A new podcast to showcase unsigned bands from across Ayrshire and beyond will launch in Irvine this week.

Former Irvine Beat FM duo Ronnie McGhie and Ben Grant will be joined by Laura Mac to take their Wednesday Night Sessions format online with the launch the Offgrid Sounds podcast.

The first episode is set debut this Thursday.

Ronnie McGhie told the Times: “It’s taking our old programme to a different medium, taking it off the radio and onto the internet – where the name Offgrid comes from.

“You’ve got Ben Grant, you’ve got myself and Laura Mac.

“She was going to join the Wednesday Night Sessions team, but obviously events halted all that. She’s a huge talent and will bring loads to the table.”

Ben Grant said: “It is a follow on from what was Wednesday Night Sessions but I think for me it’s more about bringing that type of show to the 21st century. We’ll have it on a platform that’s easily accessible that anyone can listen to at any time, at your leisure or at work, you don’t have to wait until 8pm or 10pm to tune in.

“We have full control now and a lot more freedom. We can say what we want, do what we want, have opinions without the fear of OFCOM or management, so I think it will be more interesting.

Ronnie added: “While we were doing the show, Ben was keen to take it to podcasting because the feedback we were starting to get was that people didn’t want to be tied to 8pm-10pm or 10pm-midnight on FM radio.

“It will still feature Ayrshire artists but it will be unsigned music from Ayrshire and beyond.

“It will be about an hour-long podcast, we don’t want to overstay our welcome, do one maybe twice a month and feature any new tracks released by Ayrshire artists.

“There will hopefully be a live element to it, there will be a gig guide for locally and probably Glasgow, as well as news or hot topics with festival talk and any bands we will plug their social media.”

“The other good thing about doing the podcast is you’re not confined to the rules and regulations of radio station and OFCOM, if a guest drops an F-bomb it’s not going to get you into trouble.

“We want to make it fun.”

For more information visit www.facebook.com/offgridfm/ and if you are in a band, an artist or promoter and would like tracks considered email contact@offgrid.fm.