A BLACKBURN music school has revealed it is to hold a summer showcase at King George’s Hall featuring some of the area’s up-and-coming bands.

McNally Music Tuition, based at Sudell Cross, has organised a series of events since 2018 putting its students in the spotlight.

At Christmas, Blackburn’s Electric Church hosted two sold-out shows, but the summer showcase - on Friday, June 10 - will be the largest event yet.

“We are deliberately taking it to another level,” said Phil McNally who opened MMT in 2015 and has seen it grow so that over 200 students come along every week.

“Demand at Christmas was amazing and the standard of the bands is just so good that we needed a bigger venue to do them justice. It’s so exciting for everyone concerned.”

The showcase will also be the launch party for Free From the Wilde’s three-track EP You From The Start which will be released on the MMT label.

The bands taking part will feature students of MMT who have been selected to perform together. Band members from primary school age to adults will be involved who will soon start rehearsing for the event at a series of Sunday sessions overseen by MMT tutors.

“There are some really exciting bands which I think will take people by surprise,” said Phil. “It has always been our aim to give students the complete experience of what it means to be a musician and that includes playing live. We hope that several of the bands will have written original material to play at the showcase.”

Phil also revealed that MMT has been invited to showcase two bands at Darwen Live the weekend before the Blackburn event with Free From The Wilde appearing on the main stage before the main headline bands.

“It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come in a relatively short space of time,” said Phil. “In 2016 we held a little showcase in our own reception with about 20 chairs and now we’re planning on filling the Windsor Suite at King George’s Hall.

“We will continue to hold our Christmas events at the Electric Church but this summer is the next step for us and we are hoping to be able to announce a few surprises nearer the time. We will be releasing ticket details soon but we just want to get the date out there for people to get it in their diaries.”