The most ambitious avatar yet of Radio One's popular unplugged music initiative involving music stars, Play Your Music, rolls out at 9 am on Wednesday the 24th of November, when popular singer-music director-guitarist Leslie Lewis, with 11 other top musicians and co-singer daughter Divya for a live session of memorable songs on 94.3 FM Radio One.

The network -- a joint venture between Tariq Ansari's Mid-day Multimedia and BBC Worldwide -- had announced this through its brand ambassadors, top music directors Shankar Ehsan Loy in July this year, and revealed it had earmarked INR100mn for a year-long multi-media campaign till July 2011 to promote the property, and is banking  on this, its biggest edition yet, to add to its impact amongst music lovers.

The unplugged session by Leslie Lewis, who will perform 13 songs with 13 musicians comprising a full fledged mini orchestra with acoustic instruments like the trombone, saxophone, trumpt, the Indian harp, guitars, drums and keyboards, plus backing vocals for the first time ever by Leslie's daughter Divya, is Play Your Music's biggest offering so far. Says Anil Machado, NPH, Radio One, This is the first time Leslie will be performing with his 13-piece band on radio. From Paree Hoon Main to Krishna to Pal, our listeners will revel in Leslie's reinterpretations of his music in his remarkable style....
Besides Lesle Lewis's special unplugged session,  listeners can also catch Bipasha Band her favorite tracks, Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and his favourite 13 Lata Mangeshkar songs,  and Director Farah Khan.

Play Your Music Day has listeners across the country visiting Radio One stations in the seven cities it operates in, including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad, and playing 13 of their favourite songs.

Leslie Lewis told RadioAndMusic.com, I will present my – and other – popular songs with a different feel and sound to them. The arrangements and the rendition will be different. It will be a reinterpretation, and that fact that it will be acoustic will, I hope, make it a memorable experience for listeners. Besides, my daughter Divya will offer backup vocals for the first time on radio. This is real music from real musicians,... he says, adding, My band and I are looking forward to the show....

Rado One MJ Hrishi K, who is hosting the show from Mumbai,  told RadioAndMusic.com, "For full variety, we're bringing our listeners a mix of solo-guitar-driven renditions by Leslie, and the full 13-member-orchestra backed songs. Dum Maaro Dum, Bheegi Bheegi Raaton, Krishna, Sani Dha Pa Ma Ga Re Sa, Mata Pitah, and his new original composition will see the entire orchestra in full play. The other songs," as I said, will be half stripped down bare and unplugged."

Machado said, As a music station, Play Your Music day is very close to us. It's that one Wednesday in the month when listeners, artistes and stars can come and play their favourite 13 songs on air. It's the day we open our studio doors to the public physically too....

The previous unplugged stars on PYMD included Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Shaan and Mohit Chauhan.
From the world of Bollywood,m Radio One has had Aamir Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Sonam Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi and lyricist Javed Akhtar. Interestingly, the station has also had Chief Minister Sheila Dixit speak about about her favorite 13 songs for its listeners in Delhi.

How long will the initiative continue on Radio One? PYMD is a permanent feature, and as long as there are musicians and listeners PYMD will continue," Machado said.