Twitter is the way forward. Everyone should be on Twitter, especially if you’re in a band or are involved in music. It’s a new networking platform on the web which this year, with the risk of making myself sound like a bit of a geek, is going to be as important as Facebook/Myspace for getting your message out. We (wrexhammusic) are on; Camera, The Roseville Band, Trader, Adam Walton and Mother of Six are some locals who are also on. Go to twitter.com and sign up. You don’t want to miss the boat, do you?

Deeside’s Stokoz to Moscow have a busy weekend ahead of them. They are tag teaming with Dirty Static and making their way down the M6, then taking a left at junction 2 towards the M69, past the Ansty Golf Centre on the right and then finally arriving at Leicester’s The Pavillion on Saturday night. On Sunday night they are playing Leicester’s The Shed. Over the weekend they will also be auditioning for the popular Glastonbudget Festival, which is one of Europe’s largest tribute act festivals. Last year they had Maybe Winehouse, Fred Zeppelin, Slack Sabbath, Dead Hot Chilli Peppers and the Kaiser Thiefs to name but a few. I hope they had Peter Andrex on too, the guy who used to sellotape 6 rolls of toilet paper on his torso as his ‘6-pack’. Stokoz won’t be learning a new set of covers though, the festival combines both tribute and original bands, which saw 10 000 people attend last year.

I’ve got some more exciting new for you from the Mother of Six camp, they seem to be going a bit international – last week I told you about their Catalonian tour and this week I can tell you that their track ‘Castell’ is going to be used on the soundtrack of an online version of a Canadian teen horror/fantasy show. I’m thinking along the lines of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but Canadian and good. Great news for them and yet more exposure for our local music.

A new bi-monthly night is starting at Telfords Warehouse tonight. It’s called ‘.org’, like one of those organisational internet domain names. They don’t seem to be doing things by halves either; their first booking is a DJ set from Alex Paterson, a founding member of the 90’s ambient house forefathers The Orb. Local cats DJ Deviant, Easy & Funkdub will be on hand to get the night started as well as an array of visual delights from Richard Starbuck. .org’s aim is to showcase acts that have never played Chester before. It will be interesting to see what other acts will be booked in the future and will be refreshing to see new performances at Telfords, which sometimes can seem to be falling into the trap of booking the same bunch of acts each year. Tickets are £10 and are available from Telfords and Global Grooves Records in Chester.

Telfords are hosting a charity battle of the bands competition next Tuesday. They are raising money for the ‘Amy & Friends’ charity which supports sufferers of premature aging (Cockayne Syndrome). Apart from the annual Panic Promotion competition, this is the only battle of the bands I know of around the Chester area, it’s a great way to check out the latest talent in one quick hit. There will be drinks offers (£1 tequila shots anyone?), a raffle and some tasty cheese and wine to be eaten. Tickets are £8 and are available from Telfords Warehouse. Go down and show your support for the local bands and more importantly the ‘Amy & Friends’ charity.

The Loving Cup were played on ALL THREE of Mark Lamarr’s ‘Best of 2008’ God’s Jukebox shows on BBC Radio 2 over the New Year. He played three separate tracks from their Maida Vale studio sessions which they recorded earlier on last year; ‘Bring Along Your Lovers’, ‘Life Ain’t Easy’, and ‘Blood on the Sidewalk’. The ‘Cup are playing London on Saturday night and are back on home turf on 24th January when they play Telfords Warehouse.

The Talbot Bar is back in fully working order this week following its paint job last week. Tonight Socialist presents Polly Mackey & the Pleasure Principle and Seb Green, tomorrow night they have Valleum and Sinner Men (formerly Catskills) and on Saturday they have Trader and No Room for Heroes playing. All of the shows start at 8pm.

Gallops! may have some exciting news coming soon. I can’t tell too much, well anything – at the risk of jinxing it all. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.

Tomorrow night the melting pot that is Alt Nation returns for its 5th outing at Central Station. The recipe is three rooms across two floors with rock, indie, punk, ska, metal, emo, hardcore… you get the picture, oh and a Guitar Hero competition. Doors are 10pm and its £2 entry before 11pm and £4 thereafter.

That’s week 3 all wrapped up for you. Now, beards – yes or no? Email me at ben@wrexhammusic.co.uk with any news you have about local music, not with your beard answers. Take care.