Ricky's Radio Blog

Overheard opinions can be a mixed blessing. Who would have thought a pensioner in Rochdale could make such an impact?

Last week we ‘overheard’ Caitlin Rose telling her band mates that the session she’d just done had been “a blast.” Phew! Always good to know the guests are having a good time.

On air, I asked Caitlin if we could play one of her songs again – it was so good. She agreed , but was worried about her performance so she promptly recorded it again. We’ll play you that on the show.

We’ve been so lucky with guests recently but I’m delighted to tell you that, once more, we have a live band in Studio on Friday night. We’ll be joined by the wonderful collective noise that is Wooden Box and a Fistful of Fivers. In case you don’t know, we’ve been playing a wheen of tracks from their debut album and enjoying them hugely.

Not only that but also new music from Jakob Dylan, Bonnie Prince Billy and Avi Buffalo. Plus a very spooky track from Karen Elson. (she’s the one on the left)

There’s loads of the usual things too…….including a very interesting version of this song……

Reasons to Quit

On Sunday……

The Challenges of The Church with Richard Holloway and Sister Isabel Smith. We ask the author of this book …..

If he has any answers.

Also …how to disappear. David Bond tells us how…..

There will be music from Van Morrison, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and The Delphonics. All from 8 on Sunday morning.

If you’ve been paying close attention you’d probably have expected the odd post from here…..

And you’d, no doubt, be disappointed to discover I was swanning around here…..

Well I’m sorry to say I never made Nashville. Just as you’re making plans a volcano can just..explode…and you have to adjust.

So for Music Row, read The Palatine Hill and for The Opry I can tell you all about the Coliseum. Trouble is we’d booked a studio

over in Music City so we though it best to bring you our show anway. So Rome can wait and on Friday we have Caitlin Rose in session live

from Nashville. New music from Elizabeth Cook, Gaslight Anthem and much more. Plus that Bob Dylan song about Rome I kept singing to myself on my

1000 mile road trip home.

On Sunday I’ll spend an hour in the company of Peter Owen Jones. If you enjoyed Alastair McIntosh last week, which many of you seem to have done, I think you’ll love Peter. He’s best known for his BBC Television series “Around The World in Eighty Faiths” and I’m sure you will enjoy his company hugely.

We’ll be talking about this book:

You might also want to see him in action:

Peter Owen Jones

I’ve been going on about this a long time and it’s finally here. The Avett Brothers session and interview comes to Another Country this week.

It’s been a long time coming. I first read about the band last year in American Songwriter and, to be honest, got them a bit confused with the Felice Brothers and various other sibling outfits. Since then the band have made I and Love and You, signed to Columbia Records and been produced by Rick Rubin. The last three things are pretty interconnected. More importantly they came to BBC Scotland to records 3 songs for nother Country and a couple of days after the session (I was on football duties in Manchester with my 9 year old son the day they came in) I had a chat with Scott and Seth.

What else, Ricky? I hear you say…. New music from Bonnie Prince Billy and The Cairo Gang(yes, another moniker!), a fave track from the new Jakob Dylan album and more from Audra Mae- one of the great discoveries of 2010.

On Sunday...

This man in conversation:

Actually, the one on the left

He’s Alastair McIntosh and he’s the author of Soil and Soul and I cannot recommend the book highly enough. He’s also a great conversationalist, wonderful thinker and living prophet. You could do a lot worse than listen to him for an hour…you’ll probably wish you could go on longer! All at 8 a.m. Sunday on BBC Radio Scotland.

This week we meet Beach House. They came by  a few weeks ago and we had a chat before they went to play at King Tuts.

I couldn’t make the gig but I know it would have been good. Beach House are Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand. (Legrand being such a famous musical name I had to ask her and yes, her UNCLE is the man who wrote this.) Some of these songwriting genes have rubbed off as Beach House are making some lovely music. We played Zebra last week and I said at the time that we’d not played a better song all night. See for yourself.

When you’re putting together suggestions for the Beginners Guide to Americana it’s hard to avoid Ryan Adams.

This will give you a clue to the album choice for Friday.

We also have some splendid new things from Audra Mae ,She and Him and  Merle Haggard.

On Sunday….

400 years of The King James Bible, David Baddiel on The Infidel, The Moderator of the Church of Scotland and we discuss the

new campaign to prevent young men committing suicide. We will play some brilliant music from The Blind Boys of Alabama, Lesley Duncan

and Ed Harcourt. All on BBC Radio Scotland, Sunday Morning at 8.

A few weeks ago I was coming from a night on air at Another Country. As I drove through the dark streets of Govan I was listening to Vic Galloway’s show which comes on at 10 o’clock after my own show. Vic was introducing new tracks from the debut album by Sparrow and The Workshop. I listened in wonder as I realised that a new Scottish band were making music which was very fresh and which we should e showcasing on the show.

The good news is that on Friday we will be broadcasting  from studio 1 at BBC Scotland so we can bring you a live session from Sparrow and The Workshop. Also, I pushed my luck and asked if they would cover a Loretta Lynn song….and they have said yes. It’s going to be brilliant.

As it’s Good Friday we’re also playing some Country Gospel. Stay tuned for Buddy Miller, Rev Gary Davis, Patty Griffin and Elvis. You might also like The

Great new album tracks from Jakob Dylan, Mary Gauthier and Tift Merrit…and I mean great. We’ve only got two hours to do all this you know. At the end of the night you’ll feel you’ve been in Another Country.

On Sunday….I talk to Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell about physics, astronomy, poetry and the search for dark matter. Great music from Patty Griffin and  Bruces Cockburn and Springsteen.