It is fair to say that Jim has, what is commonly referred as, an eclectic taste in music. Growing up in a house where ABBA, Status Quo and Queen shared turntable time with Tchaikovsky, Gershwin and Andrew Lloyd Webber, interlaced with a sprinkling of trad jazz and ecclesiastical Methodist hymns, it was never going to be straight forward. An introduction to Led Zeppelin by an older kid in the village and chance viewing of Iron Maiden on Top Of The Pops sealed the deal for 12 year old Jim. In that moment he knew he was going to be the drummer in the biggest rock band in the world. 40 years, 12 bands, 15 jobs and 14 houses later, he’s still working at that. In the meantime though, he has amassed an impressive amount of vinyl, compact discs and digital files of some of the finest progressive, post rock, avant garde and downright interesting music in the world. Very broadly, the music is progressive, innovative, inventive, demonstrating formidable musicianship and inspired composition, technical brilliance and studio wizardry. Whether it be the psychedelic instrumental workings of Ozric Tentacles, the celestial majesty of Yes, the tour de force that is Devin Townsend, the intricacies of Dream Theater or Haken, the ambient soundscapes of The Orb, the flair of Rush, the heaviness and mysticism of Tool, or the weirdness of Aphex Twin, the common thread that binds these acts together is that they push boundaries, are unconventional and they create music not for a record label but for themselves. This is music as art. There is a world of incredible music out there that 99% of the population never gets to hear. It will never be on commercial radio or written about in NME or the entertainment pages of The Guardian, but it begs to be heard.

 

Jim’s YouTube channel, with just under 18,000 subs, is a place where he listens to, talks about and discovers music. It’s mostly on vinyl!

 

Jim now brings this to Stony Radio. Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music is a monthly voyage through the prog-scape. Expect to hear Miles Davis and Charles Mingus, Radiohead, The Future Sound Of London, Jethro Tull, Hawkwind, Riverside, Yes, Muse, Kings X, Marillion and a million other shining lights of this broadest of genres.

 

Simply, this is music about things that matter, in a world full of things that don’t.