ADVANCE ticket sales for this year's Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival in Colne look set to break all records.

The four-day event, held over the August bank holiday weekend, attracts music fans from all over the country and festival organisers Pendle Leisure Trust are confident that attendance figures will be even higher than last year, which saw disappointed fans without tickets turned away on the final night.

For music lovers who still haven't made up their minds whether to attend or not, the triple charity CD Hill Town Blues is the perfect guide to this year's festival.

With 51 tracks donated by artists from both sides of the Atlantic who will be performing at this year's festival, the proceeds from the 1,000 limited edition CDs will go to Pendleside Hospice.

The CD highlights the variety of acts who will be appearing this year, covering the full spectrum of rhythm and blues.

A number of the tracks are exclusive live performances which give songs like Milk and Alcohol by Dr Feelgood a new lease of life.

This year's festival features more well-known names than ever before and they are all featured on the CD.

These include Frankie Miller's Full House, Geno Washington, the Average White Band's Hamish Stuart, Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent from The Zombies and former Thin Lizzy guitarist Eric Bell.

From the United States, the women of Chicago Blues Dietra Farr, Zora Young and Grana Louise all contribute tracks.

A number of local artists performing at the festival also appear on the CD including Ian Alveston and Sam Hird.

One song - The Living Tree - written and performed by girl group Never The Bride has been covered by Dame Shirley Bassey on her latest album.

Hill Town Blues is available now from the festival box office, priced £15.

Colne Muni will once again host the international stage. There will also be a British stage and official fringe venues around the town.

For details of single day tickets or full festival tickets contact the box office on 01282 661234.