WITH ALL the current talk about whether or not we should be in or out of one union, Stroud Americana Festival firmly puts the town in the realms of another union, as we become the 51st State of the USA, this weekend.

There are diverse performers from both sides of the pond, including Stroud’s own local American, Sarana VerLin and her long time musical partner Billy Brandt, both multi award winning musicians.

Brooks Williams, who was such a hit last year, is back. And Kevin Brown – quite simply one of the UK’s finest acoustic blues guitarist on the circuit today – features in our Sunday afternoon session at the Black Book Cafe.

Joining him in there are Welsh acoustic duo Silurian, plus another local hero, Bob Porter.

Russell Joslin serves up his unique brand of explosive folk at the Prince Albert on Sunday night, with The Ponderosa completing the line up.

We have tried to put in a little bit of everything that comes under the Americana umbrella, giving our audiences the chance to catch some stuff they know they like, and try some other things for the first time.

Tickets cost £40 for the whole weekend, with tickets for the individual sessions also available.

By Paul McLaughlin, Sub Rooms manager subscriptionrooms.org.uk