It’s a beautiful spring evening and I’m thinking back to nights passed on the wireless. It was springtime in 2007 when someone (the great, late Stuart Cruikshank) allowed me to get my hands on the radio faders. The advice I’d got from a good pal was ‘drive the desk yourself.’ And that’s what I did for the first 30 seconds until my mind froze and dead air was broadcast to the waiting nation. If I’m honest. I’m really not sure there were many listening. My family tuned in, bless them, but they know better than to listen too regularly these days!

I have a deep love of radio, as many of you will know. I love the idea that a conversation, annotated by some killer songs, can happen across the airwaves. I loved radio at an early age and on a lonely family holiday when my sister had gone on to more exotic vacations with friends, I took a small transistor radio to my little hotel room along the corridor from where my folks were staying. The comfort of the familiar DJs got me through a few awkward, slightly nervous teenage nights. Reading a book of ghosts stories hadn’t really been the ideal pre bed preparation, but somehow the voice coming through the ether made me feel that all was well in the world.

More than anything however I am grateful for the freedom to drive into our car park at the BBC, go up to our little studio on the fourth floor and play some music for two hours that may just get us all through whatever it is we’re experiencing on any given week. On this week’s AC we’ll take you on a little Jerry Reed journey, share some fabulous new music from Luke Combs, Tenille Townes and Lyle Lovett. We’ll introduce you to the songs of Natalia M King and Florist. We are in the usual time slot of five past eight, this Tuesday evening on BBC Radio Scotland and available where and whenever on BBC Sounds. Tune in, if you possibly can.