BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire is a local music show in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

, and part of the main

BBC Introducing BBC Music ''Introducing'' is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. It gives artists the opportunity to be played on Local BBC Radio and nationally on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, ...

brand. The show is broadcast between 20:00 and 21:00 on Saturday nights on

BBC Oxford BBC Oxford is the name given to the sub-opt out region serving Oxford and the surrounding areas. Its services include: *BBC Oxford News, the local news service called BBC Oxford on screen * BBC Radio Oxford, the local radio station occasionally bra ...

and is presented by Dave Gilyeat, Liz Green, and Chris Wood.

History

BBC Oxford Introducing began as an internet only radio show, available weekly on the

website and presented by Tim Bearder and Dave Gilyeat. The programme then launched on BBC Radio Oxford in March 2005 as 'The Download'. It was transmitted on Friday nights for ten weeks, before moving to Saturdays. In May 2011 it moved temporarily to Sundays. With the launch of the new BBC Introducing brand in 2007 The Download was renamed BBC Oxford Introducing. In February 2009, a new tool was launched on the BBC Introducing website to allow users to upload their music directly to the presenters. In September 2009 BBC Oxford Introducing launched its own BBC podcast. From 2010 the show has curated its own stage at

Truck Festival Truck Festival is an annual independent music festival in Oxfordshire, England. It was started in 1998 by the Bennett family (including the brothers Robin and Joe of the band Goldrush), who decided that mainstream festivals such as Glastonb ...

Format

The show plays one hour of local music every week. This includes a live session from a local act, a tip from

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

, and a recommendation from Ronan Munro, editor of music magazine '' Nightshift''. It used to feature a weekly cameo from Bill Heine. In September 2010, original co-host Tim Bearder departed the show to concentrate on his work for

BBC News Online BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the ...

. He later moved into politics.

Notable successes

BBC Oxford Introducing regularly gives local acts their first radio play. It showcased

Foals A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal ...

at an early live gig and secured a slot at

Radio 1's Big Weekend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by the BBC's radio station. It is held once a year, in a ...

for

Stornoway Stornoway (; gd, Steòrnabhagh; sco, Stornowa) is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it by far the largest town in the Outer Hebrides, as well ...

. This led to the band's appearance on Later... with Jools Holland. Lewis Watson received his first radio interview in February 2012. The team provided

Glastonbury festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

sets for

Glass Animals Glass Animals are an English indie pop band formed in Oxford in 2010. Founded and led by singer, songwriter, and producer Dave Bayley, the group also features his childhood friends Joe Seaward, Ed Irwin-Singer and Drew MacFarlane. Bayley wrote ...

and A Silent Film, and

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fes ...

appearances for Mr Fogg. Little Fish were awarded a headline slot on the BBC Introducing stage at Reading and Leeds and a

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale ...

session. January 2011 saw Fixers featured on the

playlist. The band, whose first radio play was on the show in August 2009, were also awarded slots on the

T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused B ...

and Reading and Leeds Festivals stages.

Acts of the Year

Each year the show singles out a musician or band for the Act of the Year award. Previous recipients have included

(2009),

(2014), Rhys Lewis (2019) and

S1mba Leonard Simbarashe Rwodzi (born 12 April 1999), known professionally as S1mba, is a Zimbabwean-born British singer-songwriter and rapper. He rose to prominence with his single " Rover" featuring DTG, which reached number 3 on the UK Singles C ...

(2020).

Controversy

Presenter Tim Bearder was so taken with

that he played an hour of their songs on his Breakfast show. BBC bosses suspended him for two days for doing so.

Official releases

BBC Oxford Introducing has released four charity CD compilations in aid of Children In Need. The first, The Download Sessions, featured acoustic performances by local bands. This was followed by A Quantum of Covers, which featured local artists covering

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

songs. The programme celebrated its five-year anniversary in March 2010 with Round the Bends, a recreation of

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...

's The Bends as performed by Oxfordshire artists. To mark the BBC's Beatles Day (the 50th anniversary of the release of Love Me Do) the programme released a 5-song EP called Cover Me Do.

References

External links

The official BBC Oxford Introducing website

Nightshift Music Magazine

BBC Introducing Uploader

The official BBC Introducing website

BBC Introducing on MySpace

BBC Introducing on Radio1

BBC Introducing on BBC 6 Music

List of BBC Introducing local shows
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bbc Oxford Introducing Music in Oxfordshire BBC music

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Mass media in Oxford 1970 establishments in England