ONE of Blackburn’s up-and-coming alternative bands have revealed they will be rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in the music industry when they play at this year’s Kendal Calling.

New York Tourists, made up of singer Gary Taylor, guitarist Carl Rutherford, bassist Adrian Mckenzie and drummer Joe Mooney, will be performing on the Woodlands stage at one of the most popular festivals in the region.

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Forming in 2010, the band have gone from strength to strength and will be playing at the same festival as former Oasis star Noel Gallagher, drum and bass group Rudimental and ska legends Madness.

The dad-of-four, 29, a project engineer at Longworth B and M in Blackburn, said he is amazed at where the band has gone in six years.

He said: “To be playing at the Kendal Calling festival is absolutely fantastic and it is a dream come true.

“We played there a couple of years ago, but we had won a battle of the bands competition so it makes it that extra special to be asked to play there on merit.

“We have worked very hard to get to where we are and we have played a lot of gigs at pubs and clubs, so it’s great to see it has all paid off.

“We got the email from the organisers and they asked us to play, it was a great feeling to be asked.”

The band are no strangers to big crowds after supporting the rock and roll giants Status Quo at a 12,000 concert at Hoghton Tower last summer.

The former pupil of St Wilfrid’s High School which is now an academy, said: “I still get nervous before I go on stage, but as soon as you see the crowd and get playing you start to relax and soak it all up.

“We tend to practise at least once a week but as we all have full time jobs we have to juggle it all about.

“We are a great group and we all get on really well, we can’t wait for what this year has to bring.”

The band will be launching their new album ‘You and Me’ at King Georges Hall in Blackburn on Saturday, April 2, at 7pm.