'˜All spit, no polish...all show, no pony,' promises Stuart

The band has been at work for close to two decades now, and they’ve just issued their ninth studio album, Midnight on the Trail, a tasty meeting of western swing and cowboy ballads.

The Times says they are unfussy and unpretentious, and Elena, Whit and Jake say this new issue is ‘utterly danceable, romantic and rustic’. You can put that to the test from 8pm.

Storm Warning will be holding court on Stage 2 tomorrow.

Son Maxwell, former vocalist with the Mick Ralphs Band leads this rabble of cool, which also features guitarist Bob Moore, Derek White (a member of Larry Miller’s band) on bass, and drummer Russ Chaney.

Together they’ll rock your Friday evening with tracks from their current album, Take Cover, which is crammed with music from Zeppelin, Dylan, Hendrix and Howlin’ Wolf.

Funny fella Richard Herring is back on Saturday evening with his new show Happy Now?

Across the venue on Stage 2, Brighton bunch The Galleons will walk the line between folk and indie, with more than slight nods to rock, blues and sometimes prog as they go.

A little bit of what you fancy is good for you, and by the sounds of it, The Galleons can’t fail to deliver.

The Stables has Sex Appeal on Sunday night.

What’s that? Oh, hold on, it’s Sax Appeal with their jazz, blues and funk shenanigans.

Derek Nash leads the collective with more than 30 years of playability to their name.

If you want to know how good they are, they have a John Dankworth award under their belt.

That’s all you need to know. You don’t mess with that legendary Dankworth name!

If you want to find the funnies, you’ll find lots of them on Stage 2 with Stuart Goldsmith.

He promises all spit, no polish, and all show, no pony.

Stuart is also host of the Comedian’s Comedian podcast, where he interviews other funny folks.

It’s made its mark too, with more than three million downloads so far!

Stuart recalled when he hit on the idea of comedy as a career move.

“Onstage at my very first gig,” he told me, “I came off thinking ‘At last I’ve found my thing!” Which, after 10 years as a not-bad street performer, rubbish clown and outright fraudulent actor, came as quite a relief!”

And tell us about your best heckle so far.

“There’s a true story in this show about being heckled by a lady with Tourette’s. I tried to roll with it as best I could (you can’t do put downs to someone who is medically approved!) and gradually realised that when she was laughing hard enough, she didn’t tic.

“From that point on I became like a court jester desperately capering for his life before an angry king...”

On Tuesday, Gregg Kofi Brown brings his Together As One show to the Wavendon haunt.

He has spent more than two decades as a member of African pioneers Osibisa, travelling the world promoting the music of Ghana.

Together As One is his first solo album, and features an impressive array of guests, including Sting, Gabrielle, Stanley Jordan, Des’ree and Billy Cobham.

Last up this week is Wednesday’s show by ace Celtic fiddle-player Aly Bain and world-famous accordion player Phil Cunningham.

Both boast astounding capability at their chosen instruments, and have racked up accolades aplenty.

To book tickets visit www.stables.org or call 01908 280800.