With an ever-expanding roster here at Phluid Records, we are always adding new shows and presenters to our broadcast schedule – it seems we’re the place to be for homegrown Radio and TV talent in the region.

Whether it be young rising stars like Juno Records chart-topper Jona D with his True Hard House show, or more experienced veterans of the airwaves such as Al Roberts whose weekly “Tunes From The Man Cave” has been topping Mixcloud’s radio charts all over the shop since touching down on Phluid FM in August.

 Already powering into its second season, “The Man Cave” echoes out exciting eclectic sounds of Americana, Blues, Bluegrass, Southern Soul, Creole Jazz, Classic Rock, Early Punk, Ska & Reggae plus a healthy spattering of everything in-between… all emanating from Al’s incredibly vast record collection adorning the rocky walls of the cave.  Ever the smooth, sultry voiced gentleman, Al’s always got a fantastic array of stories and background to the music, garnered over a lifetime of research into his passion for music and wildly varying musical tastes – somewhat aided, we’re sure, by his time running a record store.  We thought we would hand over the remainder of this column to Al so that he might better introduce himself to you, our wonderful Cornish Times readers, so without further ado it’s over to Al.

 “I was brought up on Abovetown Farm in the 1960s by a Cornish mother and a Scottish father with one of my earliest memories being that of sitting on the floor of a hairdressers in Liskeard waiting while my mum had her hair done, staring at the hair dryers and listening to Girl Don’t Come by Sandie Shaw playing on the transistor radio.

There have been three constants in my life rugby, football, and music. In my youth I spent inordinate amounts of time and money in Saffron Records, St Austell and Cahoots, Lower Lux Street Liskeard.  Though I have lost count of the number of gigs - both Iarge and small - that I have been to over the years, it is likely fair to say that I was rarely out of the Cornish Coliseum back in the day.

Schooled at Fowey Secondary Modern, St Austell 6th Form College and Westminster College Oxford, my working life has covered being a Learning Support Lecturer at Mid Cornwall College of Education, St Austell and the Royal Forest of Dean College, Cinderford, divided by a two year stint in Zambia for VSO where I also played two seasons for Kabwe Rugby Club and worked at Kabwe Trades Training Institute as a lecturer.

In 1995 I took a voluntary redundancy deal, using it as an opportunity to set up ‘Roberts Records’ through which I bought and sold vinyl records all over the United Kingdom until 2005.  Unfortunately, when the internet effect hit, sales plummeted and I was forced to close it down, following which I moved to Lanson and joined The Royal Mail where I have since been and still am the town’s only solitary postie.

Armed with a broad, varied collection of music, I devised Tunes From The Man Cave in 2013 and the show originally went out on Radio St Austell Bay until they were taken over by Chaos Radio, when the show was dropped from their schedule.  I am very happy to say that the show has been picked up by PhluidFM, where I have the freedom to play songs from across the genres and decades that float my boat.”

Catch Tunes From The Man Cave, Tuesdays 7-9pm GMT on Phluid FM.

http://fm.phluidrecords.co.uk