STAGE craft matters, whatever the size of stage, as these two contrasting concerts last weekend showed.

The Shires and Ward Thomas are English new country, inspired as much by the Nashville digital TV series as Nashville itself, where both have recorded their debut albums, their songs already attracting the attention of BBC Radio 2's country champion Bob Harris.

They drew a full house to Pocklington of a vintage Radio 2 age (ironically older than the crowd for Manchester veterans James the following night), but the natural commercial audience for their record companies to target is surely younger, more the age of the Nashville TV shows or Radio One.

The Shires bring together the intertwining vocals and very confident songwriting craft of two Bedfordshire musicians, Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes who met within the last two years, and have two hits in waiting in Get A Little Drunk Tonight and Brave, one destined for the hen-party dancefloor, the other sure to accompany the Beeb's coverage of another bout of British sporting failures next year.

Ward Thomas are 20-year-old twin sisters from Hampshire country, Catherine and Lizzy, who harmonise gleefully but fall just short in the songwriting department, more Second Aid Kit than First Aid Kit. They work the audience with perky positivity and cover Taylor Swift's ubiquitous Shake It Off with even more perky positivity; May ball students will love them.