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 – Edition 112”

July 7, 2019

The Ancient One is delighted to say that Show No 112 is now available as a podcast. This is “The Karisma Records Show” where some of the artists that are releasing music via the Norwegian (mainly) progressive label are featured. There are 17 superb tracks contained within the 3 hour journey. Playlist 1 The Nice […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 111”

June 23, 2019

The Ancient One has great pleasure in announcing the birth of the podcast of Show No 111 “The Concept Show Volume 5” Hear music from Mike Oldfield, The Minstrel’s Ghost, Hibernal, Rick Wakeman and Karfagen. Large “chunks” of concept albums old and new. Playlist 1 The Nice – Brandenburger (excerpt used as the Intro from […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 110”

June 9, 2019

The Ancient One is delighted to let people know that Show No 110 “Mixed Bag Vol 7” is now available as a podcast. This is one of the series of shows where “anything goes”. This show also has a competition for two lucky listeners to be in with a chance of winning a copy of […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 109”

May 26, 2019

The Ancient One is very happy to announce that Show No 109 (“Featuring Vol 7”) is now available as a podcast. This show features 3 classic (and even classy) bands who set out on the road to fame and fortune in the 60’s. They are Pink Floyd, Yes and Genesis. Cheers. Playlist 1 The Nice […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 108”

May 18, 2019

The Ancient One is delighted to have “caught up” with the missing podcasts. Show No 108 “Tall Tales Vol 5” is now online as TAO’s latest podcast. This is the show featuring the long tracks, 8, in the 3 hours. Enjoy the journey. Playlist 1 The Nice – Brandenburger (excerpt used as the intro taken […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Show No 107”

May 18, 2019

The Ancient One is delighted to post that the podcast for Show No 107 “Mixed Bag Vol 6” is now available for your listening pleasure. This is a selection of tracks (23) covering the genre “good music”, well in my humble opinion. Playlist 1 The Nice – Brandenburger (excerpt used as the Intro from the […]

“Podcast:The Ancient One – Edition 106”

April 14, 2019

TAO is again delighted to say that the podcast for Show No 106 ” The Concept Show Vol 4″ is now available. This is the series of shows that highlight a section of music from a concept album. Music from Sweden, Ukraine, Norway, Australia and the UK. Playlist 1 The Nice – Brandenburger excerpt as […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 105”

March 31, 2019

The Ancient One is delighted to announce that the podcast for Show No 105 is now available. This is one of the “Featuring…” series and is Vol 6, which features the Norwegian band, Fatal Fusion. The pic is the view this morning (31st March 2019) out of the Eyrie Studio window. Beautiful reflections in the […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 104”

March 17, 2019

Playlist 1 The Nice – Brandenburger (Intro) (The Immediate Collection 3cd Boxset) 2 Sketch – Oidhche Boogie (Shed Life 2012) 3 Great White – Congo Square (Hooked 1991) 4 The Wonder Stuff – Welcome To The Cheap Seats. (single Welcome To The Cheap Seats 1992) 5 World Party Message In A Box. ( Goodbye Jumbo […]

“Podcast: The Ancient One – Edition 103”

March 3, 2019

Extremely happy to announce that Show No 103 from The Ancient One, “Tall Tales Vol 4 plus The Competition” is now available as a podcast. Not only that, but the closing date for the competition is 05/03/19 so you have a couple of days to get your entry in. Question and how to enter during […]