On Sunday 25th July, the Ben Waters Band topped the bill at the Trowbridge Festival, playing to 4,000-odd thoroughly up-for-it punters, in a wonderful setting in the heart of the Wiltshire countryside. We had been preceded on stage by Richard Thompson (who gave a mesmeric performance), The Strawbs, the Eliza Carthy Band, Celloman, Kelly Joe Phelps and other major acts, which could have rendered little old us a little intimidated – far from it. The whole vibe of the place, organisers, sound crew, backstage folk and all, was relaxed and friendly. The sound was great, the beer was free - a thoroughly enjoyable experience all round.

It’s unusual for a band to be given such a prominent slot on their debut appearance at such a high-profile festival (for example, it’s taken us seven years to work our way up to the main stage at the Cork Jazz Festival), and I can tell you that we relished the opportunity.

On Saturday, 31st July, the Ben Waters Band hit the boards again in Bentley, near Farnham, Surrey, a private party for some media types. The next day Ben and saxophonist Clive Ashley flew out to Canada for a couple of weeks of gigs out there. We’re hoping the whole band will be able to go out next year.

On Sunday 1st August, the Barrelhouse Blues Orchestra played in the lovely setting of the Gloucester Docks as part of the Gloucester Blues Festival. The band got a tremendous reception from the crowd that lined the revamped docks area, with some punters’ heads popping up from narrow boats moored alongside.

Barrelhouse percussionist Pete Brown and the Orchestra performed a version of Sunshine Of Your Love, which Pete wrote with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce in Cream days. It was such a buzz playing Jack Bruce’s bass line alongside the man who wrote the lyrics for that classic composition.

I played with Tom Caulfield’s Blues and Soul Experience at the Black Dog in Weymouth on Friday, 6th August. The trans-generational line-up also featured Tim on guitar, Jack Duxbury on keyboards, Ady Milward on drums and Tom’s mate Ed on harmonica. We also had cameo appearances from Liam of Heavy Soul fame and the inimitable Trevor Lawrence.