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Andrew Marston with the Christmas TV composer (Malvern)

The Malvern composer who鈥檚 written most of the TV themes you鈥檒l be hearing at Christmas.

鈥 With the Malvern composer, Paul Farrer, who鈥檚 written most of the TV themes you鈥檒l be hearing on Christmas Day.

鈥 The German electronic group, from Hereford, that are blowing up the charts in...Germany!

鈥 Our Artist of the Week, from Kidderminster, has just come back from shooting a music video in LA and Brazil and is flying the flag for the #MeToo movement.

鈥 He鈥檚 written records with U2, Rihanna, Paul McCartney, Sia, CeeLo Green, Usher, Coldplay, The Stone Roses, Plan B, Florence + The Machine, Lorde, Maroon 5, James Bay, Mumford & Sons, Maximo Park and Bloc Party - we鈥檙e with super producer Paul Epworth, discovering the secrets behind a hit record.

鈥 She鈥檚 just 17-years-old and has already written more than 40 records. Part one of our live session with Kidderminster soul sensation, Loula, from the Conquest Theatre in Bromyard.

鈥 Our month of live music relives some of our highlights from the last 12 months.

2 hours

Music Played

  • Christmas tracks

    • The Hobbyists

      My Little One

    • BEKAH

      Santa? Help!

    • Kyle Finn

      Christmas Eve (Tonight)

    • Elison

      Pigs In Blankets

  • Artist of the Week

    • Grace Rhodes

      Me Too

      • Uprise.
  • Christmas tracks

    • Savestate

      Bethlehem

    • Teresa Curtis

      Merry Christmas Nanny

    • In Evolution

      13ft Of Snow

    • Nature of Wires

      It's Not A Happy Christmas

      • Sobel Nation Records.
    • Shaun Kelly and The Returned Gifts

      Christmas Song

  • The live music hour

    • Ellie Goulding

      River (Live from the 91热爆 Live Lounge)

      • River.
      • 1.
    • West Midlands

      Kingdom Of Hits (Live from Lakefest)

    • Artigo Son

      Landslide (Live from Hopfest)

    • The Lightweights

      44 (Live from the Worcester Music Festival)

    • Years & Years

      Play (Live from Glastonbury 2019)

    • Black Bear Kiss

      I Wanna Know (Live from The Peaky Blinders Festival)

  • In session

    • Loula

      Plaything (Live from The Conquest Theatre, Bromyard)

    • Loula

      Infatuated (Live from The Conquest Theatre, Bromyard)

Christmas TV

People indulging in festive TV over the next couple of weeks will, likely unknowingly, be hearing tracks from from one of Britain鈥檚 most successful musicians - who actually lives in Worcestershire.

Composer Paul Farrer has written most of the TV themes you鈥檒l be hearing on Christmas Day at his home in Malvern.

Now, while you wouldn't recognise his name, Paul's music is played all over the world every single day.

Having written the theme to the Weakest Link and Dancing On Ice, Paul is also the musical director to Michael McIntyre's Unexpected Star and The Chase.

German success

This year has seen Hereford's Nature of Wires achieve two top 20 singles in the German Alternative Chart - the D.A.C.

The band's music is heavily influenced by Germanic electronic music and were welcomed with open arms for their first gigs in the country, too, playing Berlin, Leipzig and Cologne.

Nature of Wires is IT consultant Gary Watts, armourer Andrew Stirling-Brown, chocolatier Tim Powell-Tuck and vocalist Sarah Bouchier, all from Herefordshire.

The band actually dates back to the '80s with dark new wave sounds reminiscent of acts such as Gary Numan, Pet Shop Boys, Shamen, Cyferdyne, Combichrist, Aesthetic Perfection and Kraftwerk.

91热爆 Music Introducing Live: Paul Epworth

In this week's musicians masterclass we're discovering the secrets behind a hit record.

Paul Epworth is a superstar in his own right, as the songwriter behind some of the best known songs from the world's biggest names in pop, rock and rnb.

He鈥檚 written records with U2, Rihanna, Paul McCartney, Sia, CeeLo Green, Usher, Coldplay, The Stone Roses, Plan B, Florence + The Machine, Lorde, Maroon 5, James Bay, Mumford & Sons, Maximo Park and Bloc Party.

Artist of the Week

Grace Rhodes is a young versatile vocalist and performer who was born and raised in Hagley, near Kidderminster.

Signed by Uprise Records, Grace attended LAINE Theatre Arts, known as one of the Top Performing Art Schools in the UK where she was one of 50 applicants to be accepted, in her year, out of thousands.

She's just released her first single and music video 鈥楳eToo鈥, raising awareness of the #MeToo movement - tackling issues of sexual harassment and assault.

The video was shot in LA and has been gaining a lot of traction in Brazil.听

In session

Loula's first concert growing up was at Kidderminster Town Hall - and it was at that event she realised she wanted to become a professional singer.

The songwriter, from Hartlebury, is now 17-years-old and has penned more than 40 original tracks.

She's also sung on lo-fi house music and in jazz bands, rock bands and church choirs.

However, her own musical influences lie in artists such as Lily Allen, Ed Sheeran and James Blunt.

"One of the finest - if not the finest - soulful voices I鈥檝e heard. To be just 17 and have that many lyrics - a true star in the making.鈥 鈥 Andrew Marston.

The live music advent calendar

Throughout the whole of December, we're dedicating the second hour of our shows to live music.

We won't be playing a single CD, MP3, tape or vinyl - because we're giving you the music you won't be able to get anywhere else on the planet!

This month, hear tracks performed at the Worcester Music Festival, Ledbury's Market Theatre, Kidderminster College, Gordon Bennett's in Hereford, Malvern Cube, The Railway in Redditch, Lakefest at Eastnor Castle, The Norbury Theatre in Droitwich, The Hay Festival, HopFest near Bewdley, the Conquest in Bromyard and at 91热爆 Maida Vale.

Features

91热爆 Music Introducing in Bromyard

This month's sessions come from the Conquest Threatre in Bromyard.

If you've only ever driven through the town before, the venue is on what we like to call 'Nozstock Street!'.

The theatre has now been hosting events at its Tenbury Road location for a quarter of a century - but they'd been campaigning for a facility like this since the '50s, according to the records book.

Originally, events had been held in an 'old tin hut' which had been built in 1919 by the Royal British Legion. But eventually they decided an all-singing, all-dancing venue was what the town needed.

Broadcast

  • Sat 21 Dec 2019 20:00

Gigs

Gigs

Chloe Mogg's daily list of live music.

History

Tales of epic gigs and local legends.

Masterclass

Masterclass

Top tips for new musicians.

Sessions

Sessions

The best live performances since 2005.