MUSICIAN Phil Odgers was holidaying in Stonehaugh this summer when he became inspired for his new single at the stargazing pavilion.

Phil is best known for being the lead singer of the folk-punk group  'The Men They Couldn't Hang', his latest single 'The Serpent, The Maiden and the Bear after Constellations' has been number one in the Amazon folk-rock charts for three weeks.

Phil's inspiration came about when he was holidaying in the area at the stargazing Pavillion just outside the village where the music video was also filmed. 

Phil said: "I love the North East and visit as often as I can. Earlier this year I had been passing through Northumberland and was taken by the breath-taking clear views of the night sky and inspired to write a song about the vastness of the galaxy and our place in it.

"It's one of my favourite parts of the country."

On how the inspiration came for the song came about, he said: "I was just standing outside gazing up at the sky and it's clear, you can see the Milky Way and the sky is so clear.

"Stonehaugh is renowned for its dark, tranquil and starry skies and as soon as I saw the Star Dome at the edge of the village, I was inspired to film the video for my new single there.

"So, we set up a couple of cameras one morning and used the stargazing pavilion as the set for The Serpent, The Maiden and the Bear."

During his stay in Northumberland, Phil and his family paid a visit to the Vinyl Attic in Hexham.

He said: "We had such a great time in Hexham but the highlight for me has to be visiting the Vinyl Attic – I could spend a whole afternoon browsing the records there. This time I bought a load of Gene Vincent and early Rock N Roll and Rockabilly stuff."

Phil will be going on tour from mid-October till January with his band 'The Men They Couldn't Hang' and will be stopping off in Newcastle on October 30. 

Phil said: "Most of this tour is rescheduled dates that we booked much earlier in the year but because of covid we have had to move everything along."

This year's tour will be a bittersweet one. During the pandemic band member Stefan Cush passed away of a heart attack. Phil said: "It'll be in memory of Cush and we're having to do the tour with one band member less.

"It's a sort of thing we can use, people can come together to grieve together and the tour will be good, we can use the tour ourselves as a band to say goodbye.

"The tour will be celebratory and I will be singing this new song too."