THEY were last to the stage, but first to the title. The Introspectators, a group of three 20-year-olds who met at Sawtry Village College, are this year s winners of The Hunts Post Almost Famous Song Competition. Their rich and raw song, Flesh and Blood s

THEY were last to the stage, but first to the title. The Introspectators, a group of three 20-year-olds who met at Sawtry Village College, are this year's winners of The Hunts Post Almost Famous Song Competition.

Their rich and raw song, Flesh and Blood sung largely with lead singer, Martin Stacey-Brown with his dark hair covering his face was in the fine tradition of heavy rock.

The winner was announced on Sunday at a special Almost Famous Song Competition gig at the Golden Lion in St Ives - just as Introspectators went on stage. The result had been a closely guarded secret.

Five acts, all on the short list from the 39 songs entered into the competition, each played a 20 minute set.

The other four were: Maslow (song, Carla), The Simple Tone (Dreams of Yesterday), Rogue Poet (Sweetheart Oh No!) and Tom Tilbury (Good Together).

The winner was chosen by Almost Famous writers and musicians, Chris Boland and Paul Richards. Chris sings with the band Alighting and Paul is a drummer with several bands, including Under the Street Lamp.

This is the second year of the contest which is open to musicians from Huntingdonshire.

Introspectators will now be interviewed on the Audio Files on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire by presenter Jeremy Sallis, who co-hosted Sunday's gig with Chris Boland. The band also wins rehearsal time at the Studio Rooms in Wyton and recording time at Fast Track studios in Wilburton to create a CD.

Bass player Justin Dawson told The Hunts Post: "We are over the moon. We never thought we had a chance against this competition. We thought our song was too long to win."

Justin, who lives in St Neots, works as a carer at Ringshill Care Home in Huntingdon and is hoping to join the Navy as a nurse.

Drummer Darryl Williams, from Sawtry, works as a musician and also with his father who is a painter and decorator.

For the duo who make up Maslow, Jon Orchard, 33, from Earith, and Kenwyn Rossall, 42, from Peterborough, this was their third gig of the day. They had already played in Bluntisham and Stamford.

Kenwyn, a flamenco guitarist, said: "We have only been playing together for four months but we are building up the band slowly but surely.

"We want to be the best band in Cambridgeshire but we know there are a lot of good bands out there."

Jon is a window cleaner and Kenwyn, who is married with a two-year-old daughter, works for a company which rehabilitates people and gets them back to work.

Rogue Poet from St Neots is another new band. Perry Thomas, 19, and Andy Foster, 20, met as students at Bedford College. They have been playing together for 18 months. They said they had entered the competition because they wanted to reach a wider audience.

This was the second time Tom Tilbury from Fenstanton had entered the competition and the second time his song had been put on the promotional CD. Last year's entry was Emerald City.

Tom, 27, who works in IT support in a Cambridgeshire school, sang part of his set with Kylie Ashton from St Ives. He has been writing songs for three years.

The Simple Tones from St Neots are Glenn Estoe, 24, a school fitness instructor and Steve Watson, 25, a printer. This was the first time the pair had played together live, though they had recorded numbers on an eight-track. They said they had entered the competition after hearing about it from friends.

INFORMATION: Seventeen of the competition entries, including the finalists who played on Sunday, are already on a promotional CD, available free from The Hunts Post office in High Street Huntingdon. The songs can also be heard at www.huntspost24.co.uk

For a review of the Almost Famous gig turn to Page XX