Home
Biography
Another Country
Short Stories
New Tradition
Deacon Blue
Ricky's Radio Blog - The official Radio Blog for Ricky Ross
  • Home
  • Biography
  • Another Country
  • Short Stories
  • New Tradition
  • Deacon Blue
general musings

Music Matters

March 1, 2022 by ricky 1 Comment

I was thinking about music the other day. In times of trouble, we all go towards it. It, perhaps, becomes more important than it ever was when we seem to be facing circumstances for which we have little or no solution.

As I heard news of the Ukraine invasion my mind went back to another European war over twenty five years ago, the significance of which, in all the inevitable, shock and outrage of the last week, seems to have been forgotten. The Bosnian conflict was, and continues to be, one of the worst conflicts we have seen in Europe. Thousands were killed, genocide was carried out, people became homeless, stateless and to make matters worse, there has been no real reconciliation within the countries affected.

I learned all of this three years ago when I visited Sarajevo with the Scottish Remembering Srebrenica group. As I tweeted out some thoughts on my visit I received an interesting response from a follower. She had been a young school girl who lived in Bosnia and was delighted I was visiting her home land. Her own life had taken her to live in Greece, but she remembered hearing the bombs fall and listening to the radio or her CD collection and how much our music had brought comfort during that time. It was a revelation to me that the music had reached that part of the world, but it was welcome news.

I thought too of the brutal invasions of Iraq in 91 and 2003 and how rock music had been used by the military to terrorise and intimidate the enemy. How too it was played at ear bleeding volumes to political prisoners in the hell hole of Guantanamo Bay on Cuba. Music, in the wrong hands, can be a curse or a blessing.

I wonder what songs are going round the heads of those waiting for the next attack to begin in villages, towns and cities in Ukraine this week? In years to come we may find out.

That’s why I never feel time spent playing great music on the radio is anything but the most important thing I could be doing at any given time. Over the years the right song at the right time has made my day and seen me through the week.

On this week’s Another Country we’ll play you some of these songs which might prove to become valuable friends in the years ahead. We’ll also give a warm welcome to our special guest Luke Combs in the second hour of the programme. If I reached for my Country Music A-Z I fear there would be no mention of Luke as his star has risen so quickly and certainly over the last few years. It’s all based on two massive selling albums which contain the voice that has clearly impacted more with the country audience than any other over the last while. The albums This One’s For You (2017) and What You See Is What You Get (2019) have brought Grammy nominations as well as ACM and CMA awards, not to mention multi platinum sales.

Luke is the headline act for the first night of this year’s Country 2 Country in Glasgow. We’ll get right into the mood on this week’s AC. Join me on BBC Radio Scotland or BBC Sounds from five past eight this Tuesday evening if you can.

Share:
Reading time: 2 min

About Me

All year round I present a weekly program called Another Country which goes out every Tuesday evening at 8 p.m. You can find the show on BBC Radio Scotland.

Occasionally you'll find me on BBC Radio 2 with my New Tradition.

I also make special programs about artists whose music has inspired me; Ricky Ross Meets... is on BBC Radio Scotland.

You can listen to previous versions of all these shows via BBC Sounds.

Find me on Instagram

rickyrossofficial

Delighted that the wonderfully talented @hannahwhi Delighted that the wonderfully talented @hannahwhitemusic will be joining me on my Short Stories Vol.2 tour later this year.  Her latest song Broken Bird is lovely and available on Spotify.  Tickets for the tour are available via the link in my bio. 
From Hannah: “I've admired Ricky Ross's music for so long and I can't thank him enough for the opportunity to guest on his upcoming tour,” says Hannah. “It will be wonderful to play for his audiences at these great venues up and down the UK in September and October. Hope to see you at one of them!”  #rickyross #rickyrosslive #hannahwhitemusic #shortstoriesvol2
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Find me on Facebook

Find me on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

RSS Ricky's Radio Blog

  • Mickey and Gretchen
  • This One’s From The Heart
  • We’ve Still Got The Radio
  • Chip, Rab and Spring

Recent posts

  • We Started So We’ll Finish
  • Jerry Reed and Radio Joy
  • Driving Through Oregon
  • Peace In The Valley
  • Sixty Years and Counting

Archive

Copyright © 2022 Ricky Ross. All rights reserved.