AN RAF communications worker is hoping his music career will take off after securing a place in the regional finals of a national contest for unsigned singer-songwriters.

Former Northallerton College student Jon Sibley said he hoped performing in the Open Mic UK 2014 competition would enable him to raise his profile.

The 26-year-old, of Bedale, who works at RAF Leeming won the chance to compete in the contest after auditioning in front of a panel of music industry experts ahead of the regional finals at the Mill Volvo Tyne Theatre, in Newcastle, on October 19.

He said: “I was nervous because I’d never done anything like that before and it was stepping into the unknown.

"But I’d prepared very well and I knew I had the ability to get through.”

His singing career began when he was studying music at Darlington College of Technology.

He said: “I was a bass player, but another singer was needed for a live performance project, so I volunteered and really enjoyed it."

Mr Sibley, who is working on producing recordings of his own songs, said he hoped the contest would enable him to develop a career as a singer-songwriter.

He said: “I started playing the guitar when I was touring Australia a few years ago. I love melodic music with an edge, and acoustic guitar works very well with that.

“The competition is a great opportunity for me to establish myself as an artist and showcase some of my own music to industry representatives as well some new faces in the crowd."