Well, the blues hit Pontardawe Festival last Saturday for the first time with the appearance of Little George Sueref and the now 'regular visitors into Wales' the Spikedrivers. Pontardawe has been a folk festival for many years and the blues would be quite alien to the many loyal fans of the festival.

At about 10.30 when the folk bands had done their bit, the best Mississippi delta blues band in the UK The Spikedrivers (Ben Tyzack, Constance Redgrave and Maurice McElroy) entered the stage. I knew that this was the moment that the blues was going to kick life to this former fest. They went straight into 'Bluetrash' which is the opening track on their new CD. Let's start with the best and keep it going! When I spoke to the Spikedrivers just before the show, they said they decided to start off their set with that song because when their CD was first aired in The Point, Cardiff that was the track which got heads turning, ears buzzing and feet tapping. Anyway, it worked, the audience were in their hands for the next 60 min which flew by.

Although they only had an hour, they did not rush the set but gave the new listeners a taster of Mississippi delta blues. We had John Lee Hooker-esque blues medleys with all their other influences such Robert Johnson and Charley Patton - also they played instruments that would not be instantly recognised such as Jugs, wooden boxes and brasso tins and play them better than most people could play an orthodox instrument. Then it was over - a brief encounter of a shooting star - but they will be back!