Two of my fellow presenters on UKCountryRadio.com are responsible for my love of country music – Graham L.Hall and Bob Preedy. It was while filing away records at a hospital radio station in the early 1990s where Graham was presenting that I stumbled across the music, he encouraged me to tune in to Bob’s show on BBC Radio York, and I was hooked.
After nearly 15 years of working for various commercial and BBC radio stations, I decided to launch my own – UKCountryRadio.com, with the aim of playing UK artists alongside the big names from America and, in the process, providing a much-needed outlet for talented British artists.
Along the way I have discovered that the UK country scene is much bigger than I ever imagined – with countless artists working with so much passion, simply because they love the music. It has been an absolute pleasure to go through this never-ending voyage of discovery.
As well as running the station, I pop up on air from time to time too. Join me on Monday and Tuesday evenings from 5pm and on Saturdays at 10 and Sundays at 5 with The American Hot Country Countdown.
I was proud to received the CMA’s International Broadcast Award in January 2011. The CMA said they gave it to me for “outstanding services to country music”. I don’t know about that – I just like the music and enjoy helping other people discover it too.
