SOMETIMES I feel we take our fabulous county for granted.

We’re used to seeing the sea and our breath-taking coastline every day.

And when we go inland, the epic landscapes and rural delights just seem to, well, just be there, and hopefully, always will be.

It’s a fact that certainly hasn’t escaped Steve Knightley, the Show of Hands frontman who has been taking his Grow Your Own Gig tour around village halls for the past couple of years.

Hailed by the Times as ‘the gravel-voiced spokesman for the rural poor, Steve has performed more than 200 GYOG shows and turned his attention to maritime matters with the All At Sea tour of coastal venues in 2015.

“As a West Country songwriter I have written so many songs of seafarers and wreckers, travellers and traders, pirates and smugglers.

“Now I’m going to be able to sing them with the sound of the sea in the distance,” he says.

Well, there’ll have to be a very, very high spring tide next Wednesday, March 8, when Steve moors up at the Corn Exchange in Dorchester for his Landlocked gig.

His show will feature his treasure trove of rural songs in the first half and move on to nautical themes for part two.

Tickets are £18 from the box office on 01305 266926.

Moving on and tomorrow night, Saturday, March 4, there’s a chance to catch the marvellous sounds of the Mutter Slater Band when they bring their brand of soul, R’n’B and American 60s blues to the rather swish Evershot village hall.

Mutter was the frontman and flute player with Stackridge back in the day when bands had flute-playing frontmen, was signed by Elton John’s label and was produced by George Martin before retiring to the countryside after countless tours and festivals.

However, the itch was still there with the release of the Love and Hate album in 2006, Riding the Hurricane in 2008 and 2014’s Absobloodylutely.

Mutter’s gigs are always a great event and he’ll be joined at Evershot by Chris Cleaver on guitar, Tom Hughes on Hammond, Dan Wheeler on drums and Olly Olliver on bass.

Tickets are £8 on the door from 7.30pm tomorrow.

And finally, here’s an early heads-up for a gig from one of the most exciting and popular bands on the circuit.

The Dub Pistols are always welcome down these parts and they’re at the Electric Palace in Bridport on Friday March 24.

It promising to be an evening of furious hip-hop, rampant reggae and rather a lot of sweaty skanking, madam, and they’ll be supported by Weymouth’s Cuba Libre and Birmingham reggae band Kioko.

Tickets are £15 from the box office on 01308 428354.

Till next time…

GIG GUIDE

TONIGHT (3)

Elles Bailey (Bridport Arts Centre)

Lo Numbers (Finns, Weymouth)

The Shakespearos (Royal Portland Arms, Portland)

Billy Solo (Wellington, Weymouth)

Acoustic Session (Victoria Inn, Knights in the Bottom, Chickerell, Weymouth)

Kipper (Belvedere, Weymouth)

Sheryl Lee (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)

The Remedy (Park, Weymouth)

Paul Williams (Weymouth Working Mens Club)

Dave Griff’s Open Mic Night (Gloucester, Weymouth)

Georgie Broad (Black Dog, Weymouth)

Rob Ryan and Friends (The Rock, Weymouth)

Powelly, Sea Bass and The Fellas, Leggomen (Ayya, Weymouth)

Tree Fellas (Hope Square Church, Weymouth)

Gut and Steel (Old Rooms, Weymouth)

The Sweetchunks (Ropemakers, Bridport)

SATURDAY (4)

Mutter Slater, Chris Cleaver and the Southern Accents (Evershot village hall)

Paisley (Finns, Weymouth)

Sea Bass and the Fellas (Sailors Return, Weymouth)

Freezer (George, Dorchester)

Du Kane (Belvedere, Weymouth)

Johnny King (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)

Jolly Boys Outing (Park, Weymouth)

Silhouettes (RBL Club, Portland)

The Katz (Weymouth Working Mens Club)

The HardcoreTroubadors (Gloucester, Weymouth)

The Shakespearos (Rumshack, Weymouth)

Replay (Wyke Regis Working Mens Club, Weymouth)

JD Acoustic (Black Dog, Weymouth)

Old School Donna (The Rock, Weymouth)

Outrage (Centenary Club, Weymouth)

Tequila Mockingbird (Wyke Smugglers, Weymouth)

The 5:15 (Bull’s Head, Fordington, Dorchester)

Gut and Steel (George Inn, Chideock)

BJ McCabe (Bridge Inn, Preston, Weymouth)

Phil Murray’s Diamond Dogz (Ropemakers, Bridport)

SUNDAY (5)

Camille Miller and The Guilty Birds (Royal Portland Arms, Portland)

Freezer (Park, Weymouth) 3pm.

Sunday Blues Jam (Belvedere, Weymouth)

Ricky Solo (Sailor’s Return, Weymouth) From 3pm.

Sheryl Lee’s Sunday Club (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth) 7pm.

Roger’s Singalong (Gloucester, Weymouth)

Leanne Jackson (Black Dog, Weymouth) 3.30-5.30pm.

Jukebox Junkies (The Rock, Weymouth)

Minor Fret, Marco Rossi (Revolutions, Trinity Rd, Weymouth) From 1pm.

Million Dollar Bash (Star, Weymouth)

Gut and Steel (Wyke Smugglers, Weymouth) From 5pm.

MONDAY (6)

Acoustic session (Belvedere, Weymouth)

TUESDAY (7)

Open Jazz Night (Belvedere, Weymouth)

Ricky Solo (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)

WEDNESDAY (8)

Steve Knightley (Corn Exchange, Dorchester)

Wessex Folk Night (Sailors Return, Weymouth)

Open Mic Night (Royal Exchange, Portland)

Open Mic (Bull, Fordington, Dorchester)

THURSDAY (9)

Leggomen (George, Weymouth)

Ricky Solo (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)

Open Mic (George, Dorchester)

Traditional Tune Session (Cove House Inn, Portland)

Ukulele Sessions (Sailors Return, Weymouth)

SoapBox Night (Belvedere, Weymouth)

FRIDAY (10)

Paul Lamb and the King Snakes (Electric Palace, Bridport)

Peacock Suit (Finns, Weymouth)

Amy Brown (Belvedere, Weymouth)

Darren H (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)

Kathy Boorman (Park, Weymouth)

Billy Solo (Wellington, Weymouth)

Emma C (Weymouth Working Mens Club)

JD Acoustic (Gloucester, Weymouth)

Sea Bass and the Fellas (The Rock, Weymouth)