Andrew Marston introduces JR Hopkins (Ross-on-Wye)

The last of our sessions, from this year's Christmas Lights switch-on in Worcester, comes from the Herefordshire musician JR Hopkins.

Josh, who studied music performance at college, started out as a keen percussionist and drummer before moving onto the guitar.

Living between Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth, he now hosts open mic nights in various venues and performs with a loop pedal.

“A stunning performance from one man - with the sound of a full band" - Andrew Marston.

• See our session snaps

Continuing our annual tradition - we play nothing but live music as we head towards the end of the year.

In 2017, we took our show some of the biggest events in Herefordshire & Worcestershire.

This week, we'll bring you highlights from the Phoenix Theatre in Ross-on-Wye, the White Lion in Leominster, Lakefest at Eastnor Castle, the Hay Festival, the Worcester Music Festival, the Tenbury Music Festival, the Railway in Redditch and at the Nozstock Festival in Bromyard.

• All of our studio and festival sessions since 2005

The village of Garway, in Herefordshire, has had the best Christmas gift yet - a £1m venue, which can host live music, paid for by the Big Lottery fund.

The builders are in, as we speak, and aim to have the structural work complete by the end of February with the centre being fully functional by June.

Their last village hall was built nearly a century ago and the community has been crying out for a new centre for the last 20 years.

Danny Chang, of Piggery Studios - which is also based in the village, claims that there's a musician in every household in Garway!

Dave Atkinson, of Garway Live, says: "After the Olympics were done and dusted in 2012, it was noted that the Big Lottery fund had a funding stream for new builds and refurbishments called 'The Reaching Communities'. After noting other similar success stories, like the one broadcast on the BBC Village SOS series (particularly the one about Myddfi in the Brecon Beacons - a rural isolated village not to dissimilar to Garway), three of us decided to pay a visit to their hall and shop, and to have a chat with some committee members. This gave us the confidence to think there was an outside chance that we could get some funding."

The team has also purchased a 14kW solar panel system to generate their own electricity, along with new sound and lighting equipment for Garway Live.

The group is now on the lookout for local musicians to perform at their new centre.

The counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire have a rich history. Much of it is famous and hard to miss - like the cathedrals, the Elgar trail, the black and white villages, and so on.

But many of our towns and villages have stories to tell that aren't quite so obvious. They've become a little lost over time - often built over or overlooked during development.

We've discovered that Marilyn's Nightclub, just off Bridge Street in Evesham, used to be a Coaching Inn dating back to Tudor times and was possibly used for smuggling!

• A local history of great gigs and musical legends

Living in the Worcestershire countryside, 18-year-old singer songwriter Oriel Aps says: "I'm a solo artist, writing songs because I love it."

However, she can't play a single instrument! She's spent the last few months learning computer-based production and our session at the Worcester Music Festival was her first-ever live show!

Having just finished at college, she's now spending the ski season as a chalet girl before heading off to university.

“First-class production you’d normally expect on an Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry or Pharrell track” - Andrew Marston.

Thousands of people gathered to see the Christmas lights being switched on in Worcester, at the end of November, by BBC Hereford & Worcester - and we chose the music!

Tazmin Barnes, Chloe Elliot, KIM and JR Hopkins joined Elliott Webb, Malcolm Boyden, Pudsey and the Mayor of Worcester to officially launch the festive season, which sees many of the shops open until 8pm every Thursday night until Christmas.

All four acts performed a number of tracks they uploaded to bbc.co.uk/introhw and an 'alternative' Christmas cover as we count our way down to the big day.

• The biggest events in Herefordshire & Worcestershire

Drew Darcy is an artist and singer/songwriter from Kidderminster.

With a number of international dance singles now under his belt, including tracks with Ian Van Dahl, he is now embarking on this new vocal project with rock/pop guitar sounds.

With soaring vocal melodies over spacey guitars, Drew has taken influence from bands like U2, Keane and Nine Inch Nails with vocal ranges somewhere between Cobain, Springsteen and Bono.

“An incredibly powerful and dynamic songwriter with stadium-sized hits” - Andrew Marston.

At BBC Introducing in Hereford & Worcester, we support the very best new music from across our region.

Since 2005, we've broadcast nearly 1,000 sessions, helping to showcase some of our area's most talented musicians to a massive audience.

Some of our recent highlights include Leominster’s AKA George at Glastonbury, Bromyard’s Remi Harris at the Montreal Jazz Festival and Hay-on-Wye’s Cherryshoes at T In The Park. 

Our next recording session takes place on Sunday 28 January at the Artrix in Bromsgrove from 7pm, where we’ll be showcasing some of the best new musicians we have in region.

These artists didn't even know they were being considered - and we hope this inspires people to keep sending in their music, because we really do listen to everything!