A TALENTED young Alcester musician has been selected to play in a prestigious county rock band.

Year 7 student Jack Blackman, who attends Alcester High School, was picked from almost 70 children and teenagers around Warwickshire who auditioned for a place in the new band.

Twelve-year-old Jack, who is already up to a grade six in guitar and grade five on the drums, is now part of a seven-piece rock and popular music group which has been formed with some of Warwickshire's most talented young musicians.

Organiser Mike Roberts, who is head of contemporary and popular music for Warwickshire LEA said: "We were totally blown away by Jack's talents. He's an incredibly talented young man - and he was head and shoulders above the rest who auditioned.

''We had 17 year olds who auditioned who didn't even come close to his ability."

Alcester High's head of music Zed Sagi said: "We are very proud of him. He's a good musician and very talented anyway - and he is also very good on the drums too. We hope he does well."

Jack's dad Steve said it was a fantastic opportunity for him to play with other musicians and he was very excited about it.

Jack will be playing lead guitar along with pupils singing vocals, playing guitar, keyboard and drums from schools in Rugby, Stratford and Nuneaton.

The band, which is still to be named, just started rehearsals together last week.

They will be playing their first gig at the Teen Idol concert in May and they then hope to play at a number of summer festivals and venues after this.