The first act to enter the Shropshire Star’s Battle of the Bands competition is an unassuming duo from Shrewsbury called Anonymous.

The band was formed by friends Neville Pass, 36, and Pete Timmins, 32, in Harlescott, about three years ago.

Neville plays keyboards and guitars while peter plays electric and acoustic violin.

The duo describe their music as being a mix of rock, pop and blues.

Mr Pass said: “We love a variety of music. We like The Beatles, blues bands, Muddy Waters and other classic stuff.

“We play locally when we can, although there are not that many venues that put on live music these days.

“When we saw the story about the Shropshire Star’s Battle of the Bands we decided to enter straight away. We noticed that one of the prizes is a PA system, ours is packing in so we’d love to win that.”

Shropshire Star Battle of the Bands spokesman James Shaw said: “We’re delighted that entries are starting to arrive. We’d urge people to get details, music and video to us right away.”

The competition is being run in conjunction with Salop Music Centre, in St Michael’s Street, Shrewsbury, which is providing more than £3,000 worth of band equipment including a PA system, bass rig and electric guitar effects pedals.

It is also being run with The Buttermarket, at Shrewsbury, which will host two gigs in March; Shropshire-based Wolf At Your Door Records, which will provide 100 demo discs and advice from expert mentors; and Soundscape Studios, which will provide four hours’ studio time, so that the winner can record new songs.

The competition will run for two months and bands will have until March 9 to submit their entries.

They should send music, videos, photographs and biographies to James Shaw, Shropshire Star, Waterloo Road, Ketley, Telford TF1 5HU. Bands will be featured by Telford FM DJ Paul Shuttleworth on his unsigned bands programme.

The winners will also have a photo shoot with a professional Shropshire Star photographer.

Employees of Shropshire Newspapers, associate companies and their immediate families are not eligible to enter. The editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

By Andy Richardson

Competition sponsors:

Shropshire Music Centre – the main sponsors, offering £3,000 of band equipment http://www.salopmusic.co.uk

A Wolf at Your Door Records – offering 100 demo discs and advice http://www.wolfatyourdoor.com

Soundscape Studios – offering four hours studio time http://soundscape-studios.co.uk