Shades of The Blues

Shades of the Blues is presented by John Banks and is the longest running blues and classic soul show in the West.

John has been presenting in Gloucestershire, Swindon and Bristol for over 20 years.

The show is built on a mix of 90 years of blues tracks from 1929 to date, current blues and blues influenced releases and an abundance of classic soul and R&B. 

New releases (including re-releases) make up a large part of the playlist and are featured for several weeks.

John has a deep experience of the music and provides listeners with historical information about the music, insights into the characters and lives of the performers. and anecdotes of interviews with many of these great artists.

Updates of local gigs and UK tours are presented regularly and new books about the blues and soul are featured as they are published.

John has produced a number of shows highlighting the contribution that individual US cities made to the genre and more recently a series of 10 shows have been broadcast that follow the progression of soul music in its golden decade from 1962 to 1971.

John is passionate about the music and encourages listeners to look for the music and to find out more about its rich heritage.