Loudon Wainwright III wrote a wonderful song called Unhappy Anniversary which appeared on his rather under-rated More Love Songs album (was it really from 1986?) Well 10 February marked 14 years of HFM Radio being on air and therefore the Quiet Revolution has amazingly been running for the same amount of time. In case you were wondering, 14 years of the show is far from an unhappy anniversary, but it seemed an appropriate-ish song connection, and to be honest it’s always good to have an excuse to shine some light on the music of Loudon Wainwright!

So it would seem I can add the term long-running when referring to the show. Hmm, I’m not sure I was expecting to be able to do that but it’s lovely all the same. I do want to do a modest amount of reminiscing, to borrow the title of a vintage Little River Band song, so I hope you will forgive my indulgence.

I always remember the first song I played on the show. It didn’t take me a great deal of time to decide. The song chose itself really. It was Steve Earle’s The Revolution Starts Now! He was also an artist who offered a helpful nod to the americana that would be one of the central features of the show. Steve’s music circa I ‘Ain’t Ever Satisfied and Copperhead Road were also instrumental to my finding my way into alt-country and americana out of the perhaps unlikely genre of ‘new country’.

Live sessions in the studio have been a key element of the show and hopefully will be again in the future when we emerge blinking into the light from the covid-19 pandemic. I’m not going to try and list everyone who has joined me to play some songs and have a chat however Paul McClure, Dan Whitehouse, Peter James Millson and Kenneth J Nash in particular have been fairly regular contributors to the Quiet Revolution. Lots of live sessions are available on my MixCloud account along with a considerable archive of shows so if you fancy exploring, erm, my back pages (sorry, couldn’t resist a Dylan song title) you can do that by clicking on the Listen Again page.

It’s been a total pleasure to have been able to bring you the show over the last 14 years. I suspect you may have guessed but I’m a massive music fan who is lucky enough to have been given the airtime to introduce you to artists and bands I really like and hoping you’ll enjoy them to. It’s similar perhaps to inviting your friends round to play some records or putting together a mixtape or possibly the modern day equivalent, a playlist. The difference is that you have a man with a beard as your guide talking between the songs and segues offering lots of information about the artists I’ve played. If after listening to a show you end up buying an album or three, going to a gig or even deciding to put on gigs as one long-standing Quiet Revolution regular has done that makes me very happy.

So to conclude, thank you to all the artists and bands who’ve released such fine music since I started the show. There wouldn’t be a show without you. A big thank if you’ve listened to the show, whether since it began or some other point along the way. It makes such a difference for those who listen and get what I’m doing with the show. Finally, please do get in touch with your thoughts about the show. You can post a comment here underneath this blog or if you’re on the Twittersphere I’d be glad to hear from you @awquietrevhfm is my Twitter handle or simply follow the links from any of the pages on my website.

Here’s to the next 14 years. Vive la revolution…