"It's a weird job, being a travelling musician. There's a lot of time with nothing happening, then there's thousands of people in front of you, then you walk off stage and there's no people again. It's a bizarre existence and, coming from a small town, we were people orientated. We talk to people. We don't box ourselves into a showbiz bubble. So I relate to musicians like the Eagles and Tom Petty, because they talk about real life and situations."
That's Kelly Jones from the Stereophonics, revealing his reasons for kicking off Songs in the Key of Life with Tom Petty's track Free Fallin', one of several classic tracks Kelly and his bandmate Richard picked out to play over their hour on the programme
The chart-topping Welsh band -- famous for tunes including Dakota, Having a Nice Day and Mr Writer -- were in Dublin to play the 3Arena, which is where I caught up with them backstage. They have a new album out, but as well as talking about their new music, they were just as happy to chat about the early days, their time supporting bands like the Manic Street Preachers and what it felt like to go on the road with major artists including the late David Bowie and the Rolling Stones.
Listen back to their take on Songs in the Key of Life by clicking the play button top right and let me know what you think by tweeting @songsinthekey or @nadineoregan.
Kelly and Richard's Playlist:
1. Stereophonics 'Dakota'
2. Tom Petty 'Free Fallin'' (Kelly's choice)
3. Cream 'White Room' (Richard's choice)
4. Elvis 'Suspicious Minds' (Kelly's choice)
5. Massive Attack 'Teardop' (Richard's choice)
6. Rolling Stones 'Let it Bleed'
7. Stereophonics 'Taken a Tumble'
8. David Bowie 'Life on Mars' (Kelly's choice)
