FIRST entry for this year s contest is Let Me Go, written by Daniel Darlow from St Neots and performed by Dan with Vince Wood. It begins with a Stairway To Heaven-inspired arpeggio introduction. The song s melody is quite minimal, sung with a tired, drawl

FIRST entry for this year's contest is Let Me Go, written by Daniel Darlow from St Neots and performed by Dan with Vince Wood. It begins with a Stairway To Heaven-inspired arpeggio introduction.

The song's melody is quite minimal, sung with a tired, drawling vocal that perhaps aims at the dark, bare atmospherics of a Johnny Cash record.

The echoing electric guitar riffs make the tone of the track far less earthy than Cash's best albums and the vocal can feel quite hidden.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing as making every element of a song crystal clear can often strip it of mystery. Think of the early REM tracks - who knows what Michael Stipe was singing about most of the time - but it always sounded interesting.

Neither of these things affect the song, which exists beyond the instrumentation, singing and production, and it's the song that I want to write about most on this page.

This isn't a singing or recording contest, but it's undeniable that a good arrangement helps present a song.

Dan Darlow describes his music as being influenced by nearly everything he listens to and gives special mention to Cash, Clapton, Queen, Slash and My Chemical Romance.

The lyrics can be hard to make out at times, but the tone seems introspective and soul-searching with a dash of anger. It's no pop tune, but I enjoyed listening to it.

For more information about Dan Darlow visit http://www.myspace.com/danthesongwriter

INFORMATION: Write a song for Almost Famous and you could win rehearsal time at the Studio Rooms in Wyton and studio time to record a CD plus promotion and interviews in the Almost Famous column and on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire's Audio Files presented by Jeremy Sallis. All entries will be made available to download on The Hunts Post website to help get your music heard by as many people as possible.

The competition is open to all Huntingdonshire songwriters. All band entries must have at least one member living in Huntingdonshire to qualify. The judges will be the Almost Famous team.

To enter, e-mail an MP3 of your song to: almostfamouspage@googlemail.com along with the following information:

* Name of song

* Full names of songwriters

* Name of band or artist performing

* Website address

* Telephone contact details

* Upcoming gig details

* Background information on the performers and writer, including where they live

* A CLEAR PHOTOGRAPH IN SHARP FOCUS