The Misers were that increasingly rare thing these days, a rock band with muscle but not heavy, like the Stones or The Faces. Thinking about it, the band played with a Springsteen-like fervour which won them a devoted local following. Formed by Neil Ivison and Adam Berry, the band’s vocalist/singer and Hammond player, they only played one WHC show, the benefit I organised for the Haiti earthquake appeal, and I wish I’d put them on again. Thank you lads and hope you’re doing well and feel free to drop me a line.

The Misers had been bought to my attention by one of the unsung heroes of the Herefordshire music scene, Tom Oliver. You may well know him as the prize-winning cider and perry maker of Oliver's Cider and Perry Ltd. (At this point, I would like to make clear that the WHC is truly independent and takes no money from government or business, not least, because weirdly none has been offered). But Tom is a man of many talents and not only has the ability to taste and mix the juices of different varieties of apples to great effect but has a natural ability to mix sound in a way that satisfies the ears in much the same way his drinks satisfy the palette.  Read through his c.v. and you will find that he has been working for years with The Proclaimers, working both as tour manager and mixing their front of house sound. The list of people he’s worked with is fantastic and includes reggae legends Gregory Isaacs and Steel Pulse as well as my favourite guitar band of all time, Television. Doing the sound for Tom Verlaine – well that ain’t nothin’. Unsurprisingly he was there too for the birth of The Pretenders when they were still The Hawks.