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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The Ancient One Show No 223.

October 6, 2023

The latest show from The Ancient One, broadcast on 03/10/23 at 21:00 is now available as a podcast. This is one of the Mixed Bag series of shows and features newer music that I haven’t put into a playlist so far. Playlist. 1 Focus – Hocus Pocus (used as Intro). 2 Tusmorke – Cycle Of […]

101 Dimensions 240923 Jim 5

September 28, 2023

curated by The Ancient One 101 Dimensions (24/09/23), the 5th show curated by The Ancient One is now available as a podcast. Playlist 1 Can – Vitamin C (UNCLE Mix) 2 Tangerine Dream – Tangram (Set 1) 3 Vangelis – The Tao Of Love 4 Holger Czukay – Fragrance 5 Ali Ferguson – The Catacombs […]

The Ancient One Show No 222

September 21, 2023

The podcast for The Ancient One Show No 222. One of the “Thru The Past Darkly” series, features older classic bands and this show features 3 tracks from the bands. There are 13 artists fitting into this feature with the last 2 tracks of the show a very small tribute to Bruce Guthro (the voice […]

The Ancient One Show No 221

September 7, 2023

The Ancient One Show No 221 is now available as a podcast. Show broadcast on 5th September. This is one of the ” 2 from 6″ shows. 6 bands, 1 album from the back catalogue and 2 tracks from the album. Playlist. 1 Focus – Hocus Pocus (used as Intro) 2 Moon Safari – Dance […]

101 Dimensions 200823 Jim 4

August 28, 2023

The 4th show in the 101 Dimensions series curated by The Ancient One is now available as a podcast. Playlist 1 Ashra – Lotus Pt 1-4. 2 Tangerine Dream – Poland. 3 Breidablik – Omicron Pt 2 4 Ali Ferguson – The Contemplative Power Of Water Pt 1-3. 5 Orchestre Celesti – Transition Of Power. […]

101 Dimensions 160723 Jim 3

August 28, 2023

The 3rd show in the 101 Dimensions series curated by The Ancient One is now available as a podcast. Playlist 1 Neu – Fuer Immer. 2 Ulrich Schnauss – Knuddlemaus. 3 Lemon Jelly – His Majesty, King Raam. 4 Ashra – Nightdust. 5 FSOL – Cascade. 6 Klaus Schulze/Pete Namlook – Set The Controls For […]

The Ancient One Show No 220

August 27, 2023

The podcast for the latest show from The Ancient One (Show No 220) is now available. Playlist 1 Focus – Hocus Pocus (used as Intro). 2 Black Mountain – Space To Bakersfield. 3 Jordsjo – Sankeren. 4 Superdrama – The Promise. 5 Unitopia – Mania. 6 Fatal Fusion – Shadow Of The King. 7 Southern […]

The Ancient One Show No 219

August 9, 2023

The Ancient One Show No 219, one of the Mixed Bag series, is now available as a podcast. Featuring music from Norway, Germany, Sweden, France. Ukraine, Poland, Italy, UK and one band classed a multi-national. Playlist. 1 La Torre Dell’Alchimista – Resviglio (excerpt used as Intro) 2 Edison’s Children – The Surge (The Disturbance Fields […]

The Ancient One Show No 218

July 29, 2023

The Ancient One Show No 218, “2 From 6 Vol 5” is now available as a podcast. This features 6 bands, 1 of their back catelogue releases and 2 tracks from that album. Music from Belgium, Germany, the UK and multinational. Playlist. 1 La Torre Dell’Alchimista – Risveglio (excerpt used as Intro) 2 Anderson/Stolt – […]

The Ancient One Show No 217

July 27, 2023

  The podcast for The Ancient One Show No 217 is now available. This is one of the “Short Story” series of shows which highlight the shorter tracks. Playlist 1 Greenslade – Spirit Of The Dance (excerpt used as Intro) 2 Focus – Focus (vocal) 3 PFM – Freedom Square 4 Fruupp – The Seventh […]