So, let’s do a regular blog we said. Keep listeners up to date with what’s happening at Over The Bridge Radio we said. Keep it brief but entertaining we said. Mmm. It’s been a while, although I suppose, even once a year is keeping it regular so not all bad!
What can I say. We’ve been busy. When we set out to create a radio station we had no idea what the challenges were going to be. I suppose we now know about a few of them. We are just short of 18 months on air now and, so far, we’ve overcome what we in the business call ‘loads of stuff what went wrong’.
The initial challenge was assembling all of the bits of stuff into a working studio. After weeks of head-scratching and trying different combinations we fixed it by getting a man in who knew what he was doing. Thanks Paul.
There has been the on-going battle with temperamental air-conditioning which likes to pretend it is an oven. It certainly keeps us toasty warm in the winter. We also had the PC which decided to join in the fun and fried various bits of itself. That took us off air for a week until Mick got out his trusty hammer and built us a new one from the various bits of kit that lived in a big cardboard box under the table.
Then, in March came the big one in the form of Covid-19. We took the decision early to close the studio to presenters but try to stay on air. With the help of remote access to computers and lots of spare bedrooms being pressed into service as makeshift studios we have produced a regular supply of ‘live’ shows. In fact, two presenters – Jenny (Thursday at 7pm) and Mike (Friday at 7pm) are yet to step into the studio, having joined us during lockdown. I would like to thank everybody for maintaining standards and keeping the music flowing.
We made a first tentative step towards normality when Howling Jake was allowed back into the studio a couple of weeks ago. We are using him as a kind of guinea pig to make sure all is well before the rest of us return. So far, all is well and the disinfecting routine is working (and he enjoys running around in the wheel we got for him).
Click here to view the schedule of regular shows. As you can see, we now repeat the midweek shows on Sunday, starting at noon with First Resort and culminating in Mike’s Music Show from 9pm..
One of the positives to come out of the lockdown has been having more time to listen to some great music. Sharing our love of music is what the station is about after all. We will never be able to compete with the big budgets of the BBC or the giant commercial networks but why would we want to? Feedback suggests you like the music we choose which gives us all a real buzz. New tracks added to our A-list this week include new singles from Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. Best of all is the new single from Sparks – Lawnmower comes from the great new album A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip. Not bad for a band who first appeared on Top Of The Pops almost 50 years ago (1972) having formed in 1967.
If, like me, you also still listen to albums (call me old fashioned), check out BC Camplight’s Shortly After Takeoff and the self titled album by Bonny Light Horseman. Both are excellent accompaniments to that chilled G&T. Speaking of which, look at the time. It’s five o’clock somewhere…
Roy