YOU’RE never too old to get to the top of the tree if you are an ace axeman. Ask Bradford-born Rock guitar virtuoso John Verity, who put out a CD just before Christmas and was over-joyed when it zoomed to the top of an online chart.

As he said himself: “We ended 2014 with a bit of a bang – reached number One in the Amazon Blues download chart, so I’m keen to keep up the momentum.

“It was a special, tongue-in-cheek Xmas EP recorded in an afternoon – amazing that I sweat blood over my regular albums yet this one recorded in no time gets to number one in just three weeks. Daft!”

As you may already know, John has a couple of local concerts coming up at the end of this month in Bingley and Holmfirth. Tickets are selling well for the Bingley Arts Centre show on January 30, where former Bad Company guitarist, singer-songwriter Mick Ralphs is also playing.

The following day John and his band will be playing the Picturedrome Last of the Summer Wine country, where local band Jagged Edge will be co-headlining.

“My band for these gigs comprises my regular drummer, Bob Henrit, and bassist Jamie Mallender from Sheffield. Bob and I were in Argent together and have stayed together since except for a period in the ‘80s.”

Tickets are on sale at picturedrome.net/tickets/Jagged%20Edge/20150131.htm.