A new radio station dedicated to supporting unsigned artists as well as offering community opportunities is set to launch across Scotland.

Chief Radio, which will broadcast online from August 27th, is looking to provide openings to people within the community which wouldn’t usually be readily available.

Its founders also aim to provide a chance of exposure to unsigned artists, as well as playing more Scottish music, and offer experience to individuals who want to work on or run their own radio shows.

The idea for Chief Radio began in May 2020, when founder Kirsty Baird released a single ‘Follow the Rainbows’ under the name Hanley and the Baird.

Despite the song going straight into the Scottish charts at #3, and at 27 in the UK Download Charts, commercial radio stations were unhelpful, their playlists containing mainly established artists and songs – at which point, Baird identified both a need for a more level playing field for unsigned artists and more choice for listeners.

Also Musical Director of Sing in the City – home to 18 choirs across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife – Baird cites the record’s success as being helped by, as well as the band’s fanbase, community radio stations across the country – leading to the foundation of Chief Radio to build a network amongst unsigned artists, aiming to create a platform for sharing industry specialists and give them airtime.

The station also want to help people within their community, and has already given away five Amazon Alexa devices to care homes within Scotland, so that they could have access to radio shows – especially the Rock the Care Home show on Sunday mornings between 10 and 12.

Also on the schedule is an ‘Aw Scots Show’, and the station will broadcast the Top 20 official Scottish chart – i.e. songs bought in Scotland and not the UK chart.

Anyone interested in volunteering, presenting, sponsoring or advertising the station, or putting their music forward, can email: [email protected].

The station can be found on My Tuner, the Simple Radio App and on Alexa speakers, as well as the live stream at www.chiefradio.com.