I was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire. My love of radio began in the early 1980’s and from that point on I immersed myself in listening to as much music radio as possible, whether BBC, independent, or the oft fading signal of Radio Luxembourg.

Whilst a great deal of the music that populated radio playlists was firmly of the mainstream top 40 variety, hearing album tracks and artists that were less well known held the greatest appeal for me. Discovering singer songwriters like Al Stewart, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Loudon Wainwright III started a musical journey resulting in gig going and attending the eclectic Cambridge Folk Festival, which offered a very broad definition of folk. This helped to develop my taste for americana, blues and world music.

Although the keen interest in radio remained alongside the passion for music, actually getting into broadcasting didn’t happen until the early 2000’s. Through good fortune someone I knew from a spell in hospital radio mentioned a community radio station called HFM that was going to be broadcasting for a month in the summer as part of temporary license, feeling it was something that would be of interest. Getting in touch with the programme controller led to me presenting a forerunner to the Quiet Revolution 10 until midnight on Tuesday evenings.

HFM applied for and was awarded the new community radio licence for Market Harborough, South Leicestershire and North Northamptonshire with the station taking to the air in February 2007. This was when the Quiet Revolution was truly born, initially on air 10pm-12 midnight alternate Tuesday’s before moving to the earlier 9 o’clock slot.

All-time favourite record:  Crosby, Stills and Nash – Wasted On The Way

Artist or band who got me into folk: Firstly was Al Stewart but it was undoubtedly Show of Hands at Cambridge Folk Festival in 2001 and their Cold Frontier album that started my journey into folk music.

Artist or band who got me into americana: Steve Earle and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Artist who introduced me to blues: Eric Bibb and Keb Mo at the Cambridge festival and then on the radio, Kelly Joe Phelps.

Artist or album that introduced me to world music:  Mali Music, a project on Honest Jon’s Records, featuring Damon Albarn and musicians from Mali.

Favourite music films: No Direction Home, Searching for Sugarman, and High Fidelity.

Favourite non- music films: Hobson’s Choice, Everlasting Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kitchen Stories and A Man Called Ove.

Favourite music books: Electric Eden – Rob Young, 31 Songs – Nick Hornby, A Cure For Gravity – Joe Jackson and The Nation’s Favourite – Simon Garfield.

Favourite non-music books: The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists -Robert Tressell, A Month in The Country – J.L Carr, The Rings of Saturn – W.G Sebald, Keep The Aspidistra Flying – George Orwell, And When Did You Last See Your Father? – Blake Morrison, Faceless Killers – Henning Mankell, The House of Sleep – Jonathan Coe.