Top reasons to listen to 8Radio
8Radio is live on 94.3fm in Dublin for the next five weekends. However it broadcasts online on 8radio.com and via the app 24/7. With bucket loads of great music and a schedule full of music loving presenters, heres the top reasons you should tune in
8Radio is broadcasting on the FM dial across Dublin on 94.3FM for the next five weekends. It will also broadcast in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway every weekend in February and March. While this is a welcome and altogether exciting addition to the Irish airwaves, listeners will be delighted to know that they can catch this great station online, around the world 24/7.
8Radio.com has transformed the way this radio fanatic listens to music. Having never embraced downloads, Spotify or anything of the like, my life well and truly revolves around listening to good radio. Over the years I’ve favoured one station at a time, switching depending on what presenter was where and what music captured my attention.
When 8Radio launched initially, I was living in Galway and gracing the FM airwaves on a Monday night with my Irish music show “Sugar Blues” on student station Flirt FM. Organising the first National Student radio conference in 2013 in NUI Galway, we invited 8radio boss man Simon Maher down to give a talk; and it’s safe to say by then I was hooked on the station.
Not long after, I moved to Germany and every weekend I religiously listened to 8radio.com, falling in love with the music and feeling very much at home hearing the likes of Simon Maher, John Loftus, Steve Conway, Dan McDermott and Ann Marie Walsh (not speaking German hearing this cheerful native tongue put me in flying form every week).
Good radio is engaging and entertaining and offers a escapism from an otherwise mundane entertainment world. A station which has an eclectic mix of presenters all of whom offer their own personality and play music which is representational as such, allows the listener an entire experience. 8Radio has this offering in abundance.
So there’s some of the reasons I love the station, but here’s some reasons you should listen to and fall in love with 8radio
Playing the music we like
The core mantra of the station is playing the music WE like, there’s no overplay of the current “trendy song”, no ideas of what the listeners might like but rather we do what we love and do it well. The music is a reflection of what each presenter loves and with it brings nostalgia for old favourites while also opening the floodgates for amazing new music.
Supporting Irish music
NEW. IRISH. MUSIC. We play this in abundance and are always supporting Irish artists through radio play and interviews. There’s shows like my own “A Cuppa With Rachel Masterson”, interviewing a differnet Irish artist every week, “Sounds from a Green World” which is a full dedicated Irish music show by the ever knowledgeable John Loftus and a full range of Irish music across the whole week. We always promote new, and always support home grown talent.
Specialised shows
This is where it gets even more interesting. While all the shows have their own theme of music they like, there’s certain dedicated shows to really spice up the mix.
8’s Got You Covered on Tuesday nights at 8pm with Andrew McGahon who plays the very best cover songs ever. Steve Conway is going through the alphabet with the “A to Z of Great tracks” every Saturday morning at 10am (repeated on Wednesday at 8pm).
Dan McDermott brings you “The Essential Album” every Saturday night at 8pm (repeated on Wednesday at 10:30pm), when he plays a must have album for every record collection in full while filling listeners with a bank of knowledge about the artist and album.
Simon Maher has the specialist “8 Song Shuffle” every Sunday night at 9pm (repeated on Thursday at 10pm), each week to the theme of something topical; from politics during the election, to colours when Dan painted the studio!
A wide mix of presenters and music taste
If you haven’t picked this up by now, the variety of presenters musical tastes is vast and it’s all deadly. Tuning in daily, I still discover new music or find old music I never heard of before.
From Deano Murray (The Joy of 8, Monday’s 8pm) Budge (Sonic Tonics, Monday’s 9pm) and Gugai (Strange Brew, Friday’s 9pm) who are just an encyclopaedia full of musical knowledge.
Gemma Butterly (Monday, 10pm) Ruth O’Connor (Music is my Radar, Tuesday, 10pm) bringing amazing music every week.
One Beat with Jackie Fox (Tuesday, 9pm) is jam packed with punk and ska, Neil Murray (Sunday, 4pm) who never fails with the long and the short of it.
The upbeat tones of Rachel Breslin (Saturday, 11am), Sinead NiChonaill (Saturday, 12pm), Angela Hughes (Saturday, 2pm), and Nuala Kealy (Sunday, 1pm) across the weekend and the mellow tones of Amber waking you up on a Sunday (10am)….8radio really has got it all.
What’s more, there’s frequent and welcome slots from Phil Udell from State Magazine and the infamous “Pearl”; always bringing us great, great music.
Knowledge about and passion for music
Now that we’ve established the wide variety of presenters with great musical taste, just to confirm that they really know what they’re talking about. Every presenter on 8radio works in music and media in another guise also. From running music blogs (myself with Ceol Caint, Phil with State Magazine) and reviewing, to music promotion and management, other radio gigs, teaching media and all round just dedicated to the art form, you can be assured that when you tune in you will be enlightened as well as entertained.
The Music They Like
I asked some of the presenters to choose some music as a little insight into what you can expect from the station, here’s what they came back with:
Ruth O’Connor (Music is my Radar, Tuesday Nights 10pm)
Bernice St. Lucia
Katie Kim – Day is Coming
El Vy – Are These My Jets
Dublin 94.3FM – Weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) November 19th to December 18th 2016 and weekends (Saturday and Sunday) February 5th to March 27th 2017
Cork 106.7FM – Weekends February 5th to March 27th 2017
Limerick 105.5FM – Weekends February 5th to March 27th 2017
Galway 89.5FM – Weekends February 5th to March 27th 2017
Around the world 24/7 on 8radio.com or by downloading the app from the app store or google play.
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