The latest entrant in the ongoing 20th anniversary promotion – “The GRTR! Grotto of Greatness” – is progmeister guitarist Steve Hackett.

Hackett’s refashioning of classic Genesis seventies material coincides with the development of the website Get Ready to ROCK! (www.getreadytorock.com) and his progress has been charted via album and gig reviews and interviews.

Managing Editor David Randall has interviewed Steve several times for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio. “Steve is a real gentleman and always ready with a full answer to any questions. I was never a big fan of Genesis’ seventies music but the truth is Steve has reimagined the songs, always with a crack band, and brought something extra which often makes them sound contemporary and very relevant.

I did follow Steve’s solo output, off and on over the years, but when the radio station started in 2008 we quickly had to catch up in terms of adding his music to our playlists. I turned to long time fan and now our prog rock editor Alan Jones and temporarily relieved him of his complete collection for this purpose.”

Together we put together an overview about his music as part of our Lockdown promotion “2020 Vision”.

Alan Jones comments: “Since he became ‘The Keeper of the Flame’ of the Genesis back-catalogue with both the gigs and subsequent recordings, his audiences have grown exponentially, which is great, so long as people can see the bigger picture and take the time to further investigate Hackett’s solo work – they have nearly thirty albums to choose from.

What they will find is the irrefutable truth that Steve Hackett, insofar as progressive rock is concerned, is the pre-eminent guitarist of his generation and who, hopefully, will be an inspiration to the next – no drugs, no playing it with his teeth, no amp wrecking – just pure, unadulterated talent.”

David Randall adds: “The beauty of the featured artists in the “Grotto” series is that they reflect the interests and activity of many of our review team over an extended period. It might not always be healthy to have similar interests and passions but we’ve achieved a great consensus of consistency with the choice of artists. This is reflected in the major artist retrospective where we bring together our coverage over a two decade period.”

The Steve Hackett retrospective is published 1 September.

September also sees the release of a new live album recorded during 2022.

Steve Hackett has recently completed a South American tour. He will be touring in the USA in October/November.

Feature

EDITOR NOTE

The equivalent of the “Hall of Fame” the Grotto honours selected artists who have been covered consistently at rock website Get Ready to ROCK! over a period of 20 years. The promotion is part of the website’s 20th anniversary celebrations and will feature a different artist or band each month in 2023.

The GRTR!@20 promotion celebrates 20 years of the popular rock website Get Ready to ROCK! The website’s archive of reviews and interviews will be highlighted as well as new features celebrating 20 years of activity.

So far this year “The Grotto” has welcomed The Darkness (January), Chantel McGregor (February) , Eleanor McEvoy (March), Joe Bonamassa (April), Walter Trout (May), FM (June 2023), Marillion (July 2023), and Cats In Space (August 2023).

---

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

---

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

---

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)

---

---

Popular (last 10 days)

---