THE one festival I left out of last week’s summer round-up was Hartlepool Festival, which takes place from October 21 to 23, and boasts an extraordinary line-up of guest artists, including Andy Irvine, Vin Garbutt, Nancy Kerr, Jim Moray, The Young Uns, O’Hooley and Tidow, The Wilsons, Tom McConville and many more.

It will be the second year for this event, and it would be great to see it become established as a mainstay of the local and national scene. Tickets are available now.

Meanwhile, highlights of the week ahead include the Sage’s Americana Festival, which runs all weekend, and includes concerts by popular singer-songwriters Mary Chapin Carpenter and Gretchen Peters, and a lot more besides.

Tonight, Benny Graham steps out solo with an appearance at The Black Bull in Blaydon, and up at the Queen’s Hall in Hexham, Archie Fisher makes a rare visit to the region, but I’m told that there are no more tickets left for this concert, so please don’t turn up unless you’re pre-booked. On Sunday, at South Shields Customs House, local good-time blues-merchants The Hokum Hotshots will be delivering their high-class entertainment, starting at 7.30pm. The Customs House is also where I’ll be, on Saturday night, for a special benefit concert for the local Volunteer Life Brigade. I’ll have my Bad Pennies with me, and also on the bill will be local legend Johnny Handle, who was on top form when I saw him a few weeks ago at The Sage. A worthy cause, and a great venue, and we’ll be pulling out all the stops at one of our rare local shows, so we hope to see you there. Finally on Tuesday, at Redcar Bowling Club, The Cutty Wren has the Leeds-based duo Plumhall, who are certainly one of the classiest acts currently on the scene.