"I say Peter, we'd love for you to come and do another Showcase at Chester", said Derek on the phone. "Would you really like us to?" asked Peter, with an amazed sound to his voice "Well, yes, of course, and come to stay with us – what time will you arrive?" "At 4.00 p.m." asserted Mr. Ainsworth. So it was fixed. I arranged for our secret weapon, super-musician Chris Lee, to play bass for Pete Ainsworth and Shirley Warnes - the lead duo of the 5-piece band.

Come the 18th of February 4.00 p.m. came – and went and no Peter. 4.10 p.m., and I was getting nervous, for Peter is pedantically punctual. By 4.30 sweat was breaking out but then the knock eventually came on the door at 4.40. A hand entered first, thrusting in a litre bottle of whiskey as a gift, so we knew all was well – I mean how can it not be right? Peter's apologies went almost unheard.

Chris had been working on some of Pete and Shirley's pieces so they all went upstairs at the Commercial for a run-through. Meanwhile, a good novice session got under way and progressed well, warming up nicely for the entrance of our guests for the night. How could it go wrong? Apart from regulars Julie Cross, David Brightmore, Jeff Blythin, Jock Watson, and Idle Frets (John Prytherch and Tony Keysell), Mike Penney, Pete Massey, Derek Brandon and I, Andy came from Conwy and half of Frets Unlimited (i.e. Chris Wilson) from Skem and new flatpicker John Baxter. There was some cracking stuff which was much appreciated by the non-players present.

The time arrived, Stained Glass Bluegrass made their entrance and wow! Did they wow us! Peter is a perfectionist and this came through in the performance, with careful phrasing, variation of volume and tone and lovely Bluegrass harmony duets, as always, and great banjo. Their set was really varied and included some interesting introductions from Peter. His introduction to Carolina in the Pines was "This was recorded from Alison Kraus in a cotton field" Well, that's what he said – couldn't have been in Leamington Spa! Shirley did a nice job on that one, as she did on Prairie Lullaby by Jimmy Rogers, with Pete on guitar for a change. Well, she was in good voice and did justice to everything, for that matter. "I Remember" got an interesting intro- " We got this one from an American program put out by J.P.Sewer Rooter Spill and Pit Cleaning Company, of Washington! Such a beautiful song from a program from a man with an unmentionable occupation!" Chris played a nice mandolin break on that one.

Chester regular Chris Lee gave very able and excellent support to the main duo, with whom he'd never played before. If he made any mistakes, I didn't hear them! He wore his Dork Factor 10 hat (baseball cap in reverse) but his bass accompaniment was perfect and he even took breaks on his Gibson F5 mandolin in some of Peter and Shirley's songs.

Other songs included Mandolin Man, with a great banjo break from Pete and another hot Lee mandolin break.

For an encore they pulled out the progressive classic Raining In My Heart, which earned them a well-deserved, rapturous final applause from the pickers, the audience and all the pub regulars who sneak around at the back, nodding and smiling. Cracker evening as always from Stained Glass Bluegrass & Lee, Inc.

Jean Brandon, Chester.

Updated 23rd Jan 1999