He turned down hospitality tickets at Glastonbury (despite playing there), declaring them "twatty", he swapped his mobile phone for tickets to Reading Festival rather than use his contacts to get freebies and all he hopes is to one day make a record as good as Bob Dylan's worst.

Stephen Fretwell could be the most modest man making music today. Self-deprecating and witty, chatting with him is surprisingly refreshing.

You might expect someone who writes emotion-drenched songs and ballads to be a tad solemn and not the kind of person to jokingly accuse his mum of selling knock-off CDs.

The story goes that copies of his first record, 8 Songs, were going on eBay for £40. Then, someone put 400 up for sale and the price went down to £10.

"We'd had 400 copies stolen, so I really wanted to know who put them on eBay. It was probably my mum. Maybe she's been selling them from the front of her house," he says.

Stephen has been tipped for great things this year. He's been playlisted on all the major radio stations, praised by music magazines NME and Q (who called him "supernaturally talented"), played this year's major festivals and was listed in the Guardian newspaper's top five acts to see at Glastonbury.

He's supported Keane, Athlete, Elbow and Oasis, although he admits: "If we'd supported Oasis in London or Manchester we would have had a hard time but we played in Dublin and they're all real music heads. If it was Earls Court they might have chucked bottles at us."

He has also written songs for a Cameron Crowe movie and a UK film, Love And Hate, made by independent director Dominic Savage.

"It's a f***ing amazing film. It really inspired me," he says. An impressive CV from a man who lasted one day at university (although he managed to blag student accommodation and loans for the full three years).

A heartfelt mixture of folk, rock and pop, his debut album Magpie drips with sentiment but also with tongue-in-cheek wit.

It was recorded at Abbey Road studios in London. "It was an amazing experience," Stephen says, adding:

"It's still set up like a Sixties studio. There's a certain vibe - you don't want to mess up. You don't want people thinking you're cocky playing at Abbey Road, then laugh at you as the album's crap. I was quite pleased with the end result - it's not quite laughable anyway."

The 23-year-old, who was born in Scunthorpe, doesn't immediately come across as a deep thinker during conversation. It's hard to imagine the songs on the album come from the same man.

"I always get that in interviews - 'You sound like a wideboy'. Everyone has deep-rooted emotions - although my friends would probably say I'm emotionally handicapped."

Starts 8:30pm, Tickets £8, Call 01273 647100