Hi Mudcatters,

Thought you might be interested to know, that I am beginning a brand new radio show devoted to British folk music on Tuesday the 5th of November (two weeks!).

It is called 'Cool as Folk' (nicked from Tim van Eyken's t-shirt!), and will be broadcast on Reading's Junction 11 on Tuesdays, 10-11pm, and can be picked up on 1287am in the area. That's fairly irrelevant to most people, but it will be STREAMED and ARCHIVED ON THE INTERNET. Basically, just like the BBC shows, you will be able to listen live and to listen back to it for one week after broadcast at www.1287am.com.

How do I listen back to the show?: (This is really easier than it sounds!) Go to www.1287am.com. From there click 'schedule' in the column on the left hand side. A new page will load. Now to Tuesday and click on whatever the name of the show is that is listed as being on at 10pm. This should hopefully say 'Cool as Folk' but the website isn't updated as much as I'd like, and at the moment says 'Vicious Old Men'! The click 'Listen to Tuesday's show at 10pm'. This should now play. As I said, it's much easier than it sounds, and if you have any problems at all please feel free to eamil me at folkontheradio@hotmail.com.

If you are interested in the show it would be great if you could email me at folkontheradio@hotmail.com. This wont put you on any mailing list or anything, you'll just get hold of me. It will be very useful to have an idea of who is listening and great to have a rapport with the listeners. I'll be able to answer any questions, take requests or just have a general chinwag!

Here's a whole load of info about me and the show to give you an idea of what I'm going to be doing (you don't have to read it all, if I've already got your interest feel free to email me straight away!):

About me: Nowadays, I'm a 21 year old Music and English student at Reading University. I've been into folk music all my life having been taken to gigs by the likes of Show of Hands, the Albion Band, the Barely Works, Edward II and Eliza Carthy by my parents from a very young age. I've grown very passionate about it, and my mates attest to the fact I could talk about it for hours! The radio show is a great chance for me to share my love of this music, both with fellow folkies and hopefully a few converts.

The Music: I'm either a traitor to the cause or a folk traditionalist depending who you talk to! I am all for the continued evolution of folk music, and think the pioneering work of people such as Shooglenifty , Whapweasel, Martyn Bennett and Eliza Carthy (and Jim Moray in principal if not always in results!) has brought a brilliant new perspective to the music without undermining its roots. On the other hand this doesn't mean we should forget the amazing power that one accapella voice can have, telling a superb story. It might not always be as accessible as the fusion work but that doesn't mean it's not worth persevering with!

You may notice that I've said British folk music, something I've already got into much heated debate with Robin Morton at Temple Records about! Basically I think it is very easy for our own cultural music to be overshadowed by Irish, American and world music. Much as I enjoy a lot of it, it doesn't half get on my nerves when people assume all folk music is Irish. Only the other day at Sidmouth, I heard a mother walking past Whapweasel playing a set at the Anchor and knowledgably telling her daughter, "That's Irish music"! And if I open the door to American folkies it's hard to justify excluding bluegrass, country, blues, and by the same argument rock and roll! And then if I include Irish and American music, why not Scandinavian and French music, in fact why not all roots music!!! Then you end up with a world music programme! So in the interest of sticking to what I know and not ending up with a hodgepodge programme like Mike Harding's, I'm sticking to British music (although I might make the occasional exception if it's for a theme, say highlighting different versions of the same song, where one is Irish for example).

Another type of music I shall be avoiding is acoustic singer-songwriters and artists that have moved beyond folk. Much as I love artists like Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, John Martyn and Nick Drake, only a small amount of their work is actually folk derived, so I'll leave them to my more general show.

So to give you an idea, here's some artists I plan to feature on the show: The Albion Band, Martyn Bennet, Blowzabella, The Barely Works, BELLOWhead, Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, Fernhill, Dick Gaughan, Nic Jones, Bill Jones, The Levellers, Ewan MacColl, John McCusker, Julie Murphy, Oysterband, Pentangle, Kate Rusby, Steeleye Span, Shooglenifty, Martin Simpson, Dave Swarbrick, Spiers and Boden, Richard (and Linda) Thompson, June Tabor, Norma, Lal and Mike Waterson, Whapweasel and probably loads I can't think of right now!

The format: It'll be an hour long show (immediately preceded by my more eclectic show, Random Noises, if you fancy hearing some of my wider taste!) with plenty of music and not too much chat. Every week I'll do a Floor Spot, where I highlight one artist and play three of four of their recordings to give an insight into what they do. I'm hoping to get a co-presenter, but that really depends on finding someone who wont mind me picking all the music!!! In future weeks I hope to get artists in for interviews and sessions, but I'm just working on getting it running at the mo.

Can I send you demos/records: Definitely. I'm dead keen to promote new talent and will be more than happy to give your demo a spin (as long as I think it's good enough!). The same applies for record companies and artists with a record deal: please send me your albums/singles/promos etc. I've already received a lot of stuff from Topic, Temple, Beautiful Jo, Park and Old and New Tradition, nearly all of which is guaranteed a play. Basically, it's not like I have the BBC's library to toy with, and there's plenty of artists I don't have anything by. Obviously I can't buy everything I want (especially on my current budget!) so if I don't get it, I can't play it!! Any demos /records that don't meet the genre criteria have still got a decent chance of getting a play on my general show, Random Noises. If you want to send me anything, please email me at folkontheradio@hotmail.com.

Can I send you gig/festival dates: Yup. Can't guarantee I'll read them out, but there's a afir chance, especially if they are gigs near Reading. I might even use them as a reason to play something by the artist. Again, send any info to folkontheradio@hotmail.com.

Okay, that's all, sorry for such a long post, I need a website really, talks are on the way… Hope to hear from you soon,

Chris