A few years back I was at the
front of the stage in a marquee that had so few people in it, if you swung a
cat you wouldn’t hit anyone. The
chap on stage was playing songs that I grew up listening to, but sadly and quite
honestly he was performing them to an empty void. But, as hit after hit was played, slowly but surely one curious
soul after another entered the tent to see who was behind the melodies that
were escaping it. By the end of
the gig you couldn’t move or even see the exits, and afterwards the very man
who thanked everyone for remembering his music even took the time to chat to
me. It was this meeting and that awe-inspiring
set that prompted me to launch a show that would aim to feature music that no
other station was giving the time of day to. Over the past few years The Christopher Laird Show has
endeavoured to bring to you music you won’t hear anywhere else.
As I look back on the many
artists I have featured on my show some are still with us, some are absolutely
huge now, and some sadly exist no more. Lately I have become disillusioned with
it all. Is anyone listening? Is the show still relevant? Am I gonna get my interview request
dumped again so that the band I really want to talk to can speak to a more high-profile
station? It’s really all about
raising your profile these days, isn’t it, or perhaps, actually, it always has
been and I for one have just never liked or wanted to play that game (probably
the wrong vocation to be a part of for someone who is constantly bucking
against the system). History never
remembers the non-conformist does it? But that’s what RadioNowhere has always
been about: doing something that no one else is.
A good friend of RadioNowhere
who runs an independent record label said to me, ‘We do what we do not for the
rewards of money but for our love of music’. This sentiment reminded me that for every e-mail or phone
call ignored by a band or label, there was always that one band and that one
label who cherished everything we were trying to do for them. It also made me reflect on all the
wonderful donors and listeners that have supported my vision for radio and
for that I am incredibly grateful.
Thinking about these things made me think again about the very reason
that tent was empty; it was that people hadn’t heard the music. That is why it is time to say ‘Goodbye’
to The Christopher Laird Show and ‘Hello’ to an old friend. Who or what, you ask? Let’s just say no other radio show on
the planet will be quite like it.
If you know me, I’m sure you’ve probably figured it out already… stay tuned…
Oh, by the way, the chap playing the marquee that
afternoon was a really nice and rather talented fellow by the name of Nile
Rodgers.
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