A singer-songwriter has been chosen as the support act for one of his musical idols after promoters heard him singing on the toilet.

Brighton-based bluesman Rag’n’Bone Man, aka Rory Graham, will play the opening slot at tonight’s Joan Armatrading gig at the Dome.

The 27-year-old’s girlfriend saw an advert for online auditions for the gig and submitted a number of his videos without him knowing.

Along with tracks recorded in a studio, she sent in videos of him singing while on the toilet.

He said: “I didn’t know anything about it but I’m pretty glad she did send them in.

“I made some of my early recordings while sitting on the toilet and it turned out that she sent those in as well.

“They seemed to like it though.”

Musical legend

Joan Armatrading MBE is known for supporting up and coming artists and often auditions for acts local to the venue she is playing.

Rory admitted to being somewhat star-struck when he met the multi Grammy-nominated and Ivor Novello winning artist.

He said: “I’ve known about her for years – since I was a kid. I’ve got loads of her stuff on vinyl, so it was pretty cool meeting her in person.

“She was so down to earth. She recognised me and knew my name when I first met her, so she’d obviously put a lot of thought into who she was picking for her support slot.”

Tonight’s gig in front of an estimated 2,000 will be the biggest of his career.

The show also coincides with the release of his new EP Bluestown which will be on sale in the venue’s foyer.

Tickets for tonight’s show are still on sale at: www.brightondome.org.

For more details about Rory visit: www.ragnboneman.bandcamp.com.

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