MELBOURNE'S newest radio station plays country music only - but don't let that put you off.
''When you say 'country', people think of Slim Dusty and Patsy Cline,'' says Gary Hoffman, manager of the new digital-only station, Buckle. ''I don't want to denigrate those artists but I need to stress that they're not what we're about.''
That means no my-wife-left-me-and-my-dog-died songs most people associate with the genre. Rather, Buckle airs contemporary country performers such as Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood.
''We're playing artists that are huge in America but have virtually no airplay in Australia,'' says Hoffman, who also manages AM music station Magic. ''Kenny Chesney, for example, has sold a million concert tickets a year in the States for the past eight years - but he'd have trouble getting arrested here.
''And Keith Urban is a superstar in America for Christ's sake but he hardly gets played outside the provincial markets in Australia.
''Back in the '90s, the Fox FMs of this world were saying: 'People don't listen to country music so we can't play it.' Then Shania Twain popped up and they were forced to play it and it was huge.''
Like most digital-only stations, Buckle has a tiny budget, which explains why it has no hosts or talk-based programs.
''It's not one of those things we're investing massive time and resources in,'' says Fairfax Radio's Melbourne boss, Shane Healy.
''We didn't want to create something that would take away from our other stations, 3AW and Magic, which are very profitable. It's pretty minimal but we're also making sure it's good quality.''
The station's lack of funds - and the fact it must build an audience before it can attract advertisers - allows it to play non-stop music, which should appeal to listeners.
Indeed, Melbourne's country devotees now have two digital stations to choose from: Buckle and ABC Country. ''If you're a country music fan and you don't have a digital radio, you're an idiot,'' one senior industry figure points out.
While Healy describes Buckle as a ''niche'' station, Hoffman believes it could have a wide appeal.
''One of the reasons we chose a contemporary country format is that, in America, it has been the No. 1 radio format for the past 15 years,'' he says. ''It's amazing that nobody has given it a crack in our capital cities.
''But there's no point in rattling off the names of the other artists we're playing, because people will say: 'Who the hell are they?' What we hope is that people will try us and go: 'I've got no idea who this singer is but it's a good song.' It doesn't matter if they've never heard of the artist.
''What we're offering is pop music for adults. I think we'll appeal to a lot of people who don't consider themselves country music fans.''
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