Young up-and-coming musicians and bands have been offered the chance to play in front of hundreds of people as a support act at a Saffron Walden concert.

The Reporter has joined forces with the organisers of the Blues and Rock Weekender, at Saffron Walden Cricket Club on September 5 and 6, to find two talented acts to perform a short set on each night.

Musicians or bands need to submit one recorded track to the Reporter, along with a short written biography about themselves.

“We want to give two local musical acts an opportunity to play at a proper gig, in front of a discerning musical audience and really show local people what they can do,” said Bob Linwood, of the Ethan Rees Linwood Memorial Fund.

“The weekend event has been created to raise money for the Saffron Walden Cricket Club Youth Academy and our charity, both aimed at helping young people better themselves through opportunities to shine.”

A judging panel has been put together, made up of former Iron Maiden guitarist Dennis Stratton, Glyn Banks, lead singer for the Blues Brothers Band, and manager Jamie Spencer, who has worked with acts such as Madness, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Swing Out Sister, Sandie Shaw and many more.

Competition entrants should submit their recorded track to Sam Tonkin at the Saffron Walden Reporter office, on High Street, no later than Thursday, August 21.

The rules are simple; each act has to be a local musician/musicians aged 18 or under and able to play a 30-minute set on September 5 or 6, using their own equipment. The venue will provide a full PA and light show.

The judging panel will review all submitted tracks and two acts will be selected, one to play on each night. All entrants will be advised of the result on Tuesday, August 26. The competition result will be published in that week’s edition of the Reporter.

The winning acts will be asked to attend late afternoon with their equipment to carry out a short sound check and will play a 30-minute set before the main act that night. The Friday night headlining act is Dennis Stratton’s Remus Down Boulevard and the Saturday night headliner is The Blues Brothers Rhythm & Blues Revue Band.

For further information, email editor@saffronwalden-reporter.co.uk or call 01799 513000.