The Thursday night jam sessions have moved home. After a year and a half of great sessions at Mariners, we’re off to Finn’s, in Westham Road, Weymouth. As ever, new bands, established acts and solo musicians are invited to take to the stage. If you want to book a slot (maximum four numbers) contact me. The first session, on 13th May, was a great success. I had to miss the inaugural session at the new home, as I was playing with the Barrelhouse Blues Orchestra in the restaurant at AFC Bournemouth’s new ground. The Orchestra were in fine form, as ever.

There’s lots of developments regarding the Barrelhouse project – a live recording of the Orchestra’s performance of the Rolling Stones classic Jumping Jack Flash, recorded at Bryanston Arts Centre and featuring ex-Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, is due for release on the 24th May. There’s a lot of media interest about this event, including a tie-in with Bournemouth Football Club and possible endorsement by Manchester United. And guess what – if enough of you out there buy the record, we could end up on Top Of The Pops! Get yourselves down to your local HMV, Virgin or local independent record shop and order the singe before the 24th May, and be a part of history.

Jumping Jack Flash, by the Barrelhouse Blues Orchestra, SMCDSBBO 001.

I’m off to Finland with the Ben Waters Band on Wednesday 19th May a three-day residency in Helsinki’s Storyville club. Five sets a night, from 9p.m. to 2 a.m. – that’ll be an interesting test of stamina and pacing abilities! I can’t wait to have a look at a country I’ve never visited before. The airport we fly into is near a little town called Nokia, where they fashion some strange speaking device from traditional materials, apparently. I’ve started learning essential Finnish words. ‘Cheers’ translates as ‘gitpis’! Uh-oh.