Welcome
Welcome to the official website of Ben R. Atkinson—broadcaster, academic, and musician. Known for his internationally syndicated radio show, Ben’s Country Music Show, Ben has also released multiple albums of original music and authored two novels. With over 15 years of experience in media and higher education, he is currently completing a PhD at KU Leuven, Belgium.
An acknowledged expert on American country and roots music, Ben has appeared on the BBC, spoken at international conferences, and served as a guest lecturer. His PhD research focuses on the experiences of women in Nashville’s country music industry from 1990 to 2024, examining the impact of cultural shifts, technology, and advocacy movements. As part of this ethnographic study, he spent 12 weeks living and working in Nashville. In addition to his academic work, Ben is a Learning Technology Consultant at the University of Nottingham and the Digital Communications Manager for the British Association for American Studies (BAAS).
As a broadcaster, Ben has been a familiar voice on independent and community radio since 2008. Training at the Lincoln School of Film and Media and later with the BBC, he has hosted drivetime, breakfast, and magazine shows, as well as written and produced notable radio dramas and documentaries.
A self-taught musician, Ben plays guitar and mandolin, with a deep passion for American roots music, including country, folk, and Americana. His second album, Country Folk, was released on January 17, 2025.
Ben is also the author of two novels: The Kraken’s Curse (2008), a YA fantasy set on the Devon coast, and Walking on Cinders (2010), a dystopian war novel that was one of the first British books to gain widespread promotion via social media, selling 1,000 copies through the 1000 Books to Sell Project. He continues to work on his third novel alongside other creative and academic projects.
