Today, American Music is Belgium' s longest running country music show. And the only one broadcasting on prime-time.
Twenty-six years ago the producer gave birth to a full country music show in a backyard calling it "The Wonderful World Of Country Music". The content was mainly country rock with names like New Riders of The Purple Sage, Flying Burrito Brothers, Pure Prairie League, Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen, Amazing Rhythm Aces and the founders of country rock Gram Parsons and Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band along with Emmylou Harris.
A little later some Nashville acts were added to the shows because people asked for them.
After a few years I asked Belgium's foremost mandoline player Walter Pelckmans to do 30 minutes of bluegrass and that was refreshing.
In the beginning the studio was a trailer and it was a kinda pirate station.
Later on local radio grew, became official and more professional with Radio Mol where I spent some 10 years as a fine example.
After some rambling around I ended up at Radio M.I.L.O. and was offered a prime-time show which I gladly accepted.
So now it's American Music every saturday afternoon from 2 til 4 and thursday morning from 9-11. But it's no longer a country music show. It's what it says, an American Music show containing country music but also folk,rock and a little blues.
Simply because I learned through the years that this format is the most interesting and works well commercially. Proof is country radio in the States: boring as hell. Good for ten minutes and then you turn it off. If you wanna avoid boring radio; forget about categories and labels. Many people in the States have heard my shows and agree that "it's too bad we don't have one like yours here".
But no one offered me a job in Nashville so far, that's why I'm still doing it right here.
