First Aid Kit: Emmylou's tears and a big thank you to my favourite DJ

Tim Woods

Being a radio DJ doesn’t appear to be an especially demanding occupation. Play a record, chat for a bit. Play a couple more, then hand over to whoever’s reading out the weather. Nothing too taxing about that. But the very best of them, the true masters of their craft, do something much more valuable: they introduce us to the music we might otherwise never have heard. For the generation before mine, John Peel was the doyen of the airwaves. For me, and doubtless many others who grew up in the 1990s, our guide was a man who was once Peel’s session producer.

It would be a little disconcerting to tot up all the hours I’ve spent listening to Mark Radcliffe. The staple during my student days in Sheffield was his BBC Radio 1 lunchtime show with Mark Riley; his switch to the late-evening stint on Radio 2 coincided with my own move to Brighton. And I have remained a loyal listener ever since, tuning in each weekend for his 6Music partnership with Stuart Maconie.

The list of bands and artists I have first heard just after they were introduced in his cheerful, appreciative tones is both long and diverse. There’s Little Jackie, whose The World Should Revolve Around Me is a delicious helping of sharp observations and witty affirmation; it’s also a song I’ve never heard on any other radio show. The same applies to Save It For Someone Who Cares, a similarly glorious lyrical offering – the only song I know that includes the word ‘genuflect’ – by The Leisure Society, another band I discovered upon his recommendation.

Nor is it just the first plays of previously unknown artists to which I owe Radcliffe a debt. His enthusiasm for particular albums from before my record-buying time – Bowie’s The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust, Marquee Moon by Television, anything by Kate Bush – pushed me to delve into those artists’ back catalogues. And my longstanding affection for Cara Dillon’s music was hatched by her live session on his Radio 2 evening show, playing songs from her sublime After The Morning album. His Wednesday night slot on the same station continues to provide fresh inspiration from folk’s ever-changing playlist.

It was while listening to one of his shows that I first heard Emmylou by First Aid Kit. I remember this because it was one of those sit-up-and-listen moments, when the radio shifts from being a backdrop to the passing day and becomes its focus. Who is this singing? Where did this song come from? And (this being just before Spotify’s global dominance) how do I get to hear it again?

The answer was a trip to one of Brighton’s record stores the following morning, which confirmed my initial assessment: that the song is as close to perfection as any young songwriters could hope for. The drifting, dreamy intro meanders promisingly before the two Swedish sisters, Klara and Johanna Söderberg, share the vocal duties with their clear, confident harmonies.

According to the sisters, the song is about the joy of singing with someone you love, and it name-checks two of music’s most famous partnerships. Only the first names are given, but these are enough for any self-respecting music lover to make the connection. Johnny and June form one duo, with Gram and the eponymous Emmylou comprising the other. This easy familiarity creates an immediate sense of shared affection: we all know who they’re singing about, no need for formal introductions. This is a mutual appreciation society of four members of country music royalty:

I’ll be your Emmylou and I’ll be your June 


If you’ll be my Gram and my Johnny too


No, I’m not asking much of you


Just sing, little darling, sing with me

There’s plenty more wordplay to enjoy in the song, the duo having inherited that enviable Scandinavian habit of delivering up lyrical excellence in a foreign language. But mostly, it’s a fitting tribute to the country traditions that the sisters grew up listening to: put a simple story to a sublime tune and go from there. This combination was enough to bring tears to the eyes of its main subject, Emmylou Harris, when she witnessed it live in 2015. To hear a song this joyous, written about you, being sung for you… well, who wouldn’t well up a little? Cash, Carter and Parsons would have too.

As with any new musical discovery, it’s been a pleasure to follow their career over the years and listen to where the music takes them. Emmylou appeared on their second studio album, The Lion’s Roar, in 2012. They released their fifth album, Palomino, in late 2022, on which the title track is, for me, the standout; this website (another trusted source of musical recommendations and diversions) opted for Wild Horses II. And, going much further back, their teenage cover of Tiger Mountain Peasant Song by Fleet Foxes is the song that first brought them to the attention of those who knew about YouTube back in 2008. The rest of us had to wait four more years, when Emmylou brought them fame of a more traditional sort: their song being played on the wireless.

Music these days can be found in many different places and even I have finally caught up with the undeniable benefits of instant access that YouTube and Spotify can offer. But beyond that, they’re useless: they can only ever suggest I play more of whoever I listened to the week before.

In this age of unimaginative algorithms, a good DJ is even more valuable than before. And that initial introduction to the Söderberg sisters was, like many others, made by the DJ who has pointed me towards so many of the songs I love today. So, to borrow from another Swedish band, thank you for the music: both First Aid Kit and Mark Radcliffe.

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