ALL GOA on A.I.R

Despite its rich inventory of talented musicians and songwriters, Goa’s music scene has been largely overshadowed by the demand for cover songs. But there’s no denying the surge in production of original music by Goan artistes in the last few years. “Basically in Goa, there are a lot of talented singers, songwriters and musicians, but unfortunately most of them are doing cover songs,” points out RJ Bambino Dias, a musician himself.

To bring this talent to the fore, All India Radio’s FM Rainbow has conceptualised a ‘Rainbow Hour’ which kick-started on June 5th. Conceived by FM Rainbow Programme Executive, Savio de Noronha and RJ Bambino, who has been associated with AIR since 1999, the programme will provide a platform for artistes, both individual as well as bands to showcase their original scores. “We all know that Goa has talented musicians and songwriters,” reiterates Noronha. “Our purpose is to publicise their work and given the fact that A.I.R. has a huge reach, even beyond Goa, this is an ideal platform to encourage and give them this exposure. They deserve more music lovers to know about their efforts and they in turn will encourage other original songwriters/musicians to come forward. Professional, as well as new artistes are welcome to come to our studios and meet us,” he invites.

The genesis of the ‘Rainbow Hour’ traces back its roots to a decade ago when the duo first conceptualised the ‘Nite of the Fortnight’ (October 2004-April 2005) which earned a place in the Limca Book of Records (2006) for being the first-ever live-cum-radio concert broadcast on radio. “We were the first channel to encourage original compositions by Goan bands. It was a live performance- cum-broadcast. In all, 12 bands performed over a six-month period. Post that we also released an album by the same name,” explains Savio.

However, over the years, the duo observed that besides bands, many individual singers and songwriters were also producing original music. All they lacked was the right platform to showcase it. Offering these artistes an opportunity on the ‘Rainbow Hour’, Noronha explains that the programme will show case two to three Goan artists initially. “We will be playing other music alongside as well. The idea is to also sustain the programme for a long time while getting mileage for the artistes,” he maintains. “A.I.R. has always tried to promote originality and this show will give a singer/songwriter the opportunity to record and air their songs on radio. We accept all genres of music as long as they are original compositions,” endorses Bambino who is helming the show. 

Receiving a good response to the first show on June 5, the show will continue its run weekly every Thursday for an hour from six in the evening. The inaugural ‘Rainbow Hour’ featured seasoned artistes Sigmund De Souza, Vince Costa, Silvia Fernandes and Jomag. “We aired Sigmund’s ‘Wandering Guy’ from his album ‘Hello this is Goa’; ‘Crazy for Love’ from Silvia’s ‘Unmasked’; ‘Pakileos’ from Jomag’s ‘Alive’ and Vince Costa’s ‘As Seasons Change’ from his ‘Saint and Sinner’,” avers Bambino.

Rainbow Hour’s intention to change the spectrum of Goa’s original music scene is slowly but surely taking shape.