Last updated 11:45, Thursday, 07 August 2008

They may be in their 40s and may have been a fixture on the local music scene for more than a decade – but they are still 20 years younger than Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger.

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By Stephen Blease

And when four-piece band Sour Mash play at Hunters bar, in Cockermouth, on Saturday night they are sure to draw their usual healthy crowd.

Sour Mash were formed 12 years ago and now comprise singer Mike Dodd, guitarist Neil Foskett, ba sist Alan Lowery and drummer Allan Hall. Over the years they have expanded from Workington to perform further afield, and now make regular appearances as far as Windermere and Carlisle.

The newest member of the current line-up is Alan Lowery on bass guitar, recruited two years ago after original bassist Steve Enwright decided to step down. Alan, 45, does his day job at Sellafield and had been a member of another local band, Sugarstone.

He recalls: “I saw the advert for a bassist on a Tuesday. We practise on a Wednesday so I went along the next night and they asked me to join for a gig on the Saturday. I had to learn 30 songs in three days.”

Although they write their own material (available to download from their website) Sour Mash specialise in covers, especially of REM and Crowded House, and classic rock from the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac. Pub landlords realise they are guaranteed to bring people through the door.

“We have quite a good following,” Alan said. “We tend to find that people wait for us to come on, and we can usually fill pubs when we play.”

He added that the music scene had been growing in Cumbria in recent years.

“It’s a vibrant area and it is really starting to take off now. There seem to be quite a lot more pubs taking advantage of the fact that bands want to play. It’s no use practising in a garage and not having an audience to play to. The more places there are to play, the more bands there will be.”

Saturday’s gig starts at 9pm.

Admission is free.