Saturday, 28. June 2026
Cirencester, Gloucestershire
This month has been a bit of a challenge, not least because my home studio (a corner of my bedroom) is a sauna in this weather – South facing, and naturally the warmest room in the house.
Broadcasting from home has plenty of advantages. The commute is excellent, a glass of water, or an ice cream from the freezer, lie nearby. Plus of course, the cats are never too far away from making their own contribution. During a heatwave, the home studio is not necessarily the most comfortable place to be – but I love radio so much that I endure it. Radio gives me purpose. Playing my favourite music makes me feel calm, even when mentally my head is all over the place.
There is a strange little balancing act that comes with hot weather radio. Windows open or closed? The whole street must be able to hear me broadcasting live! Do I stick a fan on during the records, then off before the mic goes live? Or do I leave the fan on all the time? Or not at all? The headphones go on even though they seem determined to slowly cook my ears! I take them off while the music is playing. (Normally I’d keep them on, and turn the volume up – my own little world). The home studio sauna is not glamorous, but it is very real. And somehow, once the music starts and the show begins to take shape, all of that fades into the background – mostly. π
Looking back at what’s happened on air, June (and May – I’ve not written one of these blogs for a while) have had some great themes. In mid-May I particularly enjoyed my Eurovision special, entitled “Europe Calling”. At the start of June my regular Decades Night shows, which I started in December, reached the Excellent Eighties. Needless to say, the next Decades Night is coming up in July.
All 9 of May’s shows can be heard at https://www.fred-hart.uk/radio/2026/05/, while June’s shows are at: https://www.fred-hart.uk/radio/2026/06/. You’ll notice there’s a couple of weeks I missed in June – primarily because of being on holiday in Cornwall, and when I got back, I simply stuck a repeat on. By the way – I even Voicetracked one show! Saturday 13th June was sort of pre-recorded, and sort of live. It worked well! Voicetracking saved time and meant I got something out on air, but it is not the same as broadcasting live.
Looking to July
Next month has some great themes lined up, and they are as follows:
- Monday 6. July 2026: Decades Night – Nostalgic Nineties
- Monday 13. July 2026: Home & Away – Songs about home, leaving, returning, travelling, distance, places, belonging.
- Monday 20. July 2026: School’s Out – End of term / Start of the summer holidays.
- Monday 27. July 2026: Cover Story – Covers, reinventions, surprising versions, songs that found new life with another artist beyond the original.
The themed shows are Mondays, 7pm to 9pm. Plus I’m on air every Saturday morning 9am to 11am (4th, 11th, 18th & 25th July).
Listen live at www.CirencesterRadio.co.uk – and Listen Live or Listen Again at www.FredOnTheRadio.uk.
Good night,
FH.
