Nick Barraclough
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Nick Barraclough | |
|
|
|
| Birth name | Nicholas Barraclough ? |
| Born | 1951 Cambridge |
| Show | Smooth Country |
| Station(s) | Smooth Radio |
| Time slot | 5 - 8pm, Sunday |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Previous show(s) | New Country |
| Website | [1] |
Nick Barraclough (born 1951 in Cambridge) is a British disc jockey, who is best known for hosting shows related to Country and Western music. He can currently be heard on the Smooth Radio network, where he presents the station's Sunday evening Smooth Country programme, and was also the host of the long-running Nick Barraclough's New Country show for BBC Radio 2. Nick now lives in the centre of Cambridge, with wife Judy and two children.
[edit] Early Career
Following several years as a musician (which included a spell as a member of a short-lived band that went on tour with Chuck Berry, and with another group which won the 1975 British Country Music Association award for Band of the Year), his career in radio began in 1982, with the launch of BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. There he hosted the breakfast show and was later a mid morning presenter.
In 1986, he moved to Manchester to work for Radios 1 and 2, where, as well as producing shows for Andy Kershaw and the Northern Dance Orchestra, he also worked on the first definitive documentary about Country and Western music. The programme was called Hit It Boys, and was presented by Ricky Skaggs.
After a year in Manchester, he moved to London, where he spent some time producing Radio 2's Gloria Hunniford Show, and Willie Whyton's Country Club.
[edit] Nick Barraclough's New Country
With an upsurge of interest in the Country and Western genre in the early 1990s, BBC Radio 2 was keen to put together a new show which would reflect the changes in the music, and its growing popularity. Nick was working as a producer on local radio at the time, but heard about the show and decided to put his name forward. Consequently, Nick Barraclough's New Country Show was commissioned in 1992. An initial run of three months was planned, but the show quickly gained an audience, so became a regular feature of Radio 2's weekly schedule. It ran on a weekly basis until April 2007, when Nick left Radio 2 as a full time presenter to join the then newly launched Smooth Radio.
Unfortunately Nick Left Smooth Radio in June 2008 due to other work commitments.
In 2001, he was awarded the Country Music Association's International Country Broadcaster Award for his work on promoting country music in the UK.
Nick Barraclough is also the founder of a production company, Smooth Operations, which produced his long running show, as well as that of Radio 2 colleague Mike Harding and other programmes for the Radio 2 network.
