It’s been another hectic week in the Folk Roots kitchen!

This week I set my culinary fingers to crafting listener Ade’s fabulous fish pie recipe. I usually avoid cooking with fish as, despite being a pescatarian since the age of eight, I’ve not had too much experience of cooking with the ingredient. However, a challenge is a challenge and I was raring to give my first listener recipe a whirl!

Getting started on the fish pie

I made a few minor changes to Ade’s recipe, including swapping the potato mash topping for a lighter sweet potato version. One of the reasons for this is the tendency for the latter to require less butter and milk for mashing – it’s a much easier task! It also looks wonderfully colourful on top of the cheesy milk-and-fish mix. I also always use a sweet potato mash topping when I make green lentil shepherd’s pie too.

The fish pie fresh from the oven

If you’d like to check out a photographic step-by-step walk through of my ‘Folk Roots fish pie’ take a look at my personal blog here. Don’t forget to send me your recipes for testing in my Folk Roots kitchen by emailing them to frankie@amazingradio.co.uk.

On the show tonight I’ll be celebrating three of the acts on the short list of Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent competition. These are acts that we’ve been supporting on Amazing Radio for a while now, and I honestly couldn’t be prouder that they’ve made the final cut. For these acts, making the short list means that even if they don’t take the main prize of a Pyramid Stage slot, they’ll have a fantastic chance of playing elsewhere at the main event this forthcoming June. The three acts that made the coveted list are; Multi-instrumentalist Alex Wells’ project Twin Brother, Emily Wood and her band, Emily and the Woods, and the critically-acclaimed Northampton four-piece My First Tooth.

Hear tracks from the short listed acts on the Amazing Folk Roots Show, tonight from 7pm, on Amazing Radio. If you can’t make a date with the show tonight, catch it at the same time on Wednesday.

This week Kyle Wilkinson and Producer Frankie are attempting to find a New Music Match for listener Rachael Griffith.

Student Rachael has told Producer Frankie that her favourite three artists are Michael Bublé, Athlete and The Script. Sensing Rachael’s love for piano based, chilled out Pop and Indie, Producer Frankie took to amazingtunes.com to find three tracks for Rachael’s listening pleasure and created her this three track playlist.

Tune into the show later today to find out which track Rachael decides to listen to on a long-term basis. If you’d like to experience the Matchmaker treatment, simply email the names of your three favourite acts to kyle@amazingradio.co.uk.

Hear Rachael being musically matched on Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson, today from 3pm, on Amazing Radio.

This week Amazing Folk Roots Show host Frankie has mostly been listening to amazingtunes.com, and getting experimental with chocolate in her little kitchen.

Why hello, how are you!? As the big, bold text explains, I have indeed been going crazy in my kitchen this week, much to the amusement of my house mates.

My featured recipe this week is a twist on this indulgent double chocolate cheesecake recipe by BBC Good Food.

Frankie's chocolate raisin cheesecake

Originally I had intended to make the cheesecake featured in the BBC recipe. However, I had a minor disaster which resulted in burnt dark chocolate and a smelly microwave! This meant that I had to think on my feet to recover the cheesecake from being wasted! I experienced a spark of genius when I remembered that I had purchased some dried fruit at the same time as the recipe ingredients so I decided to try throwing a couple of handfuls into the mix to create a chocolate-raisin-in-a-cake-experience, with an extra kick being provided by a generous dusting of cocoa powder.

Check out step by step instructions (accompanied by some decadent images of melted chocolate) on my personal blog.

On tonight’s show we’ll be putting aside The Soapbox for one show simply because we have so much great new music to bring you. This is because Producer Mark and I thought that we might get a similarly generous yield of new and emerging artists in future weeks uploading to amazingtunes.com who were all deserving of a spot on the show. We’d hate for you to miss out on some awesome artists who were put to one side for a week and then slipped through the net when it came to playlisting the next show, so we tried to fit in as many as we could onto the this week’s episode instead.

One of the artists we’ll be playing you is Ryan Kelly. If you’ve already ‘liked’ our Facebook page you may have noticed that the solo artist from Northern Ireland has a hugely dedicated following who have flooded us with requests for his music. Being democratic in our nature, we were happy to oblige! Make sure you tune in tonight to hear what all the fuss is about…

Catch Frankie Ward as she hosts the Amazing Folk Roots Show, tonight from 7pm, on Amazing Radio. If you can’t tune in tonight, catch the show again from 7pm this Wednesday. Email your recipe ideas to frankie@amazingradio.co.uk.

Hi everyone it’s Frankie Ward here, ready and raring to bring you another Amazing Folk Roots Show here on Amazing Radio.

I’ve had a hectic week of producing Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson, trying to be better than ‘rubbish’ at playing my acoustic guitar, and attempting to cook more creatively in my cramped shared kitchen where I’m based in the North East.

I’m always hankering for pictures and recipe tips from listeners of the show, and this week is no different so don’t forget to send me your foodie facts, ideas and photos. I’ll be featuring my favourites on this blog alongside my own future efforts.

Here’s the finished result of my attempt to recreate this roasted butternut squash recipe from the BBC Good Food website. I’d recommend serving this warming recipe with a generous musical helping of fun Folk Pop group Felix Fables, with fellow former Track of the Week winners Boat to Row to round off the meal.

Roasted butternut squash with goat's cheese made by my very own hands!

It was rather delicious, although I think this picture doesn’t quite do the size of the thing justice! The shop only had one MASSIVE squash in the entire building left – I literally couldn’t finish most of it, and that’s really quite rare for me.

On the show tonight I’ll be telling you a little bit about my experiences from my trip to the North East coastal town of Tynemouth. It was grey and grizzily on the day I headed down so I couldn’t hit the sandy beach, but I did make the most of the wonderful little gift shops that lined most of the streets.

One of my favourite bits of my visit was when I got to run amok around Tynemouth metro station. Every Saturday the station plays host to an indoor market that sells trinkets, food and vintage clothing.

Tynemouth metro station market

The most intriguing of my finds was a vintage postcard that featured the usual tourist photos surrounding a rather more unusual image of a cat.

The mysterious 'cat postcard'

At first I thought this was a random ‘Birchington in-joke’, (a trade mark of the town if you like). I soon discovered that I was very wrong indeed as I found more cat featuring postcards from other regions, meaning that this ‘cat postcard’ trend was once a national phenomenon. This mysterious trend has continued to haunt me since my trip and I am now requesting you messages to help me solve the puzzle!

Also on the show tonight, I’ll be introducing brand new Soapbox poet Michael Pedersen. Michael combines delicate Sufjan Stevens-esque guitars with a simple direct vocal style reminiscent of previous Amazing Folk Roots Show guest Nev Clay. His work, Sailor Features combines this musical style with the spoken word, Michael’s style of delivery having been shared recently by more mainstream Pop acts such as Kate Nash and The Horrors.

Hear Michael perform in the Soapbox on the Amazing Folk Roots Show from 7pm tonight, or catch the repeat at the same time next Wednesday. Get in touch with me by emailing frankie@amazingradio.co.uk.

Every week Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson finds an Amazing Radio listener their perfect ‘New Music Match’.

This week’s music hungry listener is Ant Hagan, who is looking for an act from amazingtunes.com that compliments his love for Primal Scream, Pink Floyd and LCD Soundsystem.

Producer Frankie took to amazingtunes.com in search of some Electronica-influenced soulful tunes with an Experimental Rock edge. You can hear the results of this search by having a listen to this three track playlist that Producer Frankie has compiled for Ant.

Ant will be joining presenter Kyle Wilkinson and Producer Frankie on Amazing Radio later today to tell you and the team which track he’s decided to listen to on a long term basis. If you’d like to be Matchmade for the show, simply email your three favourite acts to kyle@amazingradio.co.uk.

Tune into Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson to hear Ant choose his Perfect New Music Match, today from 3pm, on Amazing Radio.

On tonight’s Amazing Folk Roots Show, host Frankie Ward will be joined by Martin Longstaff, aka solo Acoustic musician The Lake Poets.

Hi everyone, Frankie Ward here.

I’ve never written a blog specifically for the Amazing Folk Roots Show before, but spying on Aaron Phillips’ rather excellent Amazing Rock Show articles have made me finally reach for my keyboard.

Another reason I felt like publishing some words today is because of my extra special guest. I’m currently preparing to meet the rather wonderful Martin Longstaff, known to Amazing Radio listeners as The Lake Poets. I’ve been chatting with Martin via email and various means of social networking on a fairly regular basis since he chatted about Sunderland’s music scene over the phone on Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson, so I’m almost giddy at the thought of finally meeting him in person!

Martin’s an exciting guest to have on the show not only for his astoundingly pure vocals and his beautiful music, but because of the speed at which his ‘star is rising’, so to speak. He’s fresh from playing the first two dates on his first UK tour with Ben Montague and Leddra Chapman and he’ll be hitting the road again tomorrow. You can find more information here.

If you’ve got any questions for The Lake Poets, or would like to know more about the Amazing Folk Roots Show then don’t hesitate to email me at frankie@amazingradio.co.uk. I always love receiving your emails and tweets!

Catch The Lake Poets on the Amazing Folk Roots Show with Frankie Ward, tonight from 7pm, on Amazing Radio. If you can’t tune in tonight, catch the repeat from 7pm on Wednesday.

Usually Tuesdays are all about musical romance on Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson.

This week our New Music Cupid, aka Producer Frankie, is off on a rather deserved holiday, which means that we’ll be bringing you even more music while she’s away.

If you’d like to be Matchmade on a future show simply email your favourite three artists or bands to kyle@amazingradio.co.uk and Producer Frankie will make you a three-track playlist from amazingtunes.com based on your personal tastes. Your three favourite acts can be anyone you like, from Michael Jackson, to Michael Bolton!

Tune into Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson for top tunes and chat, today from 3pm, on Amazing Radio.

Throughout the week Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson team have been getting to know the music makers of Bournemouth.

Kyle Wilkinson and Producer Frankie kicked off the week by chatting to four-piece Rapids! about their jaunty brand of Indie Pop music and their favourite places to play in their coastal home town.

Rapids!

The show has also featured expert accounts of the Bournemouth new music scene from beats manipulating Mutant Vinyl front man Edwin Pope, Acoustic Pop duo Tinderbox and experimental ‘mini orchestra’ Achilles.

Today Kyle will be rounding up his visit to Bournemouth by chatting to new Rock heroes The Longest Day. He’ll also be playing you more music from the region. If you think we should come to visit your local music scene soon, get in touch with the show by emailing kyle@amazingradio.co.uk.

Hear Kyle round up this week’s New Music Tour on Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson, today from 3pm, on Amazing Radio.

Every week Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson finds an Amazing Radio listener their perfect ‘New Music Match’.

This week’s music hungry listener is Sol Mackilligin, who is looking for an act from amazingtunes.com that compliments his love for Plan B, Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip and Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s.

Producer Frankie took to amazingtunes.com in search of some retro-tinged hip hop with straight talking flair to compliment Sol’s appreciation of MCs Plan B and Scroobius Pip, whilst looking for another tune to reflect the experimental folk sounds of Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s. You can hear the results of this search by having a listen to this three track playlist that Producer Frankie has compiled for Sol.

Sol will be joining presenter Kyle Wilkinson and Producer Frankie on Amazing Radio later today to tell you and the team which track he’s decided to listen to on a long term basis. If you’d like to be Matchmade for the show, simply email your three favourite acts to kyle@amazingradio.co.uk.

Tune into Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson to hear Sol choose his Perfect New Music Match, today from 3pm, on Amazing Radio.

Every week we ask you to send in the names of your three favourite artists from the musical universe.

Last week listener Jon Sams told us that his favourite acts are The Wedding Present, Pulp and The Strokes.

Producer Frankie used these three acts to get a feel for Jon’s taste in music. She realised that Jon had a thing for lo-fi garage rock with a witty lyrical line. With this in mind, Producer Frankie sent Jon a three track playlist of new and emerging music from amazingtunes.com that you can find here.

Presenter Kyle Wilkinson will be giving Jon a call later today to find out if Producer Frankie has managed to make a successful ‘New Music Match’. If you’d like to experience the Matchmaker treatment for yourself, simply email your the names of your three most loved bands to kyle@amazingradio.co.uk.

Find out if Producer Frankie has made a ‘Perfect Match’ on Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson, today from 3pm, on Amazing Radio.