Former Ilkley schoolboy Adam Couldwell is hoping to become a household name this summer with the release of his first single.

The 18-year-old, who dreams of becoming Britain's first New Country music superstar, has signed a five-album contract with London-based label Focus on Gut.

A single is due out within the next few months, with the first of the five albums set to be released in September.

Despite still being in his teens, the former Clevedon House School head boy - who was brought up in Horsforth where his grand-dad Frank Argyle got him hooked on country music - already has a string of achievements under his belt.

Last month Adam was voted Rising Star in the British Country Music Awards, he has just finished a 17-date UK and European tour with American country megastar Reba McEntire and his CD album Paint a Bigger Picture, which he financed himself, has sold 7,000 copies.

And last autumn he became the youngest European ever invited to sing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. "In the short-term I'd like to get a song in the charts,'' he says.

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