It's a bright April afternoon and one of Oxford's best-loved musicians is hard at work.

Not in the studio, or even sound checking for a gig, but tending trees in a west Oxfordshire nursery.

Olly Wills, frontman of country-rock band The Epstein, is in hog heaven, nurturing his saplings and sharing his arboreal wisdom.

"I started doing this a year ago, and it's a really nice thing to do," he says, sounding supremely relaxed, during a break at Bampton Garden Plants.

"Working with plants is interesting and I like working outside. It allows me to think about all sorts of stuff. It keeps me inspired - certainly more so than being hemmed in an office."

And Olly has a lot to think about, while wandering among the spring blossom. It's been a stunning year for the Epstein. Long an Oxford treasure, Olly, and band members Jon Berry, Mark Wheeler, Rowland Prytherch and Stefan Hamilton have now become national - and international - property.

Their debut album The Last of the Charanguistas, has been widely hailed as an alt-country masterpiece. It features all the old songs their fans have been singing-along to for years (and it takes a cold-hearted person not to sing along at an Epstein gig).

But while their country vocals, twanging guitars, and dustbowl banjos have gone down well in the clubs and festival fields of Britain (and was proclaimed album of the week by Radio 1's Huw Stephens), they have also found success in a more surprising corner: Germany.

Yes, the land of oompah bands and David Hasselhoff fans has fallen head over heels for the Binsey band's redneck rhythms. And the country's edition of Rolling Stone awarded the album their maximum score of four stars.

"Things have gone really well," says Olly. "We've had really good reviews from all over the place. It took a long time for us to release the album but it has gone down well. Rolling Stone loved it, and made us their Editor's Choice, alongside Radiohead and Neil Young - which is cool company to be in! And album sales there are equalling those in the UK "Considering we've never even played in Germany, it's pretty good. We should really try to get over there."

Their new-found fame in the cooler bars of Berlin, Munich and Hamburg have prompted Olly to reach for the phrasebook.

"I'll try and pick up some of the language for when we go. I've already done a soundbite for a German radio station, which was interesting!

Fortunately loads of people there speak English."

While a whole new audience is waking up to the charms of their debut, the band are ready to go back into the studio to record their follow-up. The so-far un-named album ("We're calling it 'The Big One'," jokes Olly), will feature many familiar tunes from the band's live arsenal. We are hoping to get our teeth into it properly in the next few months. We will still be getting out there, but not as hard as last year. It always takes three times longer than you think it will.

"And, of course, I have my job to do. Though telling people what trees to put in their gardens is still a pleasant way to earn a living!"

The Epstein play the Jericho Tavern on April 26 and a series of much-anticipated festival outings: Wood, near Wallingford (May 16-18); Wychwood, at Cheltenham racecourse (May 30-June 1); and Cornbury, in Charlbury (July 5-6).