'Underground' - a brand new live six-part radio series showcasing local bands and artists began on BBC Radio Swindon and BBC Radio Wiltshire from Sunday March 6th at 4.00pm. The show is designed to bring the best of the county's unsigned bands and up-and-coming musicians to a wider audience and features the latest demos, a guide to the best gigs taking place around the area, band interviews, acoustic sessions, gig reports, and interviews with Wiltshire music scene movers and shakers.  | | Daniel Garrett |
Presenter Daniel Garrett is the station's champion of local live music and has organised BBC Wiltshire's popular Battle of the Bands contest for the past three years. He said: "I've been planning the show for a few months now and have been bowled over by the amount of demos I've received as well as deeply impressed by the quality of the material. Some of it is real hair-standing-up-on-the-back-of-the-spine stuff!"  | | Blackbud playing live in the studio |
Each week Daniel plays a variety of styles of music by acts from all over Wiltshire. Special guests on the first show were Bradford on Avon power trio Blackbud whose assured retro-style rock recently won them a recording contract with top record label Independiente. All the more impressive is that each all of the band are still in their teens! They came onto the show to chat about their amazing success, gave us a sneak preview of their first recordings since being signed and played a song 'Raindrops' live in the studio. Other guests on the show in the 'Movers and Shakers' slot were Steve Causer and Stuart Gould, editors of new Swindon 'cultural entertainment' magazine 'Frequency'. They explained how the much-maligned town is not the cultural vacuum it is often painted as and why there is a need for a magazine which highlights all the interesting stuff that is going on. As well as a run-down of all the best gigs taking place in and around Wiltshire this week, Daniel played demos from the likes of Latitude Blue, The Phoebus Mass, Iron Hearse, Hooker, Karda Estra, The Gramercy Riffs and Sepiatone. Click the link on the right to listen to this week's edition of 'Underground' in streaming Real Audio. Tune into 'Underground' on BBC Radio Swindon and BBC Radio Wiltshire every Sunday 4.00pm. BBC Radio Swindon can be heard via the frequency 103.6FM and BBC Radio Wiltshire via 104.9 and 104.3. Listeners outside the county can tune in via the 'Listen Live' online link on the BBC Wiltshire homepage.
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