TWO of the Furness acoustic scene's bright young stars share the stage at The Derby next week.

Jack Hayes and Louis Kelly - both among a new wave of acts to establish themselves locally in recent months - will be playing solo sets at the Barrow venue on Friday February 17.

Jack recently made it through the heats of Lakes Got Talent, and will be strengthening his case here ahead of the Grand Final in March.

He appeared at The Derby just before Christmas, kicking off the FestiveFest, and has added more acoustic reworkings of well-known tracks to his set for his return to the Dalton Road bar.

Jack says: "'I started playing guitar around two or three years ago, and I didn't know that from the moment I started to teach myself, how important it would be to me years on.

"To play in front of people that enjoy my singing and my music, The Derby has given me so many opportunities to do that - the crowds are building my confidence and giving me a huge push to continue a career path in music.

"As long as it does involve music, I'll be in my element."

His fellow Barrovian counterpart, Louis, has recently been putting the finishing touches to his debut release at the new JB Studios in the town.

He has also appeared at one of The Derby's previous seasonal festivals, at last March's EquiRocks event, as well as at various local events and support slots with the likes of Freshman and The Sides.

The two new tracks that he has been recording are likely to feature in Friday's set.

"People have said my songs come across as quite bluesy, which I wouldn’t disagree with, because blues rock n roll is also something you will most definitely see me nodding my head and stomping my feet to," says Louis.

"I went through this phase of just listening to the same bands over and over, with the likes of Oasis, The Stone Roses and the Arctic Monkeys, but it wasn't until I picked up the old dusty guitar that was hanging around my house that I opened my ears to more and more music, such as Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Eddie Cochran, Little Richard, and The Kinks, even the odd David Bowie track.

"I feel it’s a great time for me to play more gigs in the local area, which will then potentially lead to other gigs outside the area in cities with wider opportunities."

This showcase evening has been organised by local promoters Still Frame Media to give a platform to the area's best up-and-coming performers.

Having organised the quarterly festivals at The Derby over the past two years, Manchester-based SFM founder Paul Coulton has witnessed the progress of the pair first-hand, and felt they were worthy of their own joint-headline event.

He says: "Jack and Louis are both young and ambitious, always asking me for the next gig opportunity, especially here in the city. It's a refreshing attitude to want to push on with original music and take it away from their hometown comfort zone.

"My mantra is always to unearth and showcase the best up-coming, exciting young musicians and to assure music fans of all genres that there is lots of talent out there - not just from the local area, but worldwide that are willing to come to a relatively unheard of area of England.

"I'm really proud that acts from Canada, Argentina, Italy, Australia and the USA, to name a few, love music enough to want to try Barrow out.

"All have gone away spreading the word, which is all I can ask for. It's extremely satisfying, and things will only get bigger and better."

Jack Hayes and Louis Kelly perform live at The Derby, in Barrow, on Friday February 17. Music runs from 9pm, and entrance is free.