The Curve Ball is so called because its main aim is to surprise the listener – hopefully in a pleasant way. I launched the show in 2006 after becoming increasingly miffed by the sheer quantity of wonderful music I was hearing – and buying – that was never, ever played on the radio. (And, for the most part, still isn’t). Music that simply didn’t toe the lines of commercial categories – it wasn’t rock, pop, electronica, folk, jazz, classical or experimental. And this didn’t happen because these musicians wanted to throw in a bit of everything in the hope of appealing to everybody. It happened because certain kinds of musicians just can’t help themselves: the music that pours out of them simply doesn’t fit into convenient marketing categories. Or, to coin a phrase, such music cannot, and will not, be put in a box.

So if music all sounds a bit predictable to you these days, lend an ear to The Curve Ball. The show has listeners all around the world, all of whom enjoy taking a break from the same-old-same-old, discovering exciting and often beautiful music that would otherwise remain a closely-guarded secret . . .