Jake Bugg started his musical adventure young. Aged 12 he started playing and singing, aged 14 he started writing songs, aged 17 he gets invited to play at Glastonbury 2011! A spine tingling job he did there too, stepping on to the BBC Introducing Stage this short but incredibly sweet song tells you everything you need to know about Jake Bugg.

See more videos and photos from Jake performing at Glasto

Such a strong distinctive voice, simple guitar picking melodies, and lyrics that make it hard to believe this young singer-songwriter from Nottingham is only 17. He reminded me a lot of The Tallest Man on Earth in many ways, which is a huge compliment.

After seeing him play at Glastonbury, it was clear he was producing music way beyond his years, but it was his whole manner that was mature. With only a handful of words between songs, and barely raising a smile, you might have thought he was shy or nervous, but it didn't feel that way at all in his presence. He seemed to command the stage with such confidence and purpose, without feeling the need to babble on about nonsense between songs, but to just let his songs do the talking, one by one.

Being influenced by the likes of Donovan, Don Mclean, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix, you could say Jake was born in the wrong era, but we need these kind of songwriters here with us now in 2011 and beyond, carrying the torch and keeping the spirit of Dylan and co alive. He certainly has time on his side, and who knows how far this boy can go.

This beautiful track Someone Told Me will be on the Radio 1 playlist all week, and it's the kind of song that I'm sure is going to get a real emotional reaction when it goes on air. The kind of reaction that will force you to sit in your car for an extra few minutes after you've parked just to hear the end of the song, or that will make you stop tapping away on your computer and sit listening in silence for a while. Wherever you are, just stop and enjoy this moment.

Links

https://www.myspace.com/jakebugguk

https://www.facebook.com/jakebugguk

This is one of my lasting images of Glastonbury:

https://spotlightkidsound.wordpress.com/

https://Spotlightkid.bandcamp.com

https://twitter.com/spotlighttweet

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spotlight-Kid/

We followed four Introducing acts (Man Without Country, Luke Fenlon, Luke Bingham and Friends Electric) on a trip to Hollywood to play the gig of their lives: a MusExpo showcase in front of the cream of the US music industry.

You can listen to the story of their adventures on Radio 1 at 9pm on Monday 25th July.

Listen to the documentary here.

Here are Friends Electric's photos from the trip:

After the long flight from London to Los Angeles it all seemed very real once we were greeted with an incredible view from the hotel window. The Hotel was on Sunset Boulevard opposite a bar complete with a bucking bronco. On the first night we visited Barney's Beanery. We had been awake for around thirty six hours, so reading through newspaper sized menus became very challenging. It was time to get to bed.

We started each morning with a hearty nutritious American breakfast. If you haven't slipped into a sugar induced coma by noon then you haven't done it right!

The show was at S.I.R Studios. But before heading to the venue we had to visit the W hotel to pick up passes. We couldn't avoid looking like tourists while looking at the immortalised stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Although it was a rather strange experience playing to static crowd sat at tables, an encouraging welcome at S.I.R and being able to play in such a great venue eased our nerves.

It was a great night and we had the opportunity to meet some cool people.



Thank you BBC Introducing for a memorable experience!

Last weekend Beth Jeans Houghton from Newcastle travelled up to Kinross to perform on our wonderful BBC Introducing Stage at T in The Park. You could be forgiven for imagining yourself on a sunny 60's Californian coast with her Beach Boys-esque opening track Honeycomb, just don't open your eyes again or you'll find yourself in a cold rainy field in Scotland!

So did Beth have any Californian influences? It appears she went missing from the music scene for a while, just as she was beginning to attract attention from a few labels and festivals. Where did she go, why did she disappear? "I'm going to utilise the 'due to unforeseen circumstances' line and leave it at that. I spent a substantial amount of the last year in Los Angeles falling in love with the city, which is a first for me. I usually go for guys."

This lovely track Dodecahedron is the latest addition to the Radio 1 playlist, but where on earth did the name come from I hear you so desperately cry? "The night before I wrote it I had a dream that consisted of me running up to strangers in the street and asking them what a dodecahedron was, but no one knew" says Beth. "I later found out that the ancient Greeks believed the Dodecahedron is a symbol of the universe and represents an idealized form of divine thought. Take from that what you will."

Wow. You can listen to the track right here, and happy divine thoughts about the universe everybody!

Links

www.myspace.com/bethjeanshoughton

“I’m a sucker for a big chorus,” is the way Dot JR puts it. When nothing feels better to you than seeing a big crowd reacting to your songs, then you have to be motivated to deliver big tunes, and that is exactly what Dot JR has set out to do.

Earlier this year, he turned quite a few music industry heads with his remix of Wonderman by Tinie Tempah ft. Ellie Goulding (have a listen to it here). But on top of high profile remixes, he also he produces and writes his own material.

Dot JR is our first Radio 1 playlist artist to be plucked from the BBC Introducing Stage line-up at T in The Park 2011, and you'll see photos and videos of his performance at T right here as soon as we can upload them after the festival!

He's no stranger to performing live. Spending his teenage years in punk, indie and rock bands, and pulling out the big hitting house, grime, dubstep and D'n'B classics in his DJ sets, he knows how to get a dancefloor reaction.

This track, Moonlight, is the latest addition to the Radio 1 playlist, and will be played throughout daytime shows during the week. You'll notice he claims to be 'so composed even Mozart would be impressed', which is a pretty audacious claim. Hopefully he can live up to it. It starts with a familiar high-pitched bleeping intro that's similar to Tinie Tempah's Pass Out. Can Dot JR become as huge as Tinie off the back of one song? Maybe we'll know by the end of the week.

Links

www.myspace.com/dotjrmusic

Joseph JP Patterson was back on BBC Introducing in Scotland with Ally McCrae on Sunday, giving the lowdown on his favourite underground tracks this month...

My third track of the month comes from Leicester’s MNT and Coventry’s DJ Cubzy. MNT is well-known within the up North and Midlands bassline scene for his party-style bars and flow, but he has taken that style and adapted it to the very bassy UK funky track, That’s Who.

2. Dream Mclean Feat. Ceaser – Golden

My second track of the month comes from Essex-born MC, Dream Mclean. He’s one of the artists representing the whole new wave movement taking place at the moment. But unlike a lot of the other newbies in the scene, he’s bringing something a bit more deeper to the table, in terms of lyrical content – which you get a feeling of on Golden.

1. TRACK OF THE MONTH: Lady Leshurr – Too Much

My number one track this month is actually an exclusive! My close friend, Hyperfrank – who is also a well-known underground music journalist – put together a series called Volume Control, in which an MC of her choice spits over a beat voted for by the fans. Past participants include: Dot Rotten, Griminal, Durrty Goodz and more recently, Fem Fel. In the final edition of the series, Birmingham’s Lady Leshurr picked up the mic and represented for the ladies on the Neon Beats-produced track, Too Much.

SCOTTISH TRACK OF THE MONTH: Church Of Last When – Under The Last Dust



Church Of Last When’s track, Under The Last Dust, has quite a spoken word feel to it. The delivery is quite poetic and it's complimented nicely by the dark production.

Follow Joseph 'JP' Patterson on Twitter

I've been well acquainted with Yes Cadets over the past few weeks. First they rocked up at Maida Vale to record a session for Steve Lamacq on 6 Music, then a couple weeks later found themselves in a muddy farm called Glastonbury playing the BBC Introducing Stage.

Arriving at Glastonbury on Friday and playing on Sunday, you have to wonder what a band should do? Should they be well behaved, get early nights, drink plenty of water, and avoid all intoxication? Or should they go rock n roll, embrace each night like it was their last on earth, find themselves lost in Shangri La and The Unfairground at 6am, eventually picking themselves up from The Stone Circle Sunday afternoon to search for their guitars and stumble on to the stage..?

I'm sure there's some middle ground, but however Yes Cadets took on Glasto, they arrived on our stage bright and early (on Glastonbury time that is) and ready to roll. This performance of H.O.T captures their punchy infectious sound.

See more videos and photos of Yes Cadets at Glasto.

I have to say, they are a lovely bunch. Friendly, talkative, genuinely nice people; that goes a long way when it's pouring with rain and a mud bath is developing backstage. Hailing from Belfast they got the boat to Maida Vale and back for their Lamacq session, and then got the boat over to Scotland before driving to Glastonbury. You don't have to be that good at geography to know that is about as far as you can travel across the UK! So who knows how long it took for them to get back (considering it took 6 hours to get to central London)!?

This track Le Mans will be on the Radio 1 playlist all week, and if you just can't get enough of Yes Cadets, why not listen to their full Maida Vale session tracks as well. 

Links

https://www.facebook.com/yescadets

https://soundcloud.com/yes-cadets

https://twitter.com//Yes_Cadets