Mark Bilsby / Presenter

My Interest in Radio came when I was in my teens and recording The charts on my cassette recorder and trying to cut out the very thing I wanted to be, the DJ. I was already going around towns locally being the mobile DJ with my Father as roadie and so radio seemed the natural progression.

I joined Radio Enfield in my hometown and did a couple of years presenting as ‘Pilot of the Airwaves’ thanks to Chalie Dore and gathering requests. I happened to mention once at a meeting why no one ever went to get requests from another hospital in North London and the answer they couldn’t be bothered to set up a radio station there. So I did.

In 1984 Radio North Mid was born RNM which was a lot better than North Mid Radio which would have made it NMR. Not three letters to be said in a hospital. Our patron was the late, great broadcaster Adrian Love. He managed to get me to do a demo interview with Roger Bowman on Radio two. But I was told I was too manic. So radio took a back shelf as I had a young family and so I became a secondary school teacher. A different audience, but an audience never the less.

It wasn’t until some years later that I re-kindle my interest in radio at Wey Valley in Alton, a 90 minute drive every Saturday morning. But worth every bot of petrol. Loved the show and the interaction with the audience. Friendly banter on a Saturday morning nothing was going to spoil this. But alas it closed down. But before it did I joined Country Music Radio as their studio was next to ours at Wey Valley. Then it moved to Grays end road and so I travelled on the Northern to do the show ‘Big Kids Country’ which was mayhem with the occasional country song thrown in. It was a lot to produce but such fun to do. Country music was becoming a part of me.

I did this for awhile and then went back to teaching more and radio less. Then the Government allowed local radio to become big and so I got involved in Radio Verulam where I lived in St Albans.
I moved from there and went to Chiltern Voice in Chesham.

By now I had re-married and became involved in musical theatre which opened opportunities to present a musicals show as well as act on stage in regular productions from musicals, pantos and straight plays.

Then came the opportunity to present a country show on Black Cat Radio. Love the genre and I love what the station stands for. So her I am. Monday nights between 10pm and 12 midnight. Friendly banter and music from new country to golden classics. The programme is developing over the next few months and I look forward to hearing from you with suggestions and what you would like to see and conversing with you every Monday night. Also perhaps getting around the catchment area and visiting a few country music events. So let me know.