Radio 2 Celebrates Country

In March, Radio 2 Celebrates Country offers listeners a feast of country music. As the official broadcast partner of C2C Country to Country, the biggest country music festival in Europe, the network broadcasts from backstage at the festival in London’s O2 Arena with two shows. On Saturday 12 March (3pm-6pm), host of Radio 2’s The Country Show (Thursdays, 9pm), Bob Harris, introduces highlights from the festival.

Featuring live tracks from Russell Dickerson, Kip Moore and six-time Country Music Association female vocalist of the year, Miranda Lambert, Bob will also be joined backstage by major Nashville stars performing live on the programme. On Sunday 13 March (7pm-9pm), Bob is back with headliners including Scotty McCreery, Brett Young and ex-Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker. The Country Show will broadcast highlights from the remaining artists, including Luke Combs and Ashley McBryde (Thursday 17 March, 9pm-10pm). Additionally BBC Sounds will play host to exclusive extended highlights from all three nights of the festival. All are BBC Audio productions.

Bob Harris also presents a new four-part series, 21st Century Country (weekly from Sunday 20 February, 9pm-10pm) celebrating 20 years of memorable performances and interviews that have aired on his weekly Radio 2 show. He tells the story of where country music is today as contemporary artists have pushed the boundaries of the genre in all directions. Contributors include country’s biggest stars - Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Keith Urban and more - who reveal the secrets of country music’s enduring success. Bob has twice been named International Music Broadcaster of the Year by the Country Music Association - who also awarded him the prestigious Wesley Rose International Media Achievement Award in 2012. A BBC Audio production.

“It’s so great to have C2C back after its long, enforced gap, and I’m really looking forward to welcoming the very best contemporary country artists onto the Radio 2 airwaves direct from the O2 Arena in London. I’m also excited to explore my Country show past and present and take a deep dive into the incredible Radio 2 archive to bring listeners the definitive history of country music in the 21st century.”
Bob Harris OBE

Edith Bowman presents her Top 10 Movies Of Country Music, a show packed with film clips, archive cast interviews and unforgettable movie soundtracks. The big screen loves country, with Oscars for Sissy Spacek in A Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980), Reese Witherspoon in Walk The Line (2006) and Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart (2009). There was an Academy Award for Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s Shallow from A Star Is Born (2018), and Tom Hiddleston learned how to play the guitar for his portrayal of Hank Williams in the biopic, I Saw The Light (2016).

Here in the UK, Jessie Buckley put in a Bafta-nominated lead performance in 2018’s Wild Rose as an aspiring country singer and single mother of two from Glasgow. The show will be available on BBC Sounds from Saturday 12 March and on Radio 2 on Saturday 19 March. A Listen production.

Edith Bowman says: “The relationship between music and film is something I love exploring. It’s going to be so much fun and I’m thrilled to shine a light on and celebrate some of the best country music represented on film as part of Radio 2’s country programming.”

There’s another big treat for Country fans when Golden Globe winning actor Kiefer Sutherland features in My Life In A Mix Tape (Saturday 12 March, 9pm-10pm). Star of the TV hit series, 24, Kiefer is also a renowned country artist, producing three albums. Recorded direct from Los Angeles, he talks about the sounds and the songs that mean so much to him, including The Beatles’ Oh Darling, Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues, and Oasis’ Don’t Look Back in Anger. A BBC Scotland production.

Listeners can also enjoy programmes from the Best of Country Sessions series, plus In Concert shows featuring a selection of country artists, and two Tracks Of My Years with Carrie Underwood and Kelsea Ballerini. All are available on BBC Sounds from Tuesday 1 March and will air during March on Radio 2. All are BBC Audio productions.