Bexhill country music radio station wins prestigious award

Nashville Worldwide won the award at The International Singer Songwriter Association on August 6.

The station was started by Chad Jackson, host of the Chad J Country Show, in 2021.

Mr Jackson, 51, said: "Winning the award is a huge boost to the station’s credibility, reputation and hopefully listeners. The category was tightly contested with radio stations of all genres and from all over the world, excluding the USA.

"We have only been running for thirteen months so the recognition is a firm confirmation that we are on the right track. Our ethos is to take radio back to days gone by where DJs play the music they love and not the same songs over and over again.

"Our DJs, ranging from younger people to people in their 80s, all have very different taste in country and the shows are all very different. I actively encourage this as it means their passion shines through. The one thing that we all have in common is our love of country music."

Nashville Worldwide is based and run from Mr Jackson’s home in Bexhill, though the station’s DJ come from across the world.

He added: “Bexhill is where I live so it was the obvious location to host the station. With the advent of the internet and streaming services though, radio can be based pretty much anywhere that there is a stable, fast internet connection. We have done outside broadcasts live from festivals and even from the middle of the New Forest.

"The station has its registered address in Bexhill, and obviously I run the hub from there, but our DJs are located all over the UK and we even have a couple in Australia. We feel that a dedicated studio is unnecessary as it would limit the available pool of DJs we can pull from and would increase our carbon footprint.

"We are lucky to have the De La Warr Pavilion here. It has hosted a few country acts there, Ward Thomas with the Wandering Hearts, Beth Nielsen Chapman, and Marty Stewart are all due to play this year.”

Please visit the Nashville Worldwide website for more information on how to tune-in.