As diversity is the current buzz word trending in the media these days, I would not wish this column to be left behind in welcoming and reporting on all manner of musical and dramatic entertainment. Therefore, it is only right that I give some column footage this week to preview a "homegrown", musically - themed film that has its premiere in Liverpool next Monday (March 25).

4 Gits and a Guitar, Block Buster, The Movie was the brainchild of two Merseyside men, Tom McManus and Alan Lewis, the latter being a film, audio and video producer with his own Glass Studios in Wallasey. The seeds were sown five years ago, and it took many hours of dedication, improvisation and sheer bloody mindedness to make their dream into reality. That reality will be fulfilled at no less a venue than the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall next Monday (March 25) at 7.30pm when this full-length feature film is premiered.

The film is based on the story of four ageing members of a Liverpool band whose nemesis is 'Buster Brown', an ageing but effective, lothario who seems to attract females like a sale at Harrods! Just like a kid in a candy shop, Buster can't stop helping himself and the four other 'pluckers' decide to teach Buster a lesson and run him out of town if they can. The events that ensue make for a very entertaining if. at times, quirky film packed, as you would expect, with scouse humour and some of that music the city has become famous for.

Tom was, in fact, a member of a band called New Image in the 1960s and 70s, their main distinction being the second-place position they won to the Chuckle Brothers on the TV show, New Faces, in the early 1970s. The band went their separate ways some years later but, as many musicians do, they decided to give it another go in later life and, in order to get themselves noticed, no doubt, chose their current name, 4 Gits and a Guitar, tame by modern standards but sufficiently different to grab people's attention. Tom, one of the original members, subsequently came up with this madcap idea of making a film and, in Alan, found a suitably wiling partner. The rest, as they say, is history and you can go along to the dear old 'Phil' and see their results on Monday. With a cast that includes Ricky Tomlinson, Stan Boardman, Micky Finn, Paul McCoy, Herbert Howe and Kev Seed and local personalities like Billy Butler, Crissy Rock, Howard Kendall and Roy Evans it is packed with some great Liverpool names. Another fact that make this film that little bit different from others is that it will be premiered on the last remaining Walturdaw cinema screen in the World that is in full working order. The screen rises out of the stage before every screening and is quite a sight to behold.

Finally, it would not be a fully-fledged Liverpool production if there was not some element of goodwill involved and in the true, selfless and caring manner of the people of this historic city on the Mersey, all proceeds from the film will go to the Marina Dalglish Appeal. This is the charity set up in the name of the wife of the legendary Reds player and manager.

Tickets, at £20, can be booked through the box office on 0151 709 3789 or usual agencies.

In a week remarkable for its paucity of local music events it gives me the chance to catch up with an album review that had been put on the back burner for a while. In recent months there have been quite a few 'Private' albums, as the media are prone to call those CD releases that are not on the mainstream folk catalogues of record companies. Having said that, we should not forget the time, effort and money expended by these often-lesser known artistes and they are equally worthy of our time too.

One such album is Walk It With You, a six-track mini CD by Clean Slate, a duo who ply their musical trade around the folk venues of the Wirral and the North West. Iain Paterson and Ruth Dyke have been together now for a while but, as far as I know, this is their first venture into recording their music. The result is a clear, well produced representation of the kind of music which you can hear at their gigs. This is, in the main, a celebration of the blues with a couple of diversions along the way.

The opening track, Jokers Wild, is in the former style and it is evident that Iain has been well-steeped in this genre of music. His instrumental repertoire includes all those well-loved riffs and nuances and his crisp guitar work repeats the formula later in the album with I'm Gonna Walk It With You (the title track) and When All You Got Is A Hammer, (the final track). It is also nice to hear the use of the autoharp, played by Ruth. This instrument was used to great effect during the first 2/3 decades of the Folk Revival but has dropped out of favour in recent years for no good reason, as far as I can see!

Perhaps the biggest surprise of all, for me, and what lifted the album from being a competent, well presented local release to something a bit more special, was the vocal talents of Ruth Dyke. Where has this lady been hiding all these years? We are introduced to her remarkable voice on the second track, I'm Still Standing, a Janis Ian classic. Two more treats follow when she takes lead vocal on Crazy Lady Blues, by the still much missed Sandy Denny, and, perhaps my favourite track, the unusual Kate McGarrigle song, Talk To Me Of Mendocino. Ruth's range is impressive, and she has that gift, not bestowed on many female singers, of being able to reach top and bottom registers with equal alacrity and accuracy whilst adding those subtle bass timbres and falsetto slides that only the best, like Sandy and Joni Mitchell, could achieve. Those 'tingling spine' and 'feel it in your boots' moments are few and far between these days and worth the admission price alone, or CD in this case!

As a taster of things to come and a dipping toes in the water moment, Clean Slate have achieved their objective. The combination of Iain's neat and precise guitar work and Ruth's vocals should give them encouragement to press on and I, for one, look forward to their next album and, hopefully, more of those mesmerising moments from Ruth. Well done to you both and you'll be glad to know that your toes got wet in a good cause!

If you don't catch them gigging, you can always email cleanslatesongs@gmail.com for a copy.

Finally, not quite a wash out on the live scene with Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Tuesday (March 26) at 7.30pm and Soundbox presenting Alden, Patterson & Dashwood this Friday (March 22) at the Lock Keeper, Canalside, Frodsham Street, Chester at 7.30pm and everybody's favourite band, it seems, Merry Hell, at the same venue next Friday (March 29). On the Wirral, the Heswall Folk Club at Heswall Squash Racquets Club brings the week to close with Scold's Bridle supported by my old mate, Brian Jones, at 8pm.

As usual, whatever you do and wherever you go, enjoy your music (and your film).

By D.C.M.