A £100 scratchcard jackpot helped jump-start a Hereford musician's career.

Stephen Powell went out and bought a guitar with his winnings and began recording his songs on a home computer.

Now he's filmed a new music video that takes in familiar scenes around Hereford and is hoping it will help make his debut album, The Fast Fading Light, a hit.

Stephen had enjoyed music, and written songs, since he was a schoolboy.

He had played gigs with a band called Themis in Hereford in the late Nineties, winning a battle of the bands competition at Cheltenham University and recording an EP at Hereford's Chapel Lane Studios.

But when the band broke up Stephen concentrated on his job and family life, and his musical aspirations faded... until last Christmas and that scratchcard, which he was given as part of a birthday gift from some work colleagues.

He said: "I thought I had only won £2 and it stayed in my wallet for months before I went to get another one.

"It transpired that I'd actually won £100 and I went straight to Music Plus in Union Street and bought a new guitar."

• Stephen Powell's videos can be viewed in full on YouTube

Now a father-of-one working in adult social care and living in Clehonger, near Hereford, he said music had taken a back seat to family and work, but "I never stopped writing and last Christmas I decided I would start recording some of my new songs".

Technology had moved on since Stephen and his bandmates toured the bars of Hereford hoping for a record deal.

He realised that with some basic equipment he could now produce his own album of music and videos using a home computer and a mobile phone.

"It was recorded in my spare room with just a few instruments," he said. "My old mate Pete Franks, who played bass guitar in the band, supported me in making the album and video."

His new video is the third he has made with Pete’s help.

"A lot of the places in the video have some significance to me," he explained. "The Black Lion was where I played my first ever gig in the 90s with Themis. The Barrels was where we rehearsed and headlined the Bank Holiday Monday beer festival slot in 1997. And Locks Garage, well, that's obvious from the video."

Stephen says he takes his inspiration from 1960s British rock/pop and the 1990s resurgence of guitar-based indie bands such as the Stone Roses and Oasis.