Edward Russell started Inside The Groove as a lockdown project and now has more than 10,000 listeners
A HIT music podcast based in Penarth called Inside The Groove covering Madonna’s career has been nominated for an award.
Host Edward Russell, 51, from Pill Street, invites musical experts and guests to discuss Madonna’s music legacy in a podcast produced from his converted garage in Cogan.
It was nominated in the Best Podcast category in awards run by the publication Queerty. This year is the awards’ 10th anniversary and intends to honour the year’s best in LGBT+ media and culture.
Mr Russell said: “It feels amazing to be nominated. The award is the gay equivalent of the Oscars.
“The podcast is a labour of love and I work hard on each episode. It feels like a special recognition.”
Mr Russell started Inside The Groove at the beginning of the first lockdown in March 2020, and it quickly found an audience.
“It was a lockdown thing. It’s a bit of a joke that everyone started a podcast in lockdown, but this clearly hit a niche and took off. Fans have even reached out and said how it helped them reconnect with her work,” he said.
The podcast boasts more than 10,000 listeners every week and by August 2021, it was downloaded 400,000 times. It has been positively reviewed in the New York Times and was included on a list of the best podcasts of 2021.
Mr Russell said: “The podcast is a bit of a history lesson about Madonna and her songs. Each episode takes a song and looks at how it was written, produced and any impact it had.
“I think people didn’t know she wrote those songs and that’s why I think it’s done so well.”
Mr Russell is currently a scriptwriter on BBC’s Casualty and previously worked on Doctor Who. He has been a fan of Madonna since 1984 but became a hardcore fan after she released her hit song, “Like a Prayer”, in 1989.
Madonna has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is the best-selling female artist of all time.
When asked whether Madonna knows about the podcast, Mr Russell said: “I’ve been told she’s aware of it, but I have no idea whether she’s listened to it or she likes it.”
“If she didn’t like it though, I’m sure I would have heard more.”
Inside The Groove is available to listen to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or through its website. You can vote for Inside The Groove in the Queerties here.
