehearsal rooms there was nowhere to make a racket with your band in Glasgow. In the early days we’d found a printers workshop in a basement below Buchanan Street which served as our base in the very early years of Deacon Blue. When that space was no longer available we, along with every other band in town, rehearsed in Steve’s first multi room facility in Washington Street called Berkeley 2 as there had once been a studio and small rehearsal space in Berkeley St. Following on from this place he built another Berkeley 2 along the road where it still hosts everyone from weekend pub combos to Neil Young’s touring band prepping for a European jaunt. The idea that you could turn up with your songs, a guitar and a couple of cymbals and the rest would be provided changed lives. At the door was Steve, welcoming you in, providing change for his prehistoric coffee machine and gathering and dispensing gossip with alacrity. It was a joy to watch. He encouraged, helped and enabled and his presence leaves a massive vacuum in our community.

Just this morning I have heard of another great loss. Robin Rankine was one of the founding partners and main engineers at CAVA studios in Glasgow. His passing, again far too young, reminded me of some great times we shared together. He recorded a lot of material for Deacon Blue as, for a while, CAVA was our second home. Robin knew how to make us enjoy the studio and how to get the best out of the players. We loved his company and there will be many musicians who spent time with him who will be mourning his passing today. There were so many things I loved about working with Robin but what I enjoyed most was when he knew one of us could do better and his enthusiasm encouraged to up our performance.

All of this shows the wider hinterland of music. The joy for me is knowing a diverse group of managers, producers, engineers, technicians, promoters, publicists, agents, writers, radio presenters and producers who have all been vital in the making of music. I’ve enjoyed friendship and good times with so many and we are so much poorer for losing two fine fellow travellers.

So for this reason alone it will bring solace and comfort to spend time on the airwaves this week bringing you great new music. It’s always being created and celebrating that should suitably celebrate the loss of fine people. I trust you’ll listen in to this week’s show where we’ll bring you fine new cuts from Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, Ferris and Sylvester and The Secret Sisters. It’s all live from five past eight on BBC Sounds or BBC Radio Scotland this Tuesday evening.

Some 18 years ago, after the Christmas holiday, my young (5 year old) son stood at my bedside at 7:30 on the morning he was due to return to school. Without any preamble he declared in a loud voice, ‘I want to be Cash.’ Unpacking this sentence with a rather fuzzy post-festive head, I realised he was not referring to a country legend but was instead declaring his preference for method of payment for his school lunch for the proceeding term. It seemed packed lunches were no longer a requirement and he wanted to accompany those who paid cash at the start of the week for their midday meal.

However from that time on I often thought about that great sentence and how easily it might have been said by any of us that we wanted to be Cash? Who wouldn’t? The coolest of country stars, the Man in Black had the mystery, charm and devilment that ensures legendary status. Twenty one years on from his passing we are still talking about him and, more importantly, still listening.

The same goes for his wife June Carter who’s death was only a few short months before his own and without whom, it seemed, he could not go on. The recent documentary of ‘June’ is a wonderful testimony to June Carter’s legacy and that of her remarkable family. The Carter Family, June’s immediate mother father, mother, uncles and aunts were there at the Big Bang of Country Music when Ralph Peer came down to Bristol, Tennessee to record Jimmie Rodgers as well as the songs of the Carters. It was this event that Johnny Cash described as ‘the single most important event in the history of country music.’

All this leads to a conversation i recorded a few weeks back with the woman who now carries forward the great tradition of the family. Carlene Carter is the daughter of June and Carl Smith and step daughter to Johnny Cash. Her own story is a fascinating tale of where from where the ‘On The Line‘ movie stopped until the present day. Her own memories of life growing up as part of the first family of country music are essential listening and as well as that there is a rich back catalogue of solo recordings bearing testimony to her gifted singing and songwriting. Like her mother June, Carlene is also an actress whose performances in London’s west end, I enjoyed back in the 80’s.

It’s all of this that will form the conversation in the second hour of this week’s Another Country as I talk to Carlene Carter about her music, the music of her family and her remarkable life. Before that we will celebrate the music of the Carter Cash extended family featuring June Carter, Carl Smith , Johnny Cash, Roseanne Cash, Marty Stuart, Rodney Crowell and Nick Lowe.

It’s two hours in the company of legends and it’s all available on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotand from five past eight this Tuesday evening. Join me if you can.