Hello & welcome to my new weekly blog. It’s a real honour to be joining the brilliant team at the Express & Star; the biggest publication outside of London is right here in our area!

Ahead of writing this, I was given a tour of the place by two great guys Tim Walters and Chris Leggett – What a hive of activity!

As a brief introduction, I host the drivetime show on Beacon, Monday to Friday between 4pm-7pm. I’ve been here just over a year and as Malcolm Gladwell writes in his book The Tipping Point, I would be described as a ‘connector’.

If you’re one of these people, it basically means you immerse yourself in everything and then tell everyone about it.

Working on a music radio station, it would be a good idea to be fan of music. To be fair, I’ve never met a person who isn’t?

We’re very lucky to have a legendary music venue in the Civic Hall. The last gig I went to see there was Liam Gallagher’s new band Beady Eye (very John Lennon as you’d expect) but they were being supported by Ocean Colour Scene guitarist Steve Cradock.

I was due to interview Liam in a local hotel room but he decided last minute to arrive late and just rock up on stage, so it didn’t materialise.

I did manage to speak to Steve Cradock; in fact, we ended up chatting in the back of Paul Weller’s Splinter Van, which was the oddest place I’ve ever interviewed anyone!

On Wednesday I received a text from my friend Jonn who works at the Civic Hall informing me that he has a major artist playing at the Civic Hall and tickets go on sale 9am on Thursday 19th May – it turns out that top US singer/songwriter Lou Reed is to play here on Friday 1st July! Will it be a perfect day? You can buy tickets here.

A massive weekend if you’re a Wolves Fan! Mick McCarthy’s simple message on the blackboard earlier this week ‘Beat Blackburn’, what more do you need to say?

I saw the player’s player of the year Matt Jarvis having his haircut on Wednesday ahead of the game; let’s just hope the crucial cut adds some speed behind his runs on the wing!?

If you’re someone who’d rather steer clear of the footy, I can suggest a nice little café in Stourbridge called the Ruskin Glass Centre. Chris the chef has been on my show in the past cooking pancakes, but regularly drops in with cakes for the team. He’s worked all over the UK at some top places, but prefers the slightly quieter ambience of Stourbridge.

Big thanks to The Roebuck Pub in Penn for allowing me to host a pub quiz there the other night. Bill, the landlord is the usual host but he and his regulars gave me the green light to host one on behalf of Banks’s and Beacon to help raise money for Promise Dreams. In total, £167.50 was raised and it just goes to show that kindness and generosity is still around despite being in a difficult economic climate – so thank you if you came and donated.

Until next week, thanks for reading!
James x

Listen live to Beacon by clicking here.