JOSH Kumra has a hunger to succeed in the music industry and hopes his music will out live him.

The 21-year-old, of Pinehurst, got a taste for the big time when he performed on the number one single Don’t Go with Wretch 32 and that has left him with a big appetite.

Now, after setting out on his first UK headline tour to test out music which will appear on his debut album, he is hoping his own music will see him selling out arena tours.

In the last year Josh has performed at festivals in front of thousands of fans and signed his first recording contract but said he is still coming to terms with it.

“It feels as crazy as it did the first day I came up to London,” he said. “I set myself so many dreams and goals and within the first month I had hit all of those dreams.

“My dream was to perform on Jools Holland and I did that, my dream was to perform in front of 20,000 people at the O2 Arena and I did that.

“But I want to do it all off my own back now, because that came off of Wretch. I got a taste of it now and I am hungry.”

Josh started his tour in Bristol on Wednesday at The Louisiana, which has seen the likes of White Stripes and Bloc Party take to the stage.

The singer will now be supporting the iTunes artist of 2013, Leanne La Havas, on her UK tour before continuing his own gigs.

He said: “It feels great to be on tour, especially in the south west because it is where I am from.

“I am starting my tour with Leanne La Havas, which will be immense. I played Germany with her last year and she is just an extraordinary woman and performer so it is a privilege to share the road with her.

“Everything I do in the studio is to get out and play to an audience, make an album and hopefully get some traction to tour.

“I think playing to an audience, to me there are three key ingredients, you make music, you play music and you love music and when I get to do all three of those I can’t really argue.

“With every piece of music I do I just hope it outlives me, so if I make an album and people listen to it in ten or 20 years time like I do with a Tracey Chapman album then I am happy.”

To find out more about Josh visit the website www.joshkumra.com.

REVIEW: GIG WHETS APPETITE FOR NEW ALBUM

PINEHURST’S finest, Josh Kumra kicked off his first UK tour on Wednesday and it was worth waiting for.

The singer was headlining at The Louisiana in Bristol’s Bathurst Terrace, and while it might not be the big arenas, the venue’s walls speak for themselves with posters of The Libertines, Travis and The Black Keys who all trod the same stage on their route to stardom.

So surrounded by good company, Josh took to the stage at the intimate venue, which must have been holding little more than 50 people. He performed a great acoustic set, giving people a taste of what to expect from his upcoming album.

Many would have gone to the gig on the back of one song, his number one hit with rapper Wretch 32 ‘Don’t Go’, which even without the aid of Wretch stands alone as a great song. But they might have been left humming a different tune as they made their way home.

The set was tight and showed off flawless acoustic talent and ability to capture an entire room with just the aid of his guitar, and a few echo tricks on the mic.

His album Good Things Come to Those Who Don’t Wait is set to be released in April and, based on Wednesday’s show, I can’t wait to get my hands on it. - Matthew Edwards