The Nightshift - Phoenix 98 FM

05/09/2026

Mary Heather Hickman joins me on The Nightshift to talk all things new music, questionable men and what appears to be a very welcome raising of the standards.

We get into Treasure, the song that first put Mary Heather on my radar, before diving into her latest release Manhandle and the story behind it. There is songwriting chat, relationship chat, a little bit of emotional damage and plenty of laughing along the way as we talk about where this new era of music has come from and whether Mary Heather is, finally, making slightly better decisions when it comes to men.

Because, really, country music does thrive on a bad decision, so at least we are all benefiting from it.

Elsewhere on the show, there is plenty more country chaos with music from Mae Estes, Karley Scott Collins, Tucker Wetmore, Tigirlily Gold, Lauren Watkins, Ella Langley, Vincent Mason, Robyn Ottolini, Carly Pearce, Emily Ann Roberts and plenty more.

We also spend some time celebrating Dolly Parton and digging a little deeper into her catalogue, because apparently two hours of country music was never going to be enough for me.

Mary Heather Hickman joins The Nightshift to talk Treasure, new single Manhandle, songwriting, higher standards and plenty of country music.

05/09/2026

Setting the gold standard this week ✨ with Gold Rush, our official Track of the Week!

05/09/2026

Songs can tell you things about yourself you weren’t quite ready to admit.

Tomorrow on The Nightshift, joins us to talk Manhandle, Treasure, conceptual songwriting and turning real life into music.

Then, naturally…we end up talking about dating. How the rules have changed, what we expect from each other, and whether some of the old ways might not have been so bad after all

05/09/2026

Country and Americana artist Colby Acuff joined me on The Night Shift, where the music never sleeps and neither do we, and we got into a lot more than just the usual “tell me about the new record” chat.

We spoke about Handmade Horsepower, leaving his record label, and the fact that he somehow keeps releasing an album pretty much every year, which in the age of one single every six Fridays and an EP when Mercury is in retrograde feels almost rebellious. We also got into Blue Dot Fever, the realities of touring, and the growing pressure on independent artists trying to keep live music viable without setting fire to their bank accounts.

It turned into a proper conversation about where country and Americana music sits right now, what it actually takes to build a career outside the usual machinery, and why artists like Colby are still betting on albums, touring and doing things the hard way. If you missed it on air, the full conversation is now available to listen back.

Listen back to The Night Shift with Colby Acuff as we talk Handmade Horsepower, independence, touring, live music and the realities of being an artist today.

05/09/2026

WE GOING BACK ON TOUR!! 🇬🇧

Tickets on sale FRIDAY 10AM.

More dates round the UK in spring next year. Those who missed out this time round we couldn’t leave you waiting.

The band and I can’t wait for this one…

See u there 🔥

05/09/2026

THE ALGORITHM ISN’T INVITED.

This week on The Nightshift, I’m joined by Colby Acuff, and if you’ve heard me talk about the weird little rabbit holes I fall down around music, you’ll know this is very much my kind of conversation…

Colby’s just released Handmade Horsepower, but we’re going considerably beyond the record itself.

We’re talking about the yearly album treadmill. Walking away from a record label. Whether the American Dream still exists, or whether it quietly got a rebrand somewhere along the way.

And then there’s the internet.

The algorithms deciding what we hear. The increasingly strange relationship between artists and social media. The question of whether you can actually build a career when your ability to reach your own audience is partly controlled by a machine that would quite like you to post three times a day.

Meanwhile, listeners are buying vinyl again. CDs are creeping back onto shelves. People are collecting magazines. Artists are making zines and putting them on merch tables.

Maybe we’re not going backwards.

Maybe we’re just remembering that music is supposed to be something you can actually hold.

Colby has plenty to say about all of it, so this one is less “tell us about the new album” and more “where the hell is music going?”

And I cannot wait!

05/09/2026

I blame Hannah Jane Lewis for the fact that ‘Boys On Film’ has been stuck in my head all week.

So naturally, I’ve decided to make it everyone else’s problem 👀

‘Boys On Film’ is my Nightshift Track of the Week, tune in Thursdays at 10pm to hear the latest and greatest in country music.

The Nightshift - where the music never sleeps and neither do we.

05/09/2026

18/08/2026

On last Thursday’s broadcast of Night Shift on Phoenix 90 FM, I had the pleasure of chatting with Nashville based singer songwriter Camryn Gardner about music, home, heartbreak and the slightly inconvenient fact that chasing your dreams can sometimes mean putting a few thousand miles between you and the people who gave you the courage to chase them in the first place.

We spoke about two of Camryn’s recent releases, “Keep Carolina” and “Missin’ Much (Tory’s Song)”, and the very real stories sitting underneath both. The conversation took us through family, grief, moving away from home and those people who love you enough to say go, even when part of them would probably quite like you to stay. There is something beautifully bittersweet in that, and Camryn has a real gift for turning those complicated feelings into songs that somehow make missing home feel a little less lonely.

If you missed last Thursday’s broadcast, now is your chance to catch up. It is one of those conversations that starts with music and quietly wanders somewhere much bigger, into what home really means, the people we carry with us and the strange truth that sometimes you have to travel a very long way to realise just how close home still is.

On last Thursday’s broadcast of Night Shift on Phoenix 90 FM, I had the pleasure of chatting with Nashville based singer songwriter Camryn Gardner about music, home, heartbreak and the slightly inconvenient fact that chasing your dreams can sometimes mean putting a few thousand miles between you a...

12/08/2026

There’s something in the Carolina air… 👀

And it’s making its way onto The Nightshift. 🌙

I’m so excited to welcome South Carolina singer-songwriter as my next special guest!

We’ll be chatting all things music, South Carolina and her two latest singles, “Keep Carolina” and “Missin’ Much (Tory’s Song).”

Carolina after dark? You know where to find us. 🤠