Britain’s Indie Music Queen Lauren Laverne on Championing New Artists and Why Representation Isn’t a Problem for the 6 Music Festival

variety.com:

Mark Sutherland Lauren Laverne is buzzing with excitement. She woke up to the news that Lizzo had given her a shout-out from the stage at London’s O2 Arena. “Lauren Laverne played my record on Radio 6 and just like that, I was flying to England every other weekend,” declared the singer, who had her first major radio exposure on Laverne’s BBC 6 Music show back in 2013. “What an utter queen,” laughs Laverne, who has been helming the station’s flagship breakfast show since 2019. “For everybody at 6, it’s a dream come true to have a world-changing, game-changing artist standing up on stage and describing what we do.

We’re this little greenhouse; we plant these seeds and what grows out of them, who knows?” The BBC network will be out sowing again this weekend with the 6 Music Festival, which takes place in Greater Manchester – the new permanent home of the festival – from Friday (March 24) until Sunday.

The event will be broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Sounds, BBC iPlayer and BBC4. It’s headlined by Christine and the Queens, Arlo Parks and Loyle Carner.

Former musician Laverne, meanwhile, has carved out a productive niche as TV, radio and the music industry’s favorite cultural ambassador, with presenting slots on BBC Radio 4’s “Desert Island Discs,” BBC One’s “The One Show” as well as coverage of Glastonbury Festival and the Mercury Prize. “I just go around being enthusiastic and interested,” she says as she sits down with Variety. “If I see, hear or read something great, it’s a natural impulse to share it.” The head of 6 Music, Samantha Moy, says all the festival performances “promise something you won’t have heard before.” That’s the opposite of most festivals… Yes, normally it’s, ‘Play the hits!’ It’s very 6 Music: