It seems as if I have spent the last week looking at lists.

The TV has been bombarding me with everything from Charlie Brooker’s wonderfully sarcastic take on the year’s events to The Valleys’ least forgettable moments.

In the music world every website in existence seems to have compiled their run down of 2013’s best music and I must confess that even for someone relatively knowledgeable about current music, it seems like an avalanche of acts that I have never heard of and that would take me the next three years to explore properly.

Music buffs all want to be the first to get on board with the potential next big thing, but there is just so much music on offer that the chances are that you will miss the designated band wagon. Or as I call it Catch 33 and 1/3! The answer is simple. Learn to stop worrying about the next big thing and just enjoy the music. Just because every Guardian reader in the country is listening to Mumford and The Whale doesn’t mean that you can’t be grooving away to the latest in Russian Chanson or Tibetan Dubstep. Ignore the hype, ignore the hipsters and ignore the media (the irony!) and just embrace what feels right for you.

Well, quite a parochial line up this week, not that there is anything wrong with embracing the bands that are on your doorstep. And one of the best is on at The Victoria tonight. Rocket Box have been around in one form or another for the past 30 years and tonight will be delivering their trade mark blend of melodic rock, punk and pop. Support comes from the riotous yet accessible grungefest that is The Damned and The Dirty.

Friday provides a few choice acts from out of the area, most notably Louise Latham (pictured left) who plays Riffs Bar. Louise is known for her chilled and ethereal sounds, a mixture of pop and classical piano that sits somewhere between the mercurial sounds of Tori Amos and the sparser, folk traditions of Cara Dillon. Support comes from Ben Maggs, a very charismatic folk troubadour who I urge you to catch live.

The Beehive offers a range of covers and originals with Newquay Times but if you are staying in the centre of town then my money is on Kubris who play The Rolleston. Any band armed with acoustic instruments who can vary their sound from folk delicacies to a reasonable impression of Metallica has got to be worth checking out.

Glam fans can catch a potted history of The Thin White Duke himself as the Bowie Experience grace The Victoria stage and playing The Ferndale Club are Post 12, a band whose extensive biography tells me that they play pop punk and once came second in a battle of the bands competition.

Saturday is all about some wonderful slices of loud and shouty music. Fans of classic metal will want to be at The Rolleston for the ever popular Shepherds Pie who cover all the classics from iconic bands such as AC/DC, Judas Priest and the like. Meanwhile over at Riffs Bar, energetic folk-punk is on offer from Missin’ Rosie and support comes from the oddly named Fist Full of Foozy who cover iconic songs from bands such as AC/DC and Judas Priest.

For an original take on the genre head to The Victoria to catch the alt-rock majesty of All Ears Avow, the heavy cross genre sound of Burnthru and the west coast, big chorus, pop-punk vibes of Sell Your Sky.

At The Castle The AK-Poets will be showing you just why they are considered one of the most exciting bands around as they mix raucous riffs and maximum melody with charisma and tight delivery. Not a show to miss.

The ever popular folk wunderkind Charlie Anne plays The Beehive on Sunday and the week’s final offering comes with the classic Latin acoustic dexterity, hats, sharp suits and banter of Gilmore ‘n’ Jaz at The Roaring Donkey on Wednesday.

All about... George Wilding

I know it is a rather clichéd thing to say, but isn’t it great when you stumble across a young, local artist who is truly doing something original and, more importantly, interesting?

Finding the video for My Backwards Head on the first day of the year seems like an omen for the musical potential that 2014 has to offer and certainly a great calling card for an artist whose name I had only heard in conversations along the lines of “You haven’t heard George Wilding yet, have you been off doing missionary work in darkest Peru or something?”.

Everything about this video was just perfect. A subtle and chilled folk vibe accompanying a song that Nick Drake would have been proud of and a film brimming with lush modern bohemia meets dark Dickensian imagery. Never a foot put wrong.

Further exploration led me to his EP, Being Ragdollian, a wonderfully Lewis Carroll infused title that goes hand in hand with the quintessentially English sounds found within.

And if the lead song weaves pastoral imagery with insular poetry, the boy is more than a one trick pony.

Elephant Man has a wonderfully timeless, Bowie does vaudeville feeling, highlighting the maturity, originality and deliberate anti-fashion stance he has adopted.

As for opening number, Terrible Little Secret, again a strutting, confident number with the faintest hint of music hall sensibility about it and a lyrical eloquence and musical elegance that belies the artists tender years.

In avoiding the cliché and bandwagoning that seems to be the norm, particularly with the explosion of singer songwriters that we are experiencing at the moment, George has managed to create something that truly stands head and shoulders above the competition.

If this is the musical starting point, it’s going to be a great year.