A couple of years ago I was struggling to find a radio station that I like.
Virgin was OK, XFM was OK, BBC Radio 6 was OK – but never really got on with any of them. The problem is that I am quite heavily into American music – the singer/songwriter rock/country/folk scene – and none of these radio stations ever took a shot at playing any of these artists I like.
So I ventured online and started listening to some US based stations – but once again found that I couldn’t get on with any of them – they are quite different to what we have over here, and it took some getting used to.
And then one day I came across a station called WXPN, broadcasting out of Philadelphia. This station is a public radio station – actually paid for by it’s members – so it is relatively ad-free, but it is superb. They don’t have a playlist as such (so you don’t hear the same song every hour and a half) and will literally play anything, but everything they play is quality – and they are a real friendly bunch – I left a message on their message board last week, and they couldn’t have been more welcoming. More than one person has offered to send me CD’s I can’t get hold of over here, and they have a great little community based around the station.

I know Americans in general can get a raw deal over here sometimes – but right now I’m an honorary Philadelphian.