A PUB that used to be a Mecca for music is once again dusting off the monitors and lighting up the mixing desk in preparation for a fortnightly session.

The Angel’s Reply in Hitchin, which used to regularly host bands in its back room, is setting up a fortnightly Wednesday music night, with bluesy-jazz guitarist Pete Woodroffe playing the first on June 16

Landlord Alan Dickinson, a musician himself, said he wants to provide a new venue for bands of all kinds to play.

“What we are trying to achieve is get people used to the fact that we are a music venue and having artists who want to sign up for that. We hope to create a vehicle for artists who don’t necessarily have the exposure or the confidence to come along a give it a go.

“The pub also has a budget for paying artists and I want to build up a database of artists who could play.”