GYNAECOLOGIST, rock doctor and top-notch Country singer Hank Wangford has been round the block a few times.

From medicating Keith Richards to appearing as the star act at Bridport Hat Festival, over the past four decades he has won over an army of fans with his sorrowful country music.

A regular visitor to West Dorset, he is returning to the county this month for a trio of tiny gigs with his long-time friend and compadre Brad Breath, aka Andy Roberts, who has shared a stage with the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah band and with Dennis Locorriere of Dr Hook fame.

Their No Hall Too Small tour takes the two men into the county’s rural heart, a landscape and community they value and relish.

“My old mate Reg Meuross discovered the rural touring scene five years ago and since then I have played in 236 village halls round England and Scotland,” said Hank.

“Much of it is done through rural touring schemes, but there are also halls out there run by old men in their 70s but with the gumption and vision to put on a gig without the safety net of such an organisation. It is on their heads if they lose money – I am amazed that they take the risk.

“I don’t know what will happen if they face the axe, which as sure as eggs is eggs they will do with the current state of arts funding. But I don’t want to stop playing in village halls because those gigs have the potential to be fantastic. You can’t get more intimate than them and they are the sort of performances that people will tell their grandchildren about.”

It is 40 years since Hank – real name Dr Samuel Hutt, a gynaecologist by trade – made his first forays into the world of making music. He was working as a medic to the music industry when he met Gram Parsons, who he described as a charismatic ‘rich boy from Florida’ and who was hanging out with Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.

“He came to see me because I was a rock and roll doctor,” said Hank, who still works as a medic at the Margaret Pyke Centre in London, one of the largest contraceptive clinics in the world.

“He picked up my guitar and started singing a George Jones song and that was that. I was hooked.

“George Jones writes classic ‘crying into your beer’ songs and Country is all about crying into your beer. From the British point of view, it’s all a bit over-emotional, but I think sad songs are the best songs.

“Happy songs are fine for dancing, but so what? A sad song will rip your heart and be a real song about real things with a wonderful tune to boot. There will be humour and irony too, it is all just so rich.”

For someone who revels in tear-jerking country songs, Hank is tremendously upbeat.

He loves West Dorset, names Eggardon Hill as his favourite walking spot and wants to live in Bridport. Last month he launched the town’s first Hat Festival with a rousing performance at the arts centre.

“The view from Eggardon Hill knocks the one from Maiden Castle into a cocked hat,” he said. “It is visually stunning, so beautiful.

“I love Bridport, too. It’s a great town and we have lots of friends there. Mrs Wangford would love to live in Bridders and who knows, maybe one day we will.”

You can catch Hank’s No Hall Too Small tour at Puddletown Middle School on Friday, October 8; at Ibberton village hall on Saturday, October 9 and at Wootton Fitzpaine village hall on Sunday, October 10. Call Artsreach on 01305 269512 for full details.