Jim Lawson

Born back in the mists of time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth…well, the year that Sir Edmund Hilary climbed Mt Everest, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and when Watson and Crick unravelled the structure of DNA, The Ancient One truly lives up to his name. After spending 33 years in teaching, the last 25 as Head of Biology, I successfully applied for early retirement (2008) and moved lock and stock (I didn’t possess any barrels at the time) to the beautiful Isle of Skye, off the west coast of Scotland, to join my partner, The Landlady. (now known as Mrs Ancient One) As a retired person, I looked around the various voluntary openings that existed and one led me to the local radio station, Cuillin FM. I thought I might be able to help out sorting cds or something. Within a couple of weeks I was asked if I wanted to present a program and trained up as soon as I said “Yes”. Launched onto the airwaves was the show “Strangely Strange but Oddly Normal” and I was able to foist some of my shedload of music onto an unsuspecting public. From mainstream rock/folkrock the contents slowly evolved to full blown progressive rock with leanings towards the symphonic melodic areas. The title of the show also changed to “Strangely Strange and The Ancient One”, which initially confused listeners as they expected 2 presenters, and thus the show title was shortened to simply “The Ancient One”. The show has appeared onCuillin FM,North Highland Radio, Pipeline Radio International and. More Music Radio The Ancient One show on Progzilla Radio is a 3hr show going out fortnightly, (every Tuesday night at 21:00 UK) highlighting the best in progressive music, so expect lots of modern progressive music, but with the odd excursion back in time to the classic works of the late 60’s/early 70’s, all showing a more symphonic nature. Every 2nd Saturday at midday UK, there is the chance to hear an Ancient One Archive Show from 7 years ago, and every 5th Sunday between the hours of midnight and 02:00 UK, The Ancient One presents 101 Dimensions a show featuring ambient, electronica, krautrock and more with no mic work.

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‘Podcast: The Ancient One – Show No 124’

December 28, 2019

The Ancient One is very pleased to say that Show No 124 is now available as a podcast. This show is one of the “Mixed Bag” series and features tracks from non-UK bands. B

” Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 122″

November 24, 2019

The Ancient One is pleased to let everyone know that Show No 122 “Featuring Vol 9 Comedy Of Errors” is now available as a podcast. As well as highlighting 2 tracks from each of the 4 album releases from the band, Disobey, Fanfare and Fantasy, Spirit and House of the Mind, there will be music […]

” Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 121″

November 10, 2019

The Ancient One is pleased to say that Show No 121 “Short Stories Vol 6” is now online as a podcast. This is one of the series of shows that deals with shorter examples of progressive music. Hear 33 superb examples of the genre. Playlist 1 Greenslade – Spirit Of The Dance (Excerpt used as […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 120”

October 28, 2019

I am pleased to inform the 1000’s of avid Progzilla Radio listeners, that Show No 120 from The Ancient One is now available as a podcast. This is one of the series entitled “Tall Tales” and is a long track show. This is Vol 7 in the series. Playlist 1 The Nice – Brandenburger (excerpt […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 118”

September 29, 2019

The Ancient One is again pleased to let everyone know that Show No 118 “The Concept Show Vol 6” is now available as a podcast. This show has 6 sections from concept albums, both old and new. Enjoy music from Ukraine, Germany, USA and UK. Playlist 1 The Nice – Brandenburger (Excerpt used as Intro […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 117”

September 14, 2019

The Ancient One is very pleased to inform everyone that the latest show, No 117, “Mixed Bag Vol 9” is now available as a podcast on the website. This is one of the shows where “anything goes”. Playlist 1 The Nice – Brandenburger (Excert used as Intro from the 3cd Boxset The Immediate Story) 2 […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 116”

September 1, 2019

The Ancient One is very pleased to tell everyone that Show No 116, “The German Special Vol 2”, is now available as a podcast. This is one of the series of shows which highlights the Progressive music of a particular country. Over the 3 hours hear 12 stunning examples of said genre, both old and […]

” Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 115″

August 17, 2019

On a rather wet afternoon on Skye, I thought I would take the opportunity to upload the podcast for The Ancient One Show No 115 ” Mixed Bag Vol 8″. 12 tracks of superb music from Canada, USA, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Italy and UK. Playlist. 1 The Nice – Brandenburger (excerpt used as Intro from […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 114”

August 4, 2019

The Ancient One is again happy to state that the internet problems that surrounded the podcast for Show 113 have been overcome and the podcast for Show 114 Tall Tales Vol 6, is now available online. This is another in the series of long tracks. The Pic was taken from Eyrie Studio Portree this morning, […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 113”

July 31, 2019

TAO is very happy that after serious internet problems, the podcast for Show No 113 is finally available up online. This is Short Stories Vol 5 and contains 38 tracks between 2 and 6 min in length. Playlist 1 The Nice – Brandenburger (excerpt used as Intro taken from The Immediate Story a 3cd box […]