“Kevin”

From the Gaelic meaning ‘gentle.’

He is youthful and fun, friendly and kind, but has a stubbon streak.

He sticks to his principles….

And he knows how to ROCK!

Do you think you’re the most hardcore of music fans? Think you’d do anything for the musical loves of your life?

Well we know someone who’d do anything (and a lot more) than you. And he’s called Read. Kevin Read.

Read. Kevin Read, has become famous amongst the inhabitants of Amazing HQ simply because he not only lived amongst rock gods – but because he is one. A former rock and roll groupie, he has seen, done and drunk it all.

Therefore, in order for him to share his infinate gigcrashing wisdom with us, he has set you all a challenge: To find out if there really is anyone on this planet who is more rock and roll than Kevin Read.

If you feel set to take on his challenge (dust off those hazy, late night memories folks!) Then get in touch! Email us and throw down that gauntlet of rock!

This week sees a special edition of It’s Amazing here on Amazing Radio, featuring our expert panels’ ‘favourite track’ from each of the previous 7 shows.

Here’s a brief run-down of which artists Trevor Dann will be playing on the show, and the reasons why they got here:

Hull quartet Paper Planes wowed our panel back in early May, with their upbeat track ‘Lois Lane’ winning the show ahead of efforts by Cadets and David Ford. Alcopop Records’ head honcho Jack Clothier described the record as “simply huge”.

You’ll also hear a singer-songwriter from Worcester by the name of Becky Rose. Her song ‘It Feels Like’ has been gathering momentum on the Amazing Radio playlist in recent weeks, and the song’s “scale of ambition” was praised on It’s Amazing by The Radio Academy’s Heather Davies and Emily Kendrick from Artrocker.

Last month also saw Derbyshire gigaholics Esteban win the affections of listeners and pundits alike, with their fast-paced ‘desert funk’ anthem ‘Say It Loud’, fighting off competition from John Devine and Vienna Ditto in the process. Tom Hannan, editor of Rockfeedback, praised the band’s excellent guitarist Liam, saying he deserved a real “pat on the back”.

London-based singer-songwriter Scully also features in this ‘Best of’ edition, thanks to his track ‘Total Excess’ being the most popular song on last week’s show with Claire and Paul from A Badge of Friendship. They praised the track for its “dark edge” and said that it lives up to Scully’s main motto, that “music just got good again”.

Spindle & Wit are another band to have conquered the ears of the It’s Amazing panel in the past month, with their glorious folk tune ‘Way Down The Street’ proving popular with Amazing Radio’s very own John Williams. He reserved special praise for the track’s “beautifully sincere vocals”. Hear them again this week before they take the festival circuit by storm this summer.

Your acoustic needs will also be served on this week’s show by a Birmingham singer-songwriter called Tom Peel. His wonderfully-titled track ‘I’m Pretty Sure It’s Something To Do With The Moon’ won a hard-fought battle against Baskin’s Wish and Natalie Arnold, making a late surge to be confirmed as champion by Amazing Radio’s Tom Cotton and Frankie Ward towards the end of May.

We’ll also be hopping over the pond to re-visit a track called ‘Smokescreen’ by Texan musician Eric Wilson. This was actually chosen by Trevor Dann himself, as a result of Polarsets manager Paul Thompson and Amazing Radio producer Dani Charlton being unable to agree on an overall winner on the show three weeks back!

Guests on the panel this week are Kate Mossman from Word Magazine and one of Amazing Radio’s treasured music gurus, John Williams.

To listen to the complete playlist of this week’s runners and riders, head to this link on It’s Amazing’s profile at amazingtunes.com:

http://www.amazingtunes.com/users/its_amazing/playlists/50810

Which artist will be joining Polarsets and Hannah & The Heartbreak in the end-of-year final?

To find out, tune in to Amazing Radio this Thursday from 7pm, or catch the repeat on Saturday afternoon at 3.

Are you an independent music enthusiast? Fancy yourself as the next Steven Wells? Think your music blog deserves a bit more credit?

Well here at Amazing Radio, we salute you! You are the people that keep the word of underground artists moving; the people that push music to the surface of the rest of the world and quite simply, we want to celebrate you and your talent spotting genius!

If you think you’ve got a music blog worth reading then let us, and the rest of the musically-interested world know by leaving us a comment with a link to your blog and a mini blurb on what it’s all about.

As all you wonderful Amazing Radio regulars will know by now, we like to think of our station as a democratic institution. We want to play tunes that you want to listen to. Simple maths will tell you that, for the people to have what they want, the people must have their say!

One of the ways you can show what you’re listening to is to email us your ‘Four Tops.’ The ‘Four Tops’ is quite simply a playlist of your current four favourite tracks from Amazing Tunes that you’ve handily called ‘My Four Tops.’

Although we’re not ones to question your fabulous tastes, we also would appreciate it if you also tell us why your ‘Four Tops’ are… well, top really! If we’re particularly feeling your musical wavelength, your hard work could even end up on Amazing Radio itself!

If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out Greg and Burtt’s Four Tops here…