THE lead guitarist in an up-and-coming Kidderminster band has high hopes for the future - believing that his group's music is "what is missing from the music industry".

Lee Jeffries only joined Escape From Alcatraz a year ago - initially on a temporary basis - but speaks as though he has lived and breathed it for years.

The 20-year-old technician at Clark Technik hopes to forge a career out of the band which, he says, is building up a strong fan base in the area and is set to perform at The Boar's Head Taphouse pub on Worcester tonight.

When asked to describe the band's sound, Lee said: "It's something different that we feel is missing from the music industry - there's too much on the radio that's either cheesy or rubbish."

He added influences on him and fellow band mates, lead singer and bassist, Andy Edwards, and drummer, Dave Hinton, included The Foo Fighters, Muse and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

They recorded their aptly-named demo CD, Try To Touch The Sky, at Red Light Studio in Wolverhampton in August and are currently sending it to record companies in the hope of being signed up, he added.

"We hope to at least make a living out of it," he said.

"We think that if you believe in yourself and try hard enough then anything can happen and we're building up our fan base at the moment. We're starting playing local gigs and then hope to spread out."

The former King Charles I High School pupil, who studied music technology at Worcester College of Technology with Andy, added: "We're trying to really push ourselves because when we did our first gig it went really well."

Details of tonight's gig, which starts at around 9pm, with a set by fellow Kidderminster band, The Amateurs, can be obtained by calling the venue on 01562 68776.