Edinburgh Napier student radio station bringing Jazz and Blues to airwaves

The Radio ENRG team who will broadcast from the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival (Photo: Edinburgh Napier University)

Edinburgh Napier’s student radio station, Radio ENRG, will be broadcasting live from the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues festival as part of a new venture.

The student-led project will last the entirety of the festival, from today (Friday 12 July) until Sunday 21 July.

Broadcasting live from the festival hub at Teviot House on Bristo Square, the radio station will be on the airwaves from 2pm until at least 8pm every day between July 12 and 14, and 18 to 21.

The project is being led by the journalism lecturer and regular show presented Allan Boughey.

He will run the project alongside student station manager Iain Leggat, who will begin the final year of his undergraduate course in September.

Mr Boughey and around ten students will broadcast live from public locations, with teh shows forming part of the festival’s wider entertainment offering.

It will also go out live on the station itself.

The shows will focus on the wide range of diverse musicians taking part from world-renowned Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek to TV music personality Jools Holland, host of the annual New Year hootenanny.

However the shows will also give a major emphasis on the burgeoning young Scottish jazz scene, with rising stars of the Scottish scene like Fergus McCreadie, Graham Costello and Joe Williamson due to be interviewed.

There will also be tons of great music and the output will also take in more talk-based, issues-style content.

Mr Boughey said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for the students to get out of our Merchiston-based radio studio and into public environments.

“To be part of a major international event such as this is a real privilege and presents the students with a chance to practice skills and learn loads of new things. We’re indebted to the festival for involving us like this.”

Along with the live broadcasts, the sister ENRG Music and Arts website will be updated on a regular basis while the associated social media pages will be highly active.

Radio ENRG was set up in 2014 by students and staff at the university, and is the second student radio station in the city after the University of Edinburgh’s FreshAir.org.uk, set up more than 25 years ago.