REDDITCH'S best and brightest music acts will be performing at a very special showcase at the Palace Theatre.

Local Live 2015, spread over two nights, is promising residents the chance to see the best up-and-coming bands and solo musicians.

Acts playing live include singer songwriter Stuart Woolfenden, likened to Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz, who played last year's Morton Stanley Festival.

The singer recently released his debut EP, Are You Vulnerable or Just Insane, which features a number of original songs all with strong acoustic melodies and infectious lyrics.

Other acts performing include indie funk band Marloes, singer-songwriter and ex-frontman of the band Our Mutual Friend Jake Goodall, rock and roll band Thirteen Shots, as well as others.

The two night showcase, designed to show what talent Redditch had got, comes a year after the controversial news that the town was found to be the least musically sophisticated part of Britain.

Redditch came top of a list of the least musical parts of the UK in the study, carried out by researchers from Goldsmiths, University of London and BBC Lab UK, which measured people's 'musical sophistication', or their ability to engage with music.

Meanwhile, the residents of Hastings in East Sussex were judged to have the highest level of musical sophistication, followed by West Somerset and North Dorset.

The study found that musical skills and ability are not evenly distributed across the population and are linked to a person's profession, education level and their average income.

At the time a number of people took offence to the study with many saying that the town has a rich musical history boasting the likes Led Zeppelin drumming legend John Bonham, Dodgy frontman Nigel Clark, and even teen heartthrob and One Direction member Harry Styles, as well as number of talented local acts.

For more information about the showcase, on Tuesday, June 23 and Wednesday, June 24, visit redditchpalacetheatre.co.uk.

For tickets (from £10), call the box office on 01527 65203.