A TALENTED West Cumbrian musician who is emerging as a rising star in the Indie music tradition had a busy weekend - with three gigs.

Nat Dempsey, who was brought up in Asby and is studying music at Salford University, played to an eclectic mix.

The fun started on Friday night, when he played at The Source Collective in Carlisle. He then took part in the successful two-day The Boof at Copeland Stadium in Whitehaven.

Nat had a Saturday afternoon slot on the Acoustic Stage before heading off for another gig in Ennerdale Bridge that evening.

He did a solo gig Upstairs@TheGather which was also streamed live with a virtual audience as far afield as Perth in Scotland.

Peter Maher, who lays on the musical events “Great Artist’s – Small Venue”, said: “We have some great names from the music industry performing for audiences Upstairs@TheGather but we also promote young local talent and think that Nat has a great future in the music industry; he is a rising star!

“Nat has played before some well-known music names, Snake Davis, the legendary Sax player described Nat’s music as 'very impressive'.

"Two weeks ago at The Gather he was invited to play to Chris Bannister who, himself, has an international reputation.

"Chris described Nat as being highly talented and showing great promise."

There was lots of local support from family, friends and fans. The audience included nine members of Lamplugh WI. Trip organiser Joyce Reed said: "We enjoy the music that’s going on Upstairs@TheGather and it’s especially important that young local musicians should be supported by the very communities they were brought up in,

“People have very different tastes in music, but this young man was full of raw talent and skill as a musician”.

The Great Artists team has been busy throughout the pandemic, organising lots of streamed gigs and keeping people entertained worldwide.

It is inviting people to sample one of their streamed live concerts - featuring Snake Davis and Gareth Moulton - free this week. It will be posted on their YouTube on Tuesday 24th August for exactly one week. For more details, go to: thegatherennerdale.com/great-artists-small-venue.