Radio 2 Country: Don't mention the cowboy hats

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that phrase over the last several months as we have prepared to launch Radio 2 Country, our second digital pop up radio station.

We first talked about the possibility a year ago, when C2C: the Country to Country Festival made its second appearance at the 02 in London. While the network was able to broadcast concert highlights from both days of the event, we wanted to bring the entire festival to Radio 2 listeners.

Following the success of Radio 2 Eurovision last May we set about planning our second pop up venture. It comes at exactly the right moment for country music in the UK which has been growing in popularity like never before. UK acts like The Shires and Ward Thomas are on the verge of breaking into the mainstream charts and are in their own words ‘building their own Nashville’. We hope that Radio 2 Country that will help us further promote exciting new UK country talent to the Radio 2 listenership.

So for four days this week, from Thursday 5th to Sunday 8th March, you will get to hear the very best of both UK and US country, some classic country artists, and over 12 hours of live music from the biggest country event in Europe.

From the main stage at the 02 on Saturday you will be able to hear live music from Lee Ann Womack, Brandy Clark, Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan. On Sunday C2C hosts Kip Moore, Brantley Gilbert, Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum.

In between those acts, Radio 2 Country will be shining a light on the best of new British Country artists with special acoustic sessions backstage including a performance from one of the stars of the Nashville TV series, British actor Sam Palladio, all of which can be heard on air.

Bob Harris, who has championed country in the UK, will be featuring a lot on Radio 2 Country with a special two hour edition of his regular programme which will include The Mavericks live in session. There’s also an hour long special with unplugged performances from this year's C2C artists.

Bob will also be broadcasting from backstage at the C2C Festival throughout the weekend. There's a wide variety of other Radio 2 presenters on air too including Simon Mayo, Jo Whiley, Paul Gambaccini, Cerys Matthews, Tony Blackburn and Steve Wright. Alex Lester presents a live two hour request show on Friday lunchtime; on while Sara Cox hosts a Beginners Guide to Country Music which goes out at 1pm on Thursday 5 March.

Al Booth, Radio 2’s head of specialist music has put together a stellar schedule featuring the biggest names in country music.

There’s an in depth look at two of Nashville’s biggest artists as Bob Harris sits down for an exclusive hour-long conversation with Miranda Lambert, and Patrick Kielty, who presented a live show from Nashville for Radio 2 during Country Music Association Week in November 2014, travels to Boston to meet up with country superstar Garth Brooks And some top Nashville talent will also be presenting programmes across the four days.

Suzy Bogguss presents an hour of her favourite classic country tracks from Patsy Montana to Waylon Jennings. Trisha Yearwood shines a spotlight on some of Nashville’s best country songwriters and Kristian Bush of Sugarland celebrates country duets.

Radio 2 Country will broadcast on digital radio and on online at Radio 2 Country. We are hoping the station will encourage Radio 2 listeners to listen on a digital platform, maybe for the first time.

It’s an opportunity for us to offer more of Radio 2 to our listeners in the multiplatform space. But doing so is a complex process, making sure that the station appears on your digital radio, that it’s visible in the iplayer radio app as well as the UK Radio Player.

A lot of technical wizardry has been involved to make sure that lots of the regular radio infrastructure is possible around a radio station that doesn’t really exist before next Thursday. Making Now Playing information appear; ensuring that the programmes are available on demand via iplayer radio and that there is the ability to add tracks to BBC Playlister, providing a full website with comprehensive information and ensuring that the messaging across Radio 2 is clear and timely.

If we get it all right from Thursday at midday you will be able to listen on your digital radio, on your computer, tablet and mobile. You will see our trail popping up on BBC Television too and hear lots about what’s on offer on Radio 2 as well.

You can find the full schedule on the website and have a listen to what it’s all going to sound like by clicking on the listen live button.

Brett Spencer is Editor, Digital, Radio 2, 6 Music and Asian Network

• Radio 2 Country is available on digital radio and online from midday on Thursday 5th March until late on Sunday 8th March 2015.