Lucinda Williams for the Brighton Festival

It's that time of year when the Brighton Festival brochure lands on the doormat...

Not a programme that has immediately filled me with excitement this time (the one Brian Eno curated two years ago remains a high-water mark for me), but I was delighted to see that Lucinda Williams will be playing at the Dome on 15 May.

One of the classic voices in country music and a strong, strong songwriter: here's one of her very best love songs, so suffused with desire you can taste it, 'Right In Time'...

And,of course, she has a fine track on Oh Michael, Look What You've Done too. Have I mentioned the Michael Chapman compilation before?

The world's coolest watering hole?

You may recall a flurry of publicity a few weeks back when the Rough Guides included Margate as one of their ten must-see destinations around the globe in 2013. I'm sure most have you have already been consulting maps and timetables and planning your visit.

Should you need any further persuasion, one of the world's smallest theatres, the Tom Thumb, now has one of the world's coolest cocktail bars.

I can personally testify to the quality of their Manhattans, elegantly served at a gala opening night for an all-star charity performance of The Vagina Monologues. The likes of Rita Tushingham, Nancy Dell'Olio and Pauline McLynn helped raise thousands for charity with some brave and highly entertaining performances.

And here is nothing quite like necking bourbon from a jam-jar while chatting at the bar to Mrs Doyle from Father Ted, I assure you...

Michael Chapman in Brighton

"I'm going to be playing the guitar tonight," announced Michael Chapman to a rightly packed West Hill Hall yesterday. "I've just been touring with Thurston Moore and we've been torturing the things..."

He is a man of several parts and the improv which has informed his last two albums, Clayton Peacock and Pachyderm, is on hold, in favour of more structured songs and tunes from his wonderful back catalogue. 

That said, it is his virtuso instrumental chops which are to the fore, with the lyrics largely spoken now. And his playing is freewheeling and expansive, with several extended medleys exploring the sonic possibilities of his trusty guitar, which is 'nearly as old as me' and 'doesn't like the cold', as frequent tunings testify.

He plays the gruff, no nonsense Yorkshireman to a tee in his between-songs patter, skirting the non-PC with relish. A recollection of a dinner with John Fahey, which ended with his 20 stone touring partner naked except for a strategically-placed flag from the Nuremberg Rallies, leads into a beautiful pastiche ('that's French for piss-take') of the great man, all bottleneck and handbrake turns.

Other highlights include 'That Time Of Night', which Lucinda Williams covered memorably on last year's Oh Michael, Look What You've Done compilation (which I will continue to plug at every opportunity: it's great, if you haven't heard it yet...). It's a lovely summation of the tenderness behind the tough coating of the Chapman persona:

I love it when you want me
I love it when you care
You know I don't scare easy
But I do get scared.

He is one of the great guitarists. Full stop.

It's amazing we can see him in small halls like this, so catch him when you can.

And sometimes Jesus has the best tunes

The world of Bob Dylan bootlegs is a deep and mysterious one. I've dabbled on the edges and have a shelf of CDs to show for it, but I'd never claim to be an expert. (Talk about setting yourself up for a fall...)

Anyway, I was intrigued to hear that vol 10 of Sony's official bootleg series may be a set of Self Portrait out-takes and stripped-down versions of the official release. And a taster single featuring a demo of 'Wigwam' may appear for Record Store Day.

That sent me back to listening to the album as released and reminding myself of how much decent stuff there is on there. (The Rolling Stone review began 'What is this shit?', you will recall...) Try 'Alberta', 'Days of 49' and 'Belle Isle' for size, and then go on to 'Spanish Is The Loving Tongue' from the quasi-SP out-takes album Dylan.

That occupied this morning quite nicely.

This evening I've been reflecting on how much quality Dylan stuff is still in the vault, ten splendid volumes into the Bootleg Series.

So here I am now, glorying in Solid Rock, recorded live at Massey Hall in Toronto in April 1980. In the heart of Dylan's still-by-some-derided overtly Christian period, which generated three hit-and-miss studio albums.

As a live document, Solid Rock is the real deal: engaged, passionate, beautifully sung and played... Try 'Ain't Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody' and feel the hairs rise on the back of your neck. 

It's true. The devil may often shade it, but sometimes Jesus does have the best tunes, after all.

When are they going to get an official release?

Kevin Ayers

Yet another sad and premature loss today, with the news that Kevin Ayers has died, aged 68.

He was one of the first performers I saw live, in 1971, at one of the legendary Clitheroe Pop festivals, with a very youthful Mike Oldfield on bass... in an incarnation of the Whole World similar to the one featured, splendidly, here.

An endearing combination of wit, style and imagination, all wrapped up in the quintessentially English act of never seeming to try too hard.

The Soft Machine were never quite the same without him. His early run of solo albums on Harvest are deeply collectable: some lovely songs in beautiful sleeves. The next stage, on Island, was also memorable - as was an energising return to live performance at the end of the 90s with a young prog band, the Wizards of Twiddly.

He had the taste and good fortune to collaborate with a host of great performers - from Robert Wyatt to Lol Coxhill, Ollie Halsall to Nico - and wrote a host of fine songs.

I'm off to raise a glass of red wine now and listen to some of the old stuff.