Welcome
Welcome to the website of Ben R. Atkinson. Ben is a broadcaster, academic and musician. He is known for his radio programme, Ben’s Country Music Show, which airs on stations around the world, has relased albums and EPs of his own original music, and is the author of two novels. Ben has worked extensively in the media industry and higher education sector in the UK for the past 15 years and is currently writing up his PhD study through the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), in Belgium.
Ben is acknowledged as an expert on the history and development of American country and roots music. He has appeared widely as an academic on the BBC, at numerous conferences, and as a guest speaker. His PhD thesis examines the experiences of women in the American country music community of Nashville, Tennessee, during the period 1990-2024 and considers the impact of cultural change, new technology and campaign movements on the success and opportunities for women in the genre. The study is ethnographic, and to that end, Ben spent 12 weeks in 2022-3 living and working in Nashville to support his research. In addition to his PhD studies, Ben is a Learning Technology Consultant at the University of Nottingham, UK, and the Digital Communications Manager for the British Association for American Studies (BAAS).
As a broadcaster, Ben is a familiar voice on independent and community radio across the UK and internationally, having hosted the weekly syndicated radio programme, Ben’s Country Music Show, since 2008. Ben learnt his craft at the Lincoln School of Film and Media and later trained with the BBC. Aside from specialist music programmes Ben has also hosted drivetime, breakfast and magazine shows and written and produced several notable radio dramas and documentaries.
Ben’s love of music emerged at an early age, and he was encouraged to pick up the guitar at school. A self-taught musician, Ben plays the guitar and mandolin and has a passion for American roots musisc, including country, folk and Americana. His second album, Country Folk, was relased on the 17th January 2025.
Ben is the author of two novels, both of which were published independently. The Kraken’s Curse (2008) is a YA story of fantasy and intrigue set on the beautiful Devon coast while Walking on Cinders (2010) is a dystopian tale of a bitter global conflict and those who are fighting in the closing days of war in London and France. Walking on Cinders is notable as being one of the first novels by a British author to be promoted widely on social media, selling 1000 copies as part of the ‘1000 Books to Sell Project’ in 2010/11. Ben continues to work on a third novel alongside other projects.
