Radio X's head of music Mike Walsh has said fast-rising Scottish singer/songwriter Gerry Cinnamon has emerged as a key artist for the station.
The channel has been a longtime supporter of the independent star, since Cinnamon's fellow Scot Gordon Smart played Belter on his Evening Show for the first time in late 2017.
Cinnamon, whose Little Runaway Records goes through AWAL, played two sold out shows for club night This Feeling the following spring, then a breakout set at Trnsmt in his native Glasgow that summer.
"It was around this time that we decided to put Gerry’s song, Sometimes, straight into high rotation," Walsh told Music Week in an interview inside this week's issue. "It instantly connected with our listeners, both fans who had been following him for a while and the large new audience that we were introducing him to. It’s not often that we see so much interaction that is a mix of 'I’ve been a fan for ages' and 'Who is this guy? Thanks for the tip'.
Gerry has firmly become part of the Radio X musical DNA
Mike Walsh
Radio X
"Gerry has firmly become part of the Radio X musical DNA. We like being on the right artists from the start, going in with early heavy rotation and being part of creating a bigger story. We’ve done it a lot over the years with the likes of Courteeners, Catfish, Royal Blood, and Blossoms to name a few. Gerry reminded us a lot of our 10-year relationship with Courteeners – a band who have been playing sold-out arenas and stadiums for several years now."
Cinnamon has just one studio album to his name - 2017's self-released Erratic Cinematic - and heads out on his biggest UK tour to date in November, including headline dates at O2 Academy Brixton and several arenas.
"We are now three songs in on our journey with Gerry and our audience’s appetite for him shows no sign of waning – something that mirrors the huge amount of tickets he continues to sell," said Walsh, who was keen to credit Smart's role in Cinnamon's rise.
"Gordon Smart, who hosts the Radio X Evening Show, first discovered Gerry through the Scottish music scene and the This Feeling indie club chain, and has been a very vocal supporter from the start," he said. "We are looking forward to what Gerry brings us next and seeing just far he can go with the support of Radio X and his growing audience."
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