Most notable for his presenting talents on 70's show The Old Grey Whistle Test, broadcasting legend most commonly known as 'Whispering' Bob Harris, blessed the island of Jersey with his comparing skills at the annual Halkett Hoedown street party.
What have you been up to since arriving in Jersey?
We got here last night, well yesterday afternoon actually and we went for a walk on the beach, explored the rock pools and the tide was out. We were at the hotel yesterday evening so just enjoying the island.
You’ve been involved with many different genres of music. What genre is your favourite?
Well I love country music these days. I do Bob Harris Country Radio on BBC Radio 2 and that takes me to Nashville regularly so I’m over in Nashville two or three times a year, I absolutely love it there. It’s great, the people are very friendly and that thing about Southern hospitality is a reality.
You’ve been in the centre of the music industry for many decades, and you’ve seen music born and you’ve seen it die. What are your thoughts on the music of today’s generation compared to how it used to be?
I think the music scene today is amazing actually. There’s a wider variety of music and it’s more accessible now than it was in the 70’s when I was doing the Old Grey Whistle Test, there was only three TV channels, no internet and when the programme started there wasn’t even video recorders. The album ruled and rock radio ruled in America with those massive bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Cat Stevens, Elton John, Free; there were so many huge bands in the 70’s and the industry was ruled really by the record labels. Now, it’s like the wild west, there’s so many opportunities now for young bands to get out there and play and through social media promote what they do. The big challenge now is getting noticed because Twitter is so busy so the challenge is to find ways to draw attention to what you’re doing to give you a chance against everyone else. Americana and Country music, which is what I play the most of on the radio these days, for country this is the best moment in Britain ever. It’s more popular now that it has ever been I think so there’s a range of Americana artists and we’re very much involved with the Americana Music Association and I hosted the second annual awards show this year and it’s becoming a very big thing. I loved the music in the 70’s but probably even more I love the music now.
What are your thoughts on the Jersey music scene?
I’ve not seen any bands yet because as we speak it’s early in the afternoon and I’ve not had the chance to see anybody yet but I’m going to be comparing the main stage and introducing all the bands on the main stage so I’ll see them one by one. The band that we do know is Foreign Affairs because they came to do one of our Under the Apple Tree sessions in Oxfordshire about three weeks ago and they were fantastic so I’m really looking forward to seeing them.
If you could pick one music journalist/broadcaster to be your successor, who would it be and why?
Blimey, I’m a big fan of Greg James, I think Greg is fantastic, he’s great. We share a love of cricket and he likes good music and in fact during the last year or so between us we’ve recommended bands to each other and gone to see bands together, Bear’s Den and Mystery Jets. Also in my field there’s a guy called Baylen Leonard who is on Chris Country, my son Miles is also on Chris Country, and Baylen is great. So Greg James and Baylen Leonard I would say.
You’ve interviewed many people over the years, who has been your favourite?
Just about everybody I’ve interviewed for country has been nice. The country music artists generally are really nice. Even just recently we’ve had sessions on the programme from Sam Outlaw who we really liked; he’s such a lovely guy. So most of the country artists are warm and they’re friendly and they care about their fans. In the past the person I clicked most with was John Lennon. We got on like a house on fire. I interviewed him in New York in 1975 and he was terrific.
You’ve been presented with many awards over the years, but which one are you the most proud of?
I think the Trail Blazer Award for the Americana’s because the Americana Music Association in the States care so much about music and the artists that they support, the ones I usually support on my shows, I was probably the first person in Britain to play Americana and obviously the association is based in Nashville and getting the Trail Blazer Award from the Nashville community was something for me that really meant a lot. The OBE (Order of the British Empire) wasn’t bad either. Funnily enough I received my OBE ten days after getting my Trail Blazer Award and those ten days were really something.
Your Under the Apple Tree sessions with the Whispering Bob Broadcasting Company, is it mainly country music your promoting or are you open to a variety of genres?
It’s really anybody we like, established artists as well as new. For example there’s a breakthrough band at the moment called Wildwood Kin who are my Americana Music Association emerging artists this year and we first saw Wildwood Kin when they came in and did a session for us about a year ago. The Shires came in right at the beginning of their career even before the release of their first album, same with Ward Thomas. It’s a platform and a stage for artists that we like and it’s as simple as that. But because we like a lot of country and Americana there’s a lot of country and Americana artists, but you’d probably say Wildwood Kin go across the boundary between Americana and Folk. We play a lot of Folk as well, we were at the Cropredy Festival last weekend and we recorded sessions there too with a lot of people that appeared at the festival when they came into our session tent. We just play what we like.
What advice do you have for upcoming music journalists?
To put your work out there, I know that’s the simple thing to say. Our philosophy with Under the Apple Tree, Miles started filming the sessions three and a half years ago and we just started posting them. First one then another one and another one and then it gradually builds up because now we’ve got 350 – 400 sessions up there now and for aspiring journalists obviously writing is the key thing. Blog, write about stuff you like, post it, draw links to it, CC in lots of people that you think might be interested in what you’re saying. Just keep doing it and don’t get discouraged and keep posting and keep the work coming and then eventually somebody will notice. That’s my advice.
You can check out Bob's Apple Tree sessions here.
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