A ROCK band from St Albans shook the Cambridge countryside last weekend with their spellbinding sound. Five-piece Herts rock band Touchstone – comprising Adam Hodgson, Alasdair Melville, Rob Cottingham, Andre Moorghen and Kim Seviour – delivered a perfect

A ROCK band from St Albans shook the Cambridge countryside last weekend with their spellbinding sound.

Five-piece Herts rock band Touchstone - comprising Adam Hodgson, Alasdair Melville, Rob Cottingham, Andre Moorghen and Kim Seviour - delivered a perfect performance at last weekend's Cambridge Rock Festival, which was held in the middle of a polo pitch.

As well as playing a few old favourites from their debut album Discordant Dreams, Touchstone also treated the moshing crowd to three tracks from their new album, Wintercoasts, which Classic Rock magazine described as "an album of skyscraper proportions" when it was released in June.

38-year-old guitarist Adam, who lives in Harpenden, said that Wintercoasts is the best music the band has ever produced: "It's much heavier than our first album and better produced. Rob, who plays keyboards, and I have been rocking together for six years and this is by far the best and most solid music we've ever produced."

Adam, who took time out from a family holiday in France for Sunday's performance, said that one of the best elements of Wintercoasts was a guest performance from British actor Jeremy Irons, who reads a monologue at the start of one of the tracks.

Adam said that it was an honour to have such a fan: "I approached Jeremy because I knew he was into his rock and we were so thrilled when he said he loved our music. I went over to New York especially to record the monologue with him - he's a friend of Touchstone now and we're meeting him for a curry soon."

24-year-old lead vocalist Kim Seviour, a self-confessed "PA by daytime and rock goddess by night", is the freshest member of the band having only joined two years ago and, alongside Adam's cascades of plectrum-burning riffs, it was her angelic vocals that captured the crowd on Sunday.

Kim, whom Classic Rock magazine described as "a star in the making", said that she had always been a festival goer: "I really enjoy going to music festivals and so having the opportunity to perform at one is amazing. I love getting ready to rock and those final five minutes before you go on stage are so exciting."

To find out more about Touchstone and their music visit www.touchstonemusic.co.uk or www.myspace.com/touchstonemusicuk