Xan Phillips presents Showcase UK

Jazica love their synths, their guitar, drums and best of all they love writing great pop songs. The people love Jazica too and have so far voted them into the final six of the “Road To V”. If they win that they will not only open the V Festival in front of thousands of music lovers but they will also be the second Southampton act in a row to win the competition. Last year 'The Rebs' triumphed; will 2009 be Jazica's year? This feature was recorded at The Joiners in Southampton before Jazica headlined a shortly arranged gig. You'll hear from all of the band: (L2R) Chris on guitar and sythns, Kev on drums, Frankie on vocals and guitar & Nick on bass. The conversation is interspersed with a smattering of music from their excellent mini-album 'Illusions' whiuhc veres from tracks you would put in commercials to songs that fill the darkest club. They were great live. Slick and energetic. A real treat and hopefully the act that wins because they need a bigger stage. If you haven't voted yet place your 'X' here: http://roadtov.com/artists/jazica/ http://www.myspace.com/jazicamusic

Formed around the duo of Pete Hobbs (music) and singer Jof Owen (left) 'The Boy Least Likely To' released their debut album in 2005 and found more success in the Sates than the UK The follow up “the law of the playground” was held back for two years due to legal reasons and its only now that they’re able to promote it. On their UK tour they played an excellent gig at the Joiners in Southampton and afterwards singer Jof spoke to us about their songs, America and all that legal stuff. In this podcast you'll hear clips from three tracks off the album. The picture of Jof was taken by Justin Parry www.justinparryphotography.co.uk

There are many reasons why classical guitarist Richard Durrant stands out from his fellow musicians. He not only plays beautifully on the guitar and various other instruments but does it barefoot. He is also willing to experiment in the studio and thanks to his own label Longman Records is able to give other acoustic musicians a place to flourish. At the beginning of 2009 Richard's label released Terry Emm's debut album "White Butterflies". Terry is a young singer/songwriter from Leighton Buzzard and his first album is getting rave reviews from respected places like Maverick magazine. The album launch was at the Airport Club, a monthly night hosted by Richard Durrant, at the Ropetackle Arts Centre in Shoreham. In the photo above you can Terry (centre) Richard Durrant (right) and on the left Mark Allen. After the show Xan Phillips interviewed both Terry and Richard about the album, the label and the Airport Club. This podcast also features clips from their excellent albums.

American poet Stephen Kalinich (left) had a great 2008. Not only did he release a brand new album "Galactic Symphonies" with classical guitarist Richard Durrant but he also saw two collaborations with Beach Boys from the 60's released. One was "Pacific Ocean Blue" by Dennis Wilson and the other "A World of Peace Must Come" with Brian Wilson, the latter lying dormant for 40 years. This podcast features an interview with Stephen Kalinich, clips from the albums, Richard Durrant and Cal Gibson, a dance producer working with Stephen on his next project for early 2009.