John Newman

Hailing from Settle in the Yorkshire Dales, and possessing a voice that has been compared to some of the soul greats, John Newman has already appeared on Later With Jools and the Christmas Top Of The Pops special and looks set to establish himself as one of the UK’s major new talents.John began playing guitar and writing his own songs aged just 14 and soon learned how to record and produce himself, making his own house tracks and DJing.

A few years later and all the influences start to stack up to form the basis of John’s sound.

Think the pure soul and groove of early Stax and Motown, add a dash of James Brown and Prince, a smattering of Black Keys, and mix it all together with a bit of Dangermouse.

It’s all in there, it’s all great, but what really hits you is the voice.

That Voice.At 20 he moved to London, started a band, played some gigs and got signed to Island Records.

His keyboard player also happened to be one of the producer/ extraordinaires in Rudimental.

A few beers on a sunny afternoon in a dingy studio and the number one single Feel The Love and follow-up hit single Not Giving In were born.