MDSWP

This week we had the legendary Brian Travers in the studio to talk about growing up in Birmingham, being part of the World’s most successful and instantly recognisable Reggae band and their latest album, Labour of Love IV.

Thank you to everyone who listened on the day and submitted questions before we went live. Although we had a few problems on the day, there’s been a huge response on Listen Again already which will hopefully raise the profile of not only The Midsweep, but also Rhubarb Radio as a whole.

Remember to Tweet in your selection for this weeks New Music FA Cup by visiting our Twitter page or tweeting @midsweep. We’ll see you all at 10am next Saturday!

• The Heavy – How You Like Me Now
• Ash – Girl From Mars
• The Kleptones – Welcome Back
• Thin Lizzy – Boys Are Back In Town
• The Smiths – Girlfriend in a Coma
• Huey Lewis and The News – Power of Love
• Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On
• Free – All Right Now
• The Who – Baba O’Reilly

New Music FA Cup

• Sol Pilot – From Seed to Bait
• Gumshen – Since the Sun Shines on Me

Brian Travers in the House

• Junior Mervin – Police and Thieves
• The Allman Brothers – Midnight Rider
• Desmond Decker – It Mek
• UB40 – Close To Me
• Richard Hawley – Open Up
• Sam Cooke – A Change is Gonna Come
• UB40 – Bring It On Home

Morning all! It’s now just two hours until perhaps our biggest show since taking to the airwaves in July last year.

What started off as a conversation with Brian Travers on Twitter has snowballed in to something so exciting it’s left me shaking.

Comments from UB40 fans from all over the world have been left on this here blog and we’ve been scurrying away to pick out the best ones to ask him.

Today’s show will obviously be slightly different to our regular ones. Still playing the very best tunes from the last 40 odd years, in the second hour we’ll be handing over the tuneage to Brian. So expect even more classics!

Tune in from 10am at RhubarbRadio and Twitter us @midsweep or email team at midsweep.com.

In a bit!

The night before a show is always a bit strange. Preparing the playlist, sorting out the links for strange news and choosing the two new acts for the Indie FA Cup take a lot of work but there’s always a lot of anticipation to it all. Will the show go well? Will I be on time? Will I remember who I am? These are all things that run through my head around this time on a Friday night.

Since we mixed up the show a little bit at the start of the year, it’s been really refreshing to be able to play whatever we like and still champion new music by getting bands in to play acoustic sets and talk about their new releases. Add that together with the Music News, Film stuff and our new features and it’s all starting to come in to place.

There’s a lot in the pipeline for Midsweep in the next few months, next week being a big step in getting us, and Rhubarb Radio into the ears of lots and lots of new listeners. You can do you bit, of course – sign up to our Facebook group and help promote the station, follow us on Twitter and start spreading the word about the wide range of shows we’ve got on air and coming up.

Rhubarb is growing, and we’d love you along for the ride.

Here’s some good news to get your mind away from the rubbish weather and stupidly long commuting times today.

On the 13th February, Brummie of the Year 2009, and Sax-god Snax-god Brian Travers will be coming in to the Rhubarb Radio studio to discuss UB40’s new album ‘Labour Of Love IV, the ongoing discussion about the future of Digbeth as a live music hub and also the astonishingly poor nominations for the Brits 2010.

We’re all pretty excited that Brian has taken the time to come in and talk to us, and we’re now inviting you, the listening public, to send in your questions for him.

Simply leave a comment below or email phil@midsweep.com and we’ll ask Brian the best ones on the 13th. In the meantime, keep it locked to The Midsweep as we confirm more guests over the coming weeks.

Edit: The comments have now been locked to allow us to collate the best questions ahead of Saturday. Remember to tune in from 10am at http://rhubarbradio.com to hear the whole interview and Brian answer your questions.