Last night's gig started with the powerful bluesy sound of Hannah Grace. I recommend everyone YouTube her immediately, and pay particular attention to her cover of Beyonce's 'Crazy in Love' with a full band. It's outstanding. Last night there was no big band behind her, just this petite lady dwarfed by the stage, with a guitarist. And she was just as mesmerising.

Lewis Watson, therefore, had a tough act to follow. A local lad from Bicester, he's not done too badly for himself since he was snapped up by Warner after his first EP was released back in 2012. And it's clear what they saw in him. I always hesitate to compare singer/songwriters with other singer/songwriters, but if pushed I would say he's the lovechild of a ménage á trois between Ed Sheeran, Newton Faulkner and Conrad Sewell, with a touch of Coldplay thrown in for good measure. A one-man super-band, no less. Beautiful, dreamy guitar-led sounds and thoughtful lyrics kept the audience murmur to a minimum. And his between-song chat made him sound like a lovely, likeable young man, with a bit of a cheeky glint in his eye.

And then we came to our headline act. The stage seemed to take ages to prepare, and the audience were getting restless as people came back and forth with numerous guitars and set up various bits of tech which are beyond my Luddite mind. But finally the house lights went down and the dark stage was backlight by a couple of warm lights and Ms Aplin proceeded to hypnotise Oxford with her raspy, haunting tones. I have to admit, it had been a long work day for me, and while my partner and I were waiting for Aplin to come on I didn't think my aching back would make it through the entire set. But I soon forgot my aches and the nonsense of the day and enjoyed spending my evening being entertained by this extremely talented singer. I only know a handful of her songs, the main one being the Frankie Goes to Hollywood cover from a few Christmases ago 'The Power of Love', so I was pleasantly surprised by her range, from sweet acoustic 'one girl and a guitar' holding the room in a trance, to tracks that would fit perfectly in a smoky Jazz or Blues club. For such a diminutive, elfin-like beauty, she can really fill a room with her voice. Backed by the brilliant Hannah Grace and an outstanding band (we particularly enjoyed the violin!) Aplin both entranced and entertained us during her time on stage. It felt as though the whole venue were holding their breath when she covered Bowie's 'Space Oddity', a brave move considering the outpouring of love for the legendary singer since his recent death. But she nailed it, a truly beautiful tribute to the man.

Once again, I feel lucky to have spent a cold weekday evening in the company of some talented people, and hope to see them all again.