A TOP brass band from America used a cheeky beermat as a unique invitation to play a concert in Dobcross.

The colourful beer mat, which claims to be “Stolen from Dobcross Band Club” was given to Fountain City Brass Band by a local on a visit to America.

That was the catalyst for the band to fly more than 4,000 miles from Kansas City to entertain an enthusiastic, capacity audience at the 100-year-old club.

For the Americans, who shared the stage with Dobcross Silver Band, it was the finale of a whistle-stop British tour which saw them scoop prizes at top contests. Delighted Dobcross villagers also waved the Stars and Stripes to welcome the guests.

Dobcross Silver band chairman Andy Black said: “The players always wanted to finish their tour with a visit to the authentic brass band heartland.

“Heritage is very important to them and they were fascinated to learn the village had brass band roots going back such a long way.

“It has been a real honour to host them. They are all terrific musicians and they played a wonderful selection of tunes.”

Yorkshire-born Helen Harrelson, president of Fountain City Youth Brass Academy is an old friend of the current Dobcross musical director, Grenville Moore.

She said: “We forged a friendship with Dobcross some years ago and when we won a major US national championship in Chicago, we picked up one of the club’s legendary beer mats.

“That acted a a trigger as we were performing at Brass in Concert, the Scottish Open plus a couple of other stand-alone concerts in the UK and contacted Andy at the club.

“Our 30 players were really excited about playing at such a renowned venue.

“They wanted a full cultural experience while they were in the UK.

“They absolutely adored the club itself and everyone made us so welcome. It was very gratifying and we’ve taken some of the beer mats back to the States as mementoes of our visit.”