A brand new digital-only radio station called The Buckle will be launched by the Fairfax Radio Network at noon next Tuesday December 22. The station will initially be heard in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
The Buckle will be a modern contemporary country music format, created specifically for capital city listeners. While many of today’s country music artists are amongst the biggest selling and most successful performers in the world, their music has been all but ignored by the major music stations in Australia, according to Program Director Gary Hoffman.
“Keith Urban may be a superstar in the U.S. with millions of albums sold, but he is best known by most people in his home country, as the bloke who married Nicole Kidman… Something needs to change, and The Buckle will change it!”
Hoffman says Fairfax Radio is excited to at last be able offer capital city listeners a non-stop selection of the best that contemporary country music has to offer.
“But we are also aware that many people will have never heard the majority of the artists The Buckle will play. With this in mind, the playlist has been carefully crafted to appeal to non-country music fans as well.
“I wanted to create a format that country music fans would love, but also one that someone who had never listened to country could turn on and say, I have no idea who that is, but what a great song.”
Hoffman stresses that The Buckle is a contemporary country format; listeners won’t be hearing the likes of Slim Dusty, John Williamson, or oldies like Patsy Cline.
“Slim’s contribution to Australian country music can never be devalued or underestimated, and Williamson is a terrific performer, but over the years country, like most other forms of popular music, has developed a range of styles of which contemporary country is just one (albeit the most popular by far), and that is what listeners will be hearing on The Buckle, Great Country Music.”
A rival country music station, owned by 6IX, launched last month in Perth, but is not heard in other capital cities.